Why Does Helium Change Your Voice?

Male Speaker: You're watching everWell, Know more, Live better. Why does sucking on helium make my voice sound funny?

Dr. Charlotte Grayson: If you're into that old party trick I can tell you how it works, though why you would want to sound like a munchkin, I don't know. Helium is a colorless and odorless gas and as we know lighter than air, it changes the voice by altering the environment in the place, where sounds are formed at the throat. The vibration of vocal cords in the throat is what causes sounds, what happens when you inhale helium is that the nature of the air in the throat is changed, it's now much lighter than usual and that causes our vocal cords to vibrate much faster leading to a higher voice.

So, now you know how and why it works but keep in mind that sucking helium is not a healthy past time and never inhale helium from a pressurized tank. Think you can stump me, go to our website, everwell.com and send us a question. For Stump the Doc, I'm Dr. Charlotte Grayson.


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