Voice difficulties often present as an issue with loudness, voice quality, or rate of speech.
Voices that are raspy, strained, breathy, inappropriately low or high, and hoarse may be due to a voice disorder. Voice disorders can be addressed through regular voice therapy, but we advise seeing an ENT first to ensure there are no structural issues in your ear, nose, and throat.
A voice disorder may sound like:
Speech-language pathologists can also work with transgender patients to achieve their desired vocal quality.
Voice disorders can be caused by various factors, including overusing your voice, short-term illnesses (i.e. cold, allergies, sinus infection), structural issues, and degenerative disorders (i.e. Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, etc.).
Treatment for voice disorders depends on the cause of the voice problems. Many voice disorders can be treated by implementing a vocal hygiene regimen, vocal rest, vocal exercises, conversation training therapy, or other therapy techniques with a speech-language pathologist.
Vocal hygiene is a set of good voicing habits that prevents vocal fatigue and helps maintain the integrity and health of your vocal folds and vocal nodules. Some examples of healthy habits include:
A good vocal hygiene regimen can help improve and maintain a healthy voice quality.