Breast Cancer Resources For Singers & Voice Teachers
Favorite vocalises, stretches, mental health resources, recommended reading, and helpful items during active treatments and beyond.
Body, Mind, & Voice
You should consult with your health care practitioner prior to trying any of the following physical exercises. These resources are meant to be an aid for your singing during active treatments and beyond. Your body undergoes many changes in this process, so view these as tools to help you find your new "normal".
DISCLAIMER
The content of this website, Instagram, YouTube, lectures, webinars, blogs, products, or other platforms linked here does not replace the care of physical therapists or other healthcare professionals. This content is in no way to be construed or substituted as physical therapy or any other type of medical advice but is for general education purposes only. Don’t use this content to self-diagnose or self-treat any health, medical, or physical conditions. Consult your doctor prior to trying these exercises. By trying these exercises, you do so at your own at your own risk.
DISCLAIMER
The content of this website, Instagram, YouTube, lectures, webinars, blogs, digital products, or other platforms does not replace the care of physical therapists or other healthcare professionals. This content is in no way to be construed or substituted as physical therapy or any other type of medical advice but is for general education purposes only. Don’t use this content to self-diagnose or self-treat any health, medical, or physical conditions. By trying these exercises, you do so at your own at your own risk.
Body & Mind
While you are undergoing various active cancer treatments and recovering post treatments, you undergo a multitude of changes, both physically and emotionally. Be patient with yourself and give your body plenty of time to rest (especially in active treatments). The following exercises are meant to help you maintain and reconnect with your body during active treatments and help in your recovery after your treatments.
You should consult with your health care practitioner prior to trying any of the following physical exercises, especially during active treatments! Try asking your doctor about physical therapy first. Remember, these resources are meant to be an aid for your singing during active treatments and beyond, not as any substitute for treatment or advice from a medical professional. Always talk to your doctor first!
MEDITATION EXERCISES
Being able to center and calm your mind is incredibly important. Breathing exercises to calm your nervous system, meditating to reconnect with your body, words of affirmation & kindness to strengthen your mind, and oncology therapists are all fantastic tools you can use throughout your cancer treatments and beyond. Click the title to be taken to the pages.
An easy form of meditation and to calm your nervous system is to practice focusing on your breath. As singers, this is second nature, but this video has someone leading you through the meditative exercise.
A short 10 minute guided meditation to help you center and calm your mind and check in with your body. Take note of what information your body is sending you and reconnect.
Speaking words of affirmation to yourself truly helps develop a mindset that will help you on your cancer journey. Take a look at these specifically for healing and create some of your own.
Having access to an oncology therapist can make all the difference in your cancer journey. These specialized individuals can help you navigate your cancer journey with more ease.
POST-SURGERY RECOVERY
Balancing rest and activity for recovery after a lumpectomy or mastectomy is crucial. Once you have the all-clear from your care team to do some gentle exercises, you might inquire about a prescription for physical therapy to help get you back to feeling more like you. In addition, take a look at the following exercises and ask your care team if you can give these a try. Click the title to be taken to the pages.
Gentle Walks
One of the best things you can do for the first couple of weeks after surgery is to take short gentle walks. Don't be in a rush and listen to your body.
Treeing Yoga has put together a lovely small collection of mastectomy recovery yoga videos. This one is for around the 1-2 week mark post-surgery (check with your doctor in regards to surgical drains).
Treeing Yoga has put together a lovely small collection of mastectomy recovery yoga videos. This one is for around the 2-3 week mark post-surgery and after surgical drains have been removed.
Treeing Yoga has put together a lovely small collection of mastectomy recovery yoga videos. This one is for around the 4 week mark post-surgery and after surgical drains have been removed.
EXERCISES FOR CHEMOTHERAPY
Chemotherapy can come with a variety of side effects. Fatigue being one of them. Be gentle with yourself and plenty of rest. On days when you have more energy, try these easier exercises to help reconnect with your body. Click the title to be taken to the pages.
Gentle Walks
One of the best things you can do throughout is to take short gentle walks. Don't be in a rush and listen to your body. Fatigue from treatments can be overwhelming, so an easy walk can be just the thing to help.
The Dana-Farber Zakim Cancer Institute has put together a fantastic 30 minute gentle yoga to help with tightness after radiation & surgery. Lots of wonderful stretching to maintain range of motion.
An easy and short exercise tutorial to help with breast cancer patients at risk for lymphedema to stimulate the lymphatic system, strength building, and simple cardio to keep your body active.
Having a simple restorative yoga to stretch your body with gentle movements is perfect for those days when your energy levels are low. It's a wonderful way to relax and reset.
POST-RADIATION RECOVERY
Radiation, like chemotherapy, can cause fatigue as one of the main side effects. You may find the following exercises helpful as you go through your radiation treatments. Click the title to be taken to the pages.
Gentle Walks
One of the best things you can do throughout is to take short gentle walks. Don't be in a rush and listen to your body. Fatigue from treatments can be overwhelming, so an easy walk can be just the thing to help.
The Dana-Farber Zakim Cancer Institute has put together a fantastic 30 minute gentle yoga to help with tightness after radiation & surgery. Lots of wonderful stretching to maintain range of motion.
This restorative yoga for stress relief is the perfect balance of calming stretches and also deep stretches. It will help with tightness from radiation treatments and also give you a bit more energy.
POST ACTIVE TREATMENT
HURRAY! Being done with active treatments is a huge accomplishment. It does take time (several months) for your energy levels and strength to return. Try some of these easy exercises to help you on rebuilding strength and energy. Click the title to be taken to the pages.
Gentle Walks
One of the best things you can do during and after treatments is to take gentle walks. Don't be in a rush and listen to your body. Just moving your body is important, it doesn't have to be strenuous.
Once your active treatments are done, it will take your body some time to recover back to normal energy levels. This Stress Melt Yoga video combines stretches and strength building.
Building strength back up after treatments takes time. This wonderful and time efficient Pilates class really helps with core strengthening, along with arms and legs.
Resistance bands offer a wonderful way to strengthen arms, legs, and core. This 20 minute workout offers an easy beginner level intro to working with resistance bands and you can do it anywhere.
DISCLAIMER
The content of this website, Instagram, YouTube, lectures, webinars, blogs, products, or other platforms linked here does not replace the care of physical therapists or other healthcare professionals. This content is in no way to be construed or substituted as physical therapy or any other type of medical advice but is for general education purposes only. Don’t use this content to self-diagnose or self-treat any health, medical, or physical conditions. Consult your doctor prior to trying these exercises. By trying these exercises, you do so at your own at your own risk.
Voice
Breast cancer treatments do affect your singing, but the body is beautifully resilient and adaptable. Have faith in your body and the technique you've developed over the years to carry you through. Every cancer is different, so your personalized treatment plan will be unique to you and your situation.
I'm happy to share my favorite vocalises, recommended reading, and resources I used to help maintain my voice during active treatments and rebuilding vocal stamina after finishing cancer treatments.
Until the qualitative study is completed, I'm sharing my personal experience with various cancer treatments below.
Also, if you'd like to ask others about how their breast cancer treatments affected their singing, please consider joining Breast Cancer Advocacy & Singer Resources Facebook Support Group.
RECOMMENDED READING:
When diagnosed with breast cancer, you are sorting through a mountain of information. Here are some articles and resources I found particularly helpful. Click the title to be taken to the pages.
A critical element PRIOR to any surgery requiring intubation is to speak to your anesthesiologist. Let them know you are a singer and take a look at this article to better discuss intubation options with them.
This book is a FANTASTIC resource for singers singing through menopause. As a pre-menopausal breast cancer patient, hormone therapy and chemotherapy put me in medical menopause. This is a great resource to better understand the hormonal changes that occur to the voice and how to navigate them.
This is a quick breakdown of the various treatments I have had on my breast cancer journey and their effect on my singing. Again, please remember that these are just my experiences and everyone's cancer journey is different. Take what information is helpful to you!
FAVORITE VOCALISES:
While going through cancer treatments, my goal was to maintain my technique as best I could, and work on rebuilding after active treatments were finished. Here are just a few vocal exercises and resources I found helpful. Click the title to be taken to the pages.
Refreshing technique basics during my active treatments allowed me to be able to maintain my technique. Vaccai is a classic book of exercises that help with just that! And IMSLP (Petrucci Music Library) has it available on their website.
Panofka is a fantastic way to refresh technique basics. Op.81 has some more coloratura options, which are a great way to maintain vocal agility and keep your phrasing light and limpid. Give these a try and gradually work your way to a quicker tempo.
Simpler than Op.81, these are wonderful to refresh simple line and passaggio work. I can't state enough on how effective it was to just focus on refreshing basics during active breast cancer treatments! It made a world of difference.
Most of us are familiar with using a straw to vocalise - it helps us find that gorgeous balance for breath & phonation. It was one of my best tools in practicing during my active breast cancer treatments. I'd use it with regular vocalises, art songs, and arias. Here's a link with more info on straw work for singing.
Helpful Items & Products
Click on the item name for the link to the products
FOR SURGERY
With a mastectomy, you will likely have surgical drains. Since you will have these for the better part of a couple weeks, it is really helpful to have shirts like this with built in pockets for your surgical drains.
With any breast surgery, your body will be sore. Things like seatbelts can be very uncomfortable to have directly on your chest after a surgery. This pillow helps provide comfort for travel.
Your care team will likely recommend a front closing surgical or sports bra after a lumpectomy or mastectomy surgery. These make life very easy when your body will be sore with limited mobility.
As silly as it sounds - step stools are a huge help. After a mastectomy, you can't use your arms for several days to support your body weight to get in bed or reach for items above your shoulders.
Various breast cancer treatments can cause nausea. Ginger is a fantastic natural remedy. This tea is also one of my favorites as a singer on rehearsal and performance days!
With a mastectomy, you will likely have surgical drains. Since you will have these for the better part of a couple weeks, having a robe for home days that have built in pockets for your surgical drains is a help.
Finding a comfortable sleeping position after surgeries or port insertions can be tricky. Rather than a pile of pillows, a wedge pillow offers a great deal of comfort for sitting or sleeping with less hassle.
Showering after a surgery where you have surgical drains as a part of your recovery is tricky. A shower belt is a huge help in holding those surgical drains in place while you wash.
FOR CHEMOTHERAPY
With chemotherapy, you'll need easy access to your port for your infusions. While you can wear a lower neckline, this top is really helpful for easy port access and you can still wear a jacket over it.
If neuropathy is a potential side effect for one of your chemotherapy drugs, ask your doctor about cryotherapy gloves. They were recommended to me by my oncologist to help prevent neuropathy in my extremities.
When you go in for your chemotherapy infusion, your team will access your port and need to clean it prior to your treatment. This can leave a chemically taste in your mouth. It helps to have some sort of hard candy or mints with you to help with the aftertaste of the port cleaning.
Often food will not taste the same while going through chemo. Metal utensils often leave an unpleasant taste in your mouth. If you don't want to use plastic cutlery, a bamboo cutlery set is a fantastic option.
If neuropathy is a potential side effect for one of your chemotherapy drugs, ask your doctor about cryotherapy socks. They were recommended to me by my oncologist to help prevent neuropathy in my extremities.
FUN FACT: Your doctor will need to write you a prescription for a wig AFTER you have lost your hair. Snag a hat or cheap wig if you don't want to be without until you get the prescription. Once you have that, please take a look at AngeLink for free wigs available for cancer patients.
Various breast cancer treatments can cause nausea. Ginger is a fantastic natural remedy. This tea is also one of my favorites as a singer on rehearsal and performance days!
When you lose your hair, you will often want something comfortable with added warmth (especially if you go through treatments in the winter months). These were my absolute favorites to wear!
Finding a comfortable sleeping position after surgeries or port insertions can be tricky. Rather than a pile of pillows, a wedge pillow offers a great deal of comfort for sitting or sleeping with less hassle.
Oddly enough, hands and nail beds can be very dried out. Cuticle oil was a great way to replenish moisture to my fingers and give a little bit of comfort and self pampering.
FOR RADIATION
With radiation, the biggest side effect I felt was fatigue. You have to hold your body in one position for a while as you receive the treatment. I found doing a little gentle foam rolling on my back after treatments helped to loosen up my back after treatments.
Finding a comfortable sleeping position after chest radiation can be tricky. Rather than a pile pillows, a wedge pillow offers a great deal of comfort for sitting or sleeping with less hassle.
Ask your care team first, but my team recommended putting on unscented lotion AFTER my radiation treatment to help avoid sunburn like side effects from my treatment. Because this is thicker than normal lotion, I saved this for application right before bed. Again, check with your care team first!
Ask your care team first, but my team recommended putting on unscented lotion AFTER my radiation treatment to help avoid sunburn like side effects from my treatment. Aquaphor was a huge help in avoiding that. I used this for application directly after treatment. Again, check with your care team first!
FOR MISC. & COMFORT
Breast Cancer treatments can affect your hormones. Menopausal symptoms can occur as a result. Hot flashes are no one's favorite, so having a rechargeable pocket fan on hand is really helpful!
Finding a comfortable sleeping position after surgeries or port insertions can be tricky. Rather than a pile pillows, a wedge pillow offers a great deal of comfort for sitting or sleeping with less hassle.
When your body is going through all of these treatments, sometimes the best thing you can do is to make yourself comfortable, especially on days when you don't feel your best.
Chapped lips or dry patches of skin aren't uncommon in regular life, let alone during cancer treatments. This is one of my absolute favorites and it moisturizes beautifully!
Whether recovering from a surgery or it's a draining day after a chemotherapy infusion, a lap tray is really handy to have. It works well for work or for just enjoying a meal in bed or on the couch.
Breast Cancer treatments can affect your hormones. Menopausal symptoms can occur as a result. Hot flashes are a nuisance, so having an ice pack to rest on the back of your neck to keep hands free is a huge relief.
Various breast cancer treatments can cause nausea. This tea is another I loved to help calm my stomach and one of my favorites as a singer on rehearsal and performance days!
There are some products out there that don't use minoxidil (active ingredient in Rogaine), but this was what my care team recommended to me to help with growing my hair back after treatments.