A Voice Apart

 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 . Now they are older and in their 40s (and counting), and they still cannot get a grip on the notion that their love and joy of singing might never be present again...? Quite a few years later after the occurrence, they had been still upset and even depressed about it.   Of course, they had been through numerous visits to doctors, speech therapists, pathologists and nevertheless many vocal coaches. However, in the majority of cases, it did not add up to any tangible, needless to say, expected results. With the above said, since they had lost their love and joy to be able to sing effortlessly and painlessly, their lives were never the same. Their passion and desire for expressing themselves, (telling their stories and expressing their emotions through sin...

Lately, more and more inquiries I get are from people who suffer from a very nasty "voice disorder" called spasmodic dysphonia (SD) . In a real sense, it's not per se just a voice disorder - it can also be a neurological disorder, whereas the symptoms of the above-described, produce uncontrollable voice spasms. Below is the story of my female client (64 years old) from Missouri USA. She was diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia disorder and naturally thought that something just incidentally happened to her voice...? She was diagnosed by an ENT specialist, but was never advised what she could do about her voice condition. When I got her and her husband on the phone, I naturally started to ask them questions with respect to how and when that happened and of course, if they could think of anything that could have triggered that condition. They both replied that their lives were pretty much free of stress and they couldn't see or think of any possible cause of that disorder ...

Muscle tension dysphonia is a term used to define significant change in the sound of one’s voice - usually due to the muscle strain in the neck. Hoarseness or discomfort via excessive muscle tension in and around the voice box, can be indicating signs of the beginning stages of this nasty voice disorder - MTD. Needless to say, muscle tension dysphonia disorder inhibits the sufferer from using their natural voice. MTD can easily develop, for example; due to some infectious diseases like laryngitis and can also remain to be even after the swelling of the vocal cords subsided. It can also be caused by stress, therefore potentially causing co-occurring voice problems. However, this kind of dysphonia may occur on its own, identified as primary MTD - or it may occur as a result of other underlying disorders, known as secondary MTD. What are the symptoms of this kind of dysphonia? Muscle tension dysphonia generally causes the voice to sound rough, hoarse, raspy, weak, breathy...

Some singers who come to me for non-surgical voice repair are not necessarily the professional singers. Which means, that a lot of them have a daytime job or even their own businesses.  Some of the professions require speaking on the phone all day, running meetings, doing presentations, and what not.  After an 8-hour workday, the part-time singers would rush to their band rehearsal or even to an outright performance.  Perhaps being vocally very talented but not, per se, knowing about the proper application of their voice, they put the enormous pressure on their vocal anatomy. So let’s examine that: They use their speaking voice excessively during the working day and then even more intensely during the night through the late hours.  While they’re speaking at work, they primarily are doing it from the sitting position with a slouched back, thus drowning their voice onto the bottom of their throats and below.  They establish the low voice speaking habit....

We care for you, and your voices, since 1984.   Since 1984: We do fix voices We do transform lives We do remove labels of some diagnoses(s) which had been imposed onto our clients voice conditions by some medical doctors   The medical professionals give the patients promises, which are implied to the voice recovery; but in reality, those promises (in majority of cases) never had been declared. From our experience, the example would be where the ENT professional(s) suggests a vocal surgery and makes a promise to the patient that, after the surgery, their voice will be back to normal and there will be no consequences. In reality though, the growth on the vocal cord(s) such as polyps or papillomas, can grow back in no time, as firstly, because that type of growth has a viral nature; and secondly, because the patients’ application of the voice had never changed. And, as we all know, there is no change without change. If, in the first place, the gro...

Recently, we had an inquiry from a singer situated in Europe who had been diagnosed with Spasmodic Dysphonia. …………………………………………………………………………… “I was diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia, and the doctor wanted to give me Botox injections, but I refused because the risk of not being able to sing well afterwards (I am a singer) was too great! So my question is, Can you help me get my voice or a better voice back? Is it possible to get instructions via Skype. I live in Amsterdam, the Netherlands!” …………………………………………………………………………… Below is my answer. Hi There, I have to note that it is a little unusual to be diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia, when you are a singer. Usually, it happens to people who are not singers, but just regular (or professional) speaking voice users. But, nevertheless, it is a very serious problem and in conventional sense, cannot be treated, let alone cured. And yes, the only treatment they could offer is the Botox, which in majority of cases, will not work or ...

Nowadays, my practice consists of at least 85-90% of nonsurgical voice repair clients. It is unfortunate, but it is a fact. One of the reasons is that people, overall, are getting to be not as healthy as they used to be. Our earth is deeply polluted and respectively, the food we eat and the air we breathe is also very toxic. A lot of voice disorder cases I am receiving are being effected environmentally, and then of course, a lot of them have been misusing their voices while speaking and, or, singing. But, first and foremost, the problem with the majority of cases begins with their inner health inadequacy. Also, a lot of those people are very intense, loud and extremely emotional. Right away, speaking loudly and forcefully, they are putting their vocal chords, and the whole vocal box in general, in great distress. They are straining their vocal chords and twisting their larynx on a consistent, everyday basis. Their posture is usually not intact a...

I have just recently returned from my quick and somewhat short, but very impactful, trip from London. Within only a little bit more than a week’s period of time, I was able to provide my four UK clients with my voice repair services; speaking & singing . All of them were unique in their own way and, nevertheless, all of them were different. However, one thing they had in common is that they were extremely smart and sharp, took directions really well and complied with the procedures, introduced to them, to a tee. This whole process, for me, was extremely heart rejuvenating, as here in Canada & in North America in general, for some reason, people who come to obtain my services are, by far, not as alert, are taking directions much slower and mainly, after the fact, not compliant with the aftermath protocol. For example: speech repair clients, for some reason, seem to be unable to understand that after they complete their voice repair course and treatment, they cannot ...