Voice Disorder

We use our vocal mechanisms in a very special way when we speak and sing. We must quickly make an adequate respiratory inspiration (breathe in), and then prolong the expiration (breathe out) to match the vocalizations we wish to say or sing. We must coordinate the respiration with the desired pitches and loudness of phonation (voice) and with the required articulation and voice resonance. The best speakers and singers are often those who, by natural gift or training or by a studied combination of both, have mastered the art of blending respiration-phonation-articulation-resonance into a beautiful sounding voice. However, a patient with a voice disorder may use these same vocal mechanisms in a faulty manner. Faulty use of voice can often be corrected by helping the patient use the vocal mechanisms in a better way.

The majority of voice disorders appear to be related to laryngeal abuse and vocal misuse. Therefore, many such voice disorders are successfully treated by symptomatic voice therapy. Organic voice problems often require medical-surgical treatment by an ENT Surgeon and voice therapy by a speech-language pathologist.