A Voice Apart

More and more phone calls and e-mails we are getting from people who have undergone related or non-related surgeries and who’s vocal cords and other parts of the vocal anatomy got damaged in the process.  Recently, we had a few clients who had undergone thyroid removal (thyroidectomy) and all of them ended up with one of their vocal cords being paralyzed ( vocal cord paresis ). One of our former clients who’s voice I fixed previously, but who (unfortunately, by not following the assigned protocol) ended up with having her papillomas growing again. She had been convinced by her ENT specialist to undergo not one, but two vocal surgeries back-to-back. In the end, she ended up with practically no voice left and what is called Sulcus Vocalis (vocal gap) and, thankfully, (just mild) Muscle Tension Dysphonia   as well. And lastly, a few hours ago, we got an e-mail from a professional person who recently undergone a biopsy procedure for her lung disorder.  After t...

    Vocally Speaking. The Vocal Science (TM) Method. Become Non-Orthodox! Think out of the box...  "Diana, God downloaded into you his gift"  - Patsy S of London UK. Let’s analyze; What does the Vocal Science™ method actually consist of, you, my reader may be wondering…? It does consist of a natural, holistic and completely alternative approach not only to the voice mechanics, but also to a person as a whole. What separates this method from other methods and why does this method work without failure? First a little bit about the conventional methods: There are vocal coaches for singers, there are speech therapists and speech pathologists for those who have some kind of voice disorder or voice issues and/or vocal problems. What do they really offer…? To tell you the truth, it is pretty hard to define. Vocal coaches are trying to teach their singing clients some strange (to put it mildly) exercises, which is remotely reminiscent of actual singing. Those coaches do al...

Let's look at your vocal cords from a professional point of view:  Your vocal cords (within your voice box) are not just strings… They are a delicate form of fold tissues (muscles) with a very thin lining on the outside. And just like any other tissues within the body, if not taken care of properly, they evidently can get damaged. Normally, when people start to exhibit vocal cord problems, they may not even notice them and thus, do not find the need to address them until the problems (like strained vocal cords, bleeding vocal cords or other forms of vocal cord damage) become severe enough to warrant a visit to the doctor or a qualified voice specialist. Vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) happens when the vocal cords are unable to open properly. This is also referred to as paradoxical vocal fold movement. VCD is sometimes confused with asthma as some of the symptoms are very similar. With VCD, the vocal cords close instead of opening up, when you breathe in and out. This closure ...

We have many people inquiring about various voice disorders; but the most nasty of them I would qualify would be a Spasmodic Dysphonia Disorder– especially for sufferers whose speech (sometimes for man years) had been severely compromised due to that. The above-described voice disorder sufferers have been experiencing uncontrolled spasms in their voice, which sometimes also travels to their vocal anatomy from their chest or even their stomach! I could, perhaps, compare it to some form of epilepsy; and in this case, I personally gave it the name - “vocal epilepsy”. The sufferers of spasmodic dysphonia also often have difficulties in swallowing their saliva, not to mention some foods for that matter. It can be considered a disorder of a neurological nature, but also (and I am quite sure of), it is often emotionally induced. Due to this fact, it manifests in the various organs of one’s physical body; whereas, unfortunately, the human voice is not excluded. ‘Is this disorder curable’ yo...

I have more and more inquiries from people who used to sing for some time in the past; and suddenly, (or at least so they thought), lost their singing range and some of them even lost their singing voice altogether . Needless to say, they had their speaking voice compromised as well. Now they are older and in their 40s, 50s (and counting), they still cannot get a grip on the notion that their love and joy of singing (and proper, coherent speaking) might never be present again...? Nevertheless, quite a few years later after the occurrence, they are still upset and even depressed about it. Of course, they had been through numerous visits to ENT doctors, speech therapists, pathologists and numerous vocal coaches. Unfortunately, in the majority of cases, it did not add up to any tangible, needless to say, expected results. With that said, since they had lost their love and joy to be able to speak or especially to sing effortlessly and painlessly, their lives have never been the ...