A Voice Apart

The first question you have to ask yourself is: How did I end up with such a nasty diagnosis? You may ask yourself: What have I been doing wrong with respect to my speaking or my singing voice for that matter? Analyzing the above while looking for the answer, you may remember that you have had a bad cold or virus…  At that time, your voice got quite compromised and it became raspy and hoarse. You, meanwhile, were trying to clear your throat quite hard and pushed and pulled your voice (also quite hard) to make it clearer and louder… By doing all of those things, you no doubt, have been straining your vocal cords, and therefore you have been experiencing the consequences of such actions. In the end, you ended up with pain in your throat, with an even more raspy and hoarse voice and, in some cases, even perhaps with breathing difficulties.  By the way, the latter may bring you to the next undesirable diagnosis - you may acquire asthma-like symptoms…  God forbid. Given all th...

Once again, reader’s discretion is advised. Also, due to the personal and intimate nature of the story, some names have been withheld.      At the beginning of the year 2016, we got an email and then (when we asked her) a call from a woman who was residing near Dallas, Texas and who had undergone a few surgeries on her thyroid (due to cancer diagnosis). And as a consequence, Ms. Schilling ended up not only with a paralyzed vocal cord but also with a hole in her throat due to a very "brutal" tracheotomy. Due to that, Ms. Schilling had a very hard time swallowing foods; and a lot of the times, she could not keep her food down and, apparently, had been expelling it quite often. Due to all of that, needless to say, J.M. was quite underweight and, obviously, did not possess a lot of energy. To boost the latter, we suggested to Ms. Schilling to order the specific natural herbal remedies with specific instructions just for her. Since she had difficulties swallowing, all of ...

The term Muscle Tension Dysphonia is a general term that could be associated with an imbalance in the vocal anatomy's muscles coordination as well as breathing patterns required to create the sound of the human voice. Muscle Tension Dysphonia (MTD) may occur suddenly, or, most likely, as a result of a strained voice being pulled into the neck muscles. The reason behind this disorder is not always known. It may be triggered by allergies, illness,  acid reflux or, by whichever other means... Symptoms - The most common symptom of this disorder is a change in voice quality, often associated with discomfort of the throat and/or vocal box in general while speaking or singing. Also, almost always, symptoms like hoarseness and raspiness will be associated with an increased effort to talk or sing, coupled with subsequent fatigue during continuous voice overuse and/or (outright) misuse. Treatment - There is an alternative form of voice therapy which is the gold standard for th...