Yes, Ladies you read that right, but did you read that in your regular voice or period voice? Seems bizarre, doesn’t it? Studies have actually shown that your voice changes during menstruation unless you are on some form of hormone medicine.
Researchers at the University of Zadar in Croatia documented vocal changes in 66 women over their menstrual cycle. Of the 66 women, 44 were not on any birth control, while 21 were on hormonal birth control. The study focused on women pronouncing vowels listening for their voice to change. As a result, some women had lower minimum pitch in the beginning of their periods, and they had lower voice intensity in the later phase.
The change of voice happens due to fluctuating sex hormones, which also cause mood swings and irritability, but if you are on some medication for PCOS/PCOD or any other hormone medicine you’ll notice absolutely no difference in your voice. But for those of you who aren’t, you’ll notice that your voice is hoarse and rough during the initial days (no, it’s not because you are annoyed) but because there is high fluid content in your throat membranes due to water retention. However, as your days pass by, rising estrogen guides your body to shed this excess fluid and your voice becomes clearer and your sing-song voice starts coming back.
If you are a singer who is used to singing high notes, you’ll notice during your periods you are more comfortable hitting those low notes, and that shouldn’t bother you it’s just your body adjusting itself to the roller coaster of hormones inside you. An interesting fact is that in the past, in some opera houses, women had “respect days” during premenstrual and menstrual periods, i.e. days where they were excused for not singing. These days were one of the rare valid reasons for being allowed to not give a concert.
Although, a lot of researchers do argue about how true this study is as most of the women who were a part of this study were asked to only pronounce the vowels and not complete sentences. So next time you get your periods, grab your voice recorder and record your voice on the first day and then record your voice on your non-period days and compare the results. I am sure you’ll be surprised by what your hormones are capable of!
