Speech Therapy For Voice Disorders

Voice disorders can disrupt your ability to communicate and interfere with your daily life.

There are numerous types of voice disorders that can each affect you in different ways and to varying degrees.

The good news is that speech therapy can help.

If you or your child have a voice disorder speech therapy can help address your challenges so that you can communicate more effectively.

At our speech therapy clinics in Autin and Round Rock, TX, we offer tailored treatment plans to help you manage your symptoms, restore your vocal health, and improve your ability to communicate.

In this article, we’re going to be looking at what voice disorders are, their symptoms, their causes, and how a speech therapist can help.

What Is A Voice Disorder?

A voice disorder is a condition that affects your ability to effectively speak or be understood by others.

A voice disorder can affect the volume, quality, tone, and pitch of your voice.

If you find that you’re having issues controlling your voice or have difficulty being understood, it may be an indication that you have a voice disorder.

Producing sound is the result of air being pushed out of your lungs and passing between your vocal folds, which makes them vibrate.

Your vocal folds are located in your larynx, or voice box.

If there are problems with the way your vocal folds vibrate, or other speech associated mechanisms, it can result in a voice disorder.

Depending on how your voice production mechanisms are affected, voice disorders can be categorized as:

• Organic
• Functional

We’ll get into more detail about organic and functional voice disorders shortly.

Sometimes, it may also be possible for psychological stressors to lead to changes in your voice and speech quality.

How To Tell If You Have A Voice Disorder

The term dysphonia refers to any abnormal symptoms that change the pitch, volume, quality, or tone of your voice.

Signs and symptoms that may indicate you have a voice disorder can include:

• Strained voice
• Rough sounding or raspy voice
• Breathy sounding voice
• Strangled sounding voice
• Taking breaks when speaking
• Asthenia, or a weak voice
• Abnormal pitch
• Abnormal volume
• Abnormal resonance
• Gurgly or wet sounding voice
• Tremored speech
• Pulsating voice
• Piercing high pitched voice
• Aphonia, or loss of voice
• Throat or laryngeal pain, tension, or tenderness
• Frequent coughing or having to clear your throat
• Frequently running out of breath when speaking
• Increased vocal effort when speaking
• Becoming fatigued while speaking
• Your vocal quality alters throughout the day

Keep in mind that if you have a voice disorder, you may have one or a combination of these symptoms.

Symptoms also vary in severity from one person to next due to the cause of the voice disorder.

Voice Disorder Causes

As we previously mentioned, there are different categories of voice disorders.

These are based on their causes and how they affect your speech production mechanisms.

Voice disorders relate to how flowing air is affected by your respiratory system, laryngeal muscle activation, and coordination with your pharynx, and oral and nasal cavities.

Organic causes are the result of one of these parts having an issue.

This can cause an imbalance and lead to a physiological voice disorder.

Structural organic causes can include:

• Vocal fold abnormalities
• Inflammation of the larynx
• Trauma to the larynx

Neurologic organic causes can include:

• Multiple sclerosis
• Parkinson’s disease
• Pseudobulbar palsy
• Recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis
• Spasmodic dysphonia

Voice disorders can also have functional causes, which is when you efficiently use your vocal mechanism despite no physical issues.

Functional causes can include:

• Phonotrauma, or overuse of your voice
• Ventricular phonation
• Vocal fatigue
• Muscle tension dysphonia

Lastly, voice disorders can be the result of psychogenic causes, such as:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Chronic stress disorders
• PTSD

Types Of Voice Disorders

There are different types of voice disorders that can occur.

Voice disorders can vary based on their cause, symptoms, severity, and persistence.

Let’s take a closer look at some different types of voice disorders to get a better understanding.

Chronic Cough

Coughing is a natural reaction that helps you clear out your lungs and throat and can help prevent infection.

However, if a cough persists for more than 4 weeks in children and 8 weeks in adults, it’s known as a chronic cough.

As you may have guessed, the main symptom of a chronic cough is frequently coughing.

This can lead to headaches and sleep issues, as well as issues with your voice from the strain on your throat, which can result in a rough sounding voice.

Common causes of chronic cough include:

• Allergies
• Asthma
• Acid reflux
• Sinus problems
• Persistent illness

Dysphonia

Spasmodic dysphonia is a chronic condition in which your vocal folds move abnormally, such as spasming or tightening.

While your vocal folds appear typical and function well when not speaking, they will not move as they should when you’re producing speech.

This can lead to a hoarse, tight, or shaky sounding voice, and, at times, may even cause an inability to produce speech sounds.

The symptoms of spasmodic dysphonia typically get more serious and frequent over time.

Certain factors, like being stressed or tired, may aggravate symptoms.

Symptoms may also come and go throughout the day.

Spasmodic dysphonia can be the result of muscle tremors caused by your nervous system that occur in your vocal folds.

It may also be caused by a brain disorder called dystonia, which can tighten your muscles.

Vocal Fold Polyps And Nodules

Vocal fold polyps and nodules make it more difficult for your vocal folds to properly vibrate, which can lead to voice issues.

Vocal fold polyps can affect one or both of your vocal folds.

They can appear as a swollen bump, blister, or thin elongated growth.

Vocal fold nodules are benign growths that can appear on your vocal folds and are typically smaller than polyps.

Misusing or abusing your voice can make them swell, leading to further voice issues.

Over time they can harden and become callus and even get larger and stiffer if you keep abusing your voice.

Both polyps and nodules have similar symptoms, which can include:

• Breathiness
• Hoarseness
• A rough or harsh sounding voice
• A scratchy voice
• Neck pain
• Difficulty changing pitch
• Vocal fatigue
• Feeling like there’s a lump in your throat
• Shooting pain from ear to ear

Misusing or abusing your voice mainly causes nodules, however it can cause polyps as well.

However, polyps can also occur after one instance of misusing or abusing your voice.

Vocal abuse activities can include:

• Smoking
• Allergies
• Singing
• Yelling
• Speaking loudly
• Tense muscles
• Consuming caffeine and alcohol

RELATED ARTICLE: How Can A Speech Therapist Help With Vocal Fold Polyps And Nodules?

Vocal Fold Paralysis

Vocal fold paralysis is a condition that occurs when you are unable to move one or both of your vocal folds.

Aside from interfering with your ability to produce speech, vocal fold paralysis can also cause breathing and swallowing issues.

Bilateral vocal fold paralysis occurs when you are unable to move both of your vocal folds.

If they are in a closed position, it can interfere with your breathing and may require a tracheotomy.

Unilateral vocal fold paralysis occurs when you are unable to move, or have limited mobility, on one of your vocal folds.

When this occurs, the paralyzed vocal fold will be out of sync with the other and lead to voice production issues.

Signs and symptoms of vocal fold paralysis can include:

• Breathy voice
• Hoarseness
• Limited pitch and volume
• Inability to speak loudly
• Coughing or choking when eating
• Increased risk of pneumonia
• Limited duration of speech

Vocal fold paralysis is caused by nerve damage to the vagus nerve that connects the larynx to the brain and controls vocal fold movement.

This never damage can be the result of:

• Head injuries
• Neck injuries
• Surgery
• Stroke
• Disease
• Tumors

Other Voice Disorders

There are numerous other types of voice disorders.

A cleft palate and cleft lip can have an impact on your resonance and vocal clarity.

A cleft lip occurs when there is an opening or spilt in the upper lip extending towards the nose.

A cleft palate occurs when there is an opening or spilt in the roof of the mouth.

Laryngitis occurs when there is inflammation of the larynx, leading to loss of voice, throat pain, and hoarseness.

Laryngitis can be the result of vocal misuse or abuse, bacterial infections, viral infections, and acid reflux.

Aging can also lead to a voice disorder due to a weakening of the vocal folds and thinning of their surrounding tissues.

Another condition that can cause a voice disorder is paradoxical vocal fold movement, or PVFM.

PVFM occurs when your vocal folds completely or partially close when they should open.

This can lead to breathing issues, tightness in the throat, voice loss, coughing, or a rough sounding voice.

RELATED ARTICLE: Understanding Your Larynx And It’s Effect On Your Speech

How Can Speech Therapy Help With A Voice Disorder?

If you or your child are showing signs of a voice disorder, speech therapy can help.

If you notice that you’re having issues with your vocal quality and it’s affecting your ability to communicate effectively, speak to a speech therapist today.

They can help assess and evaluate your vocal characteristics to identify if a speech disorder may be affecting you.

The aim of speech therapy for voice disorders is to improve your voice production and help coordinate your respiration and the movement of your vocal folds.

Speech therapy for voice disorders can help:

• Identify the cause of your vocal disorder
• Establish good vocal hygiene and practices
• Assess your vocal strengths and weaknesses
• Facilitate vocal self-awareness
• Teach you strategies to communicate better
• Provide accommodations and support if needed
• Teach you muscle relaxation and tension reduction techniques
• Address behavioral related voice production issues

Additionally, if your voice disorder requires surgical intervention, speech therapy can help support your post-surgery recovery process.

Remember that voice disorders can affect each person differently and to varying degrees.

Speech therapy treatment plans are tailored to meet your specific needs and provide you with ways to improve your speech production and vocal quality.

If you have, or suspect you have, a voice disorder, then it’s a good idea to speak to a speech therapist today.

Book Your Appointment With Our Speech Therapy Clinic Today

Have you or your child been diagnosed with a voice disorder or suspect that you may have one?

If so, our team of experienced speech therapists can help.

At Sol Speech & Language Therapy we’ll address the cause of your voice disorder and create a unique treatment plan to help you manage your symptoms and communicate more effectively.

Book your appointment with Sol Speech & Language Therapy today.