Everywhere you go, people are screaming over the crowd at the bar, talking way too loudly into their mobile phone in a crowded area or while they’re driving down the road, or yelling at their kids. That list goes on and on. What that means is that people are not recognizing that there are limits to what their voices can do and that there is damage they can do to their vocal cords if they don’t take care. (Michael M. Johns III, M.D., Emory Voice Center)

As a clinical speech pathologist and voice specialist, I travel around the state, frequently having conversations and giving lectures regarding vocal health to various individuals and groups, ranging from small community groups to large state-wide conventions.  What I have found is that most people don’t often think about what it would be like to live without our voices…that is, until they’re silenced or won’t work easily anymore.  Movie goers who have seen “The King’s Speech” know what can happen to our voices when we are hampered by fear or low self-esteem. But the ability to create the magic of sound and communication can also be impaired — or even totally lost — by smoking, drinking, chronic cough, hoarseness, aging, and illnesses such as head and neck cancer and disorders of the vocal folds.

To address these voice issues in central Indiana, which have likely affected someone you know, we began Performance Voice Solutions, the vocal rehabilitation division of Northside ENT, Inc.  I work with the physicians of Northside ENT daily to find the best solutions for our voice patients, whether that includes therapy, surgery, medications, or some combination of the above, in order to return them as soon as possible to their life.  Often, we are happy to say, our patients comment that their voices are better now than they ever were before.

I also work with physicians all over the Central Indiana, in their attempts to help their patients regain their voice.  Listen to that again.  We help people find a voice, their voice.  Our voices are so much more than our ability to phonate, yes? They are the way we say “I love you”, or “please” and “thank you”, and sometimes, the ability to say “No, you can’t do that anymore”.

At Performance Voice Solutions we care for performing singers, actors, and other professional voice users, as well as any person with hoarseness, throat pain or irritation, vocal fatigue, or difficulty breathing.  That often means we help people get back to their favorite athletic endeavors, back to the stage or back to reading bed time stories to their children and grandchildren.

Photo © www.yorku.ca

The goal of World Voice Day is to increase public awareness of the human voice and the need for vocal preventive care and treatment. Take the below survey: if your answer to any of the seven questions below is “yes” you’re probably not enjoying optimal vocal health, and should consider seeking medical assistance.  We hope you will consider Performance Voice Solutions in your return to good vocal health.

• Have you been hoarse for more than two weeks?
• Do you have to strain to be heard?
• Does your voice get tired?
• Does your voice give you difficulty at the end of your work day?
• Do you have difficulty swallowing?
• Does food get stuck or go down the wrong way?
• Have you been told you have acid reflux from your stomach into your throat?

For information on vocal health, visit www.performancevoicesolutions.com.

Rebecca Miles Risser, M.M., M.A., CCC-SLP
Director, Clinical Speech Pathologist and Voice Specialist
Performance Voice Solutions

A videostrobe exam is the gold standard for taking good care of your voice.

Videostroboscopy works like slow-motion photography. A videostrobe exam allows us to watch the vocal cords vibrate, then decide how to help them move normally again. If your vocal cords vibrate normally, you have a clear voice.

What to Expect

No preparation is required. You may follow your normal routine for meals and medication the day of your videostrobe examination. If your physician sent a script with you, please bring this to your appointment.

At your first appointment, your clinician will discuss your voice with you and use videostroboscopy to obtain images of your voice. Typically, a full examination is completed in approximately 60 minutes.

Your certified speech language pathologist, specializing in voice therapy, will insert a small endoscope either through your mouth or nose to your throat. That will enable your voice specialist to see your larynx.

As you are guided through various voice tasks, your clinician will be able to view possible irregularities of movement. This will also make it possible to assess the health of your laryngeal tissue.

Following this exam, your speech language pathologist/voice specialist will assess your recording, using the reflux finding score. This instrument and the reflux symptom index are the screening tools used to assess possible changes in your throat, consistent with laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR).

LPR occurs when stomach acid travels up the esophagus and into the voice box or throat, during the day or night. The damage can be extensive.

Results

You will know your exam results immediately after the videostrobe examination. Patients are invited to review the videostroboscopic recording with the clinician to discuss the findings as soon as possible.

If results indicate the need for a medical, surgical or behavioral response/therapy, your voice specialist will let you know this. We will also give your physician our recommendations.

Videostroboscopy Video

Select videostroboscopy to watch a close up view of a patient exam including vocal cords in motion.

To make an appointment with a voice specialist at Performance Voice Solutions, call (317) 705-2732. We are a division of Northside ENT.