Do You Have a Voice Disorder?

1SpecialPlace
1 day ago
6 min read

Do You Have a Voice disorder Problem? Speech is the primary mode of communication for many people and therefore having a normal voice is critical for communicative efficiency. We all use our voices, probably even more than we realize, despite the perception that only professional voice users like singers and actors need to worry about their vocal health. Maintaining your vocal health should be a key priority whether you sing professionally, for pleasure in the shower, or are an aspiring singer.

If you want to sing to the best of your ability, you must take good care of and respect your vocal chords.

Vocal Hygiene – 10 Tips for Taking Care of Your Voice

Two aspects that typically stand out after having met someone new are – the person’s face and voice. Each persons’ voice is individualistic – and it defines them. The voice is an outcome of sound from our vocal cords. Our vocal system, which consists of the lungs, vocal cords, larynx, pharynx and oral system defines each person’s voice.

We often take for granted our vocal cords, but anyone who has ever “lost their voice” understands how tough life would be without them. People should use our voices to speak with people, to laugh and cry, to sing in the car, to support our favourite sports teams, to run crucial business meetings, or to argue our points of view on social issues.

However, it could be challenging to provide your voice cords the respite and care they need between your regular activities, rehearsals with your band, studio, or producer, and side work.

Do You Have a Voice Disorder? - 1SpecialPlace

Tips for Taking Care of Your Voice

Improper use of the voice can lead to change in quality of voice – such as hoarseness (breathiness), harshness (roughness) in voice. It can also cause polyps or nodules (growths on the vocal cords). A complete ENT evaluation will define the course of treatment. The treatments can vary from – having a period of voice rest (resting the voice for a specified duration of time), use of prescribed medication, therapy (with a speech language pathologist), to the need for surgery (by an ENT surgeon) followed by post op- care and therapy to recover the voice.

Typically, good daily habits to take care of our face, teeth and skin are known by all; however, many of us would not know of such habits (vocal hygiene) or use them for our voices. Do you habitually have good ‘vocal hygiene’?

Vocal hygiene refers to habits that take care of the voice and vocal cords, ensuring minimal wear and tear. Consistent use of these habits provides positive long-term effects. Following and remembering few tips can go a long way.

Top 10 tips encouraging good vocal hygiene:

Excessive yelling or shouting is considered ‘vocal abuse’. Begin to be aware of the loudness of your voice in different situations (e.g. when talking to a peer, or a family or in larger gatherings). Monitor your loudness to suit the situation. Try to stop the use of loud voices too often or for long durations of time.

A regular habit of smoking can cause irritation to the vocal cords. Giving up smoking is ideal for good vocal cords and voice.
Ensure that you are hydrated throughout the day. Take sips of water regularly. Try to replace caffeine (including soda, coffee etc.) with water as often as possible. This will ensure hydration of the vocal cords.
Every individual has a specific pitch (of their voice) which is ideal for their vocal system. It is best to use that ‘ideal’ pitch while talking. Consistently talking in a pitch that is too high or low can affect the voice box. Find your ideal voice (if needed with help from a speech therapist) and make it habitual.
Are you consistently clearing your throat? Doing that too often can cause annoyance to the vocal cords. Reduce the habit, as far as possible. Try to clear the throat, at first, by drinking water. If that does not help, clear it by humming gently.
If your profession demands you to use your voice often, take some voice ‘breaks’ from time to time. This will help take care of the voice and make sure it does not tire.
Being aware when the voice ‘tires’ or ‘is not sounding its best’ is important. These are all indicators that it needs extra care. Resting the voice (‘voice rest’) is important to begin with. If the issue persists, seeking of professional help is important.
If the voice is irritated due to inflammation such as during laryngitis. Take the (voice) rest that is needed. Follow the prescribed medication, if any, and drink a lot of fluids. Many a times we may skip the time for relaxation due to an overwhelming schedule, but that can prolong the recovery and may cause further complications.
Few medical issues – such as gastric reflux, allergies or asthma – can affect the vocal system. Seek advice of a physician early on to eliminate or treat these conditions before they begin to affect the voice.
Limiting self-medication is vital. Few medicines may aggravate or irritate–the throat, vocal system and cords. Seek proper medical advice and take prescribed medication, as far as possible.

Many of these tips require you to be aware of the voice and how it’s being used. Such simple introspection is important for developing good vocal hygiene.

Voice Production

The primary function of the larynx (a.k.a “voice box”) is biological in nature. It acts as a respiratory valve, protects the airways (vocal folds close during swallowing; eliminates food/water entering the lungs by the process of coughing), and helps build lung pressure during physical activity. Larynx sits on top of trachea and consists of vocal folds. The air expelled from the lungs set the vocal folds in vibration creating an acoustic energy, which we call as “voice”.

Different Voice Disorders

When the structure or function of the multiple systems responsible for voice production are affected, they result in perceptual changes commonly labeled as “dysphonia”. For example, voice may be too soft or sound breathy or may be tremulous. Disorders of the voice can be categorized as those that are caused due to inappropriate use (functional), that are due to some damage to the nervous system (neurological), that are due to lesions in/trauma to the laryngeal anatomy (structural), and that are due to infections (systemic).

Some examples of conditions that affect normal voice production:

Vocal Fold Nodules: Benign, bilateral localized growths on the vocal folds caused from vocal abuse and misuse behaviors. Voice could be hoarse and/or there may be breaks in voice.
Parkinson’s Disease: Neurodegenerative disease that primarily affects motor movements also affects speech and voice. For example, patients may have breathy voice and/or a voice that is too soft.
Laryngopharyngeal Reflux: Acid reflux is acid back-flow from the stomach into the esophagus. Long-standing reflux can cause irritation to the laryngeal structures resulting in hoarse voice.
Cancer: Laryngeal cancers can be benign or malignant and can occur at the level of vocal folds and above or below them. Depending on the tumor staging, voice symptoms can vary and may require customized treatment plan (e.g., radiotherapy to complete removal of the larynx).

Assessment of Voice Disorders

People experiencing any changes in their voice such as changes in voice quality (e.g., breathy), loudness levels (e.g., difficulty producing a loud voice), pitch levels (e.g., abnormally high/low pitch), tremors, increased effort to produce voice, increased fatigue after talking, pain, and frequent throat clearing/coughing for over a period of two weeks are recommended to visit a physician (ENT specialist) and speech-language pathologist (SLP).

Don’t ignore prolonged symptoms of heartburn or allergies. The role of an ENT specialist is to render medical diagnoses related to the identification of laryngeal pathology and to determine appropriate management strategies (e.g., surgery or referral for voice treatment).

The objective of an SLP is to assess voice production and its underlying physiological function and to determine how the voice disorder affects an individual in everyday situations, as well as to determine prognosis for change, provide recommendations for intervention and support, and recommend referrals where appropriate (American Speech and Hearing Association, 2004).

SLPs use a variety of subjective (e.g., observing tension; listening to the voice) and objective (e.g., recording voice and acoustic analysis) approaches to evaluate voice function.

Treatment for Voice Disorders

Although a specific treatment plan will be formulated by your SLP, you can care for your voice by following some of these do’s and don’ts.

DON’T for Voice Disorders

Push your vocal system
Don’t yell, cheer, scream
Don’t talk over a long distance, especially outside.
Don’t try to lecture, or speak to large audiences without the aid of a microphone
Don’t expose you voice to excessive pollution: cigarette smoke, chemical fumes, etc.
– Avoid smoking.
– Don’t drink alcohol excessively.
– Avoid coffee, tea, sodas
Don’t clear your throat frequently.
Limit amount of talking when you have a cold or feel tired.

DO

Identify & Eliminate Vocally Demanding Behaviours
Use non-vocal sounds (e.g., whistling), noise or instruments (e.g., clapping; blowing a horn)
Avoid talking in noisy situations: over loud music: e.g., at noisy parties; in cars/ buses; over noisy machinery, heavy equipment, or motors, etc.
Adjust your environment as much as possible to reduce background noise.
Position yourself as close as possible to people you are talking with, especially when there is competing noise.
Always face the person(s) you are talking to.
Use a microphone for public speaking
Practice microphone technique: keep your voice relaxed, and at a comfortable level and let the microphone amplify your voice
Drink plenty of water daily (64 oz)
Swallow slowly
Drink water
Be aware of your reflux symptoms and medications.
Limit intake of spicy, acidic, and fatty foods and sleeping within 3 hours of eating dinner.