Speech Therapy for Voice Disorders

Voice is used in everyday life for many reasons.

You could use your voice to communicate with others, or to stand up for yourselves.

Alerting someone else of a potential threat of danger is also something voice could be used for.

If you have a voice disorder, the world around you may be a bit difficult to navigate.

Your needs are not entirely being met.

You may have differences in the way you communicate compared to those without a voice disorder.

These differences can be in the pitch, tone, length or volume of your voice.

If you have a voice disorder, our Washington DC speech therapists can help.

Now, let’s navigate through what a voice disorder is, the causes, screening for a voice disorder, and how speech therapy may help you.

What Is A Voice Disorder?

Voice disorders are a type of speech disorder that impacts your voice quality.

They can affect the volume, pitch, or tone of your voice.

Sounding monotone, breathy, hoarse or low in volume are common in voice disorders and may make it difficult for others to understand you.

If you experience people asking you to speak up, or people telling you that you lack expression in your voice this could be a sign of a voice disorder.

There are a number of different types of voice disorders, including:

• Dysarthria
• Spasmodic dysphonia
• Muscle tension dysphonia
• Vocal fold nodules and polyps
• Paradoxical vocal fold movement (PVFM)
• Vocal cord paralysis or paresis
• Chronic coughing

These voice disorders can impact your speech in different ways and have different potential causes.

Dysarthria, for example, affects the muscles you use to speak.

RELATED: Speech Therapy For Dysarthria

This can cause issues with breath, pitch, articulation, and your rate of speech.

All in all, every person with a voice disorder will differ in what aspects of their voice are impacted, and the causes and treatment will differ for each person.

Causes Of Voice Disorders

Different factors can contribute to different types of voice disorders.

There is no one size fits all approach to understanding the causes.

The causes differ based on a variety of factors, including the way it impacts your voice.

If you have a monotone voice, for example, you usually will sound flat during speech, which can be difficult to understand.

Causes for monotone voice may include:

• Mental health conditions
• Hypokinetic dysarthria
• Autism spectrum disorder

Hypokinetic dysarthria is often associated with Parkinson’s disease as well, which means it’s also associated with monotone voice.

RELATED: Speech Therapy For Neurological Disorders

Your risk for developing a monotone voice is also higher if you have high testosterone levels or unusual levels of thyroid or other hormones.

Speech therapists can also help to treat voice disorders when they are causing your voice to be breathy or hoarse, called dysphonia.

The root of these issues might be:

• Multiple sclerosis
• Chronic laryngitis
• Poor vocal hygiene
• Vocal fold polyps

Low speech volume is another voice disorder, which can affect how well you’re able to communicate to those around you.

This can be caused by:

• Age
• Past trauma
• A physically smaller larynx
• Cultural differences
• Mental health concerns

Other causes of voice disorders may include:

• Smoking cigarettes
• Exposure to allergens or environmental toxins
• Swelling or inflammation in your vocal folds

How To Tell If You Have A Voice Disorder

Voice disorders affect the quality of your spoken voice.

That includes things like pitch, tone, and volume.

That means they’re different from things like speech sound disorders, which affects your ability to create specific speech sounds.

They’re also distinct from orofacial myofunctional disorders like tongue thrust or tongue tie.

These are issues with abnormalities in a child’s lips, jaws, or tongue.

So, symptoms of voice disorders include a voice that sounds:

• Quivering
• Rough, harsh, or hoarse
• Strained
• Weak or overly quiet
• Whispery or breathy
• Too high or too low in pitch

If you yourself have a voice disorder, you may notice:

• Pain in your throat while speaking
• Tension in your vocal folds
• Your vocal muscles are easily fatigued
• What feels like a lump in your throat
• Your throat is tender to the touch (outside)
• Others often ask you to repeat yourself

It’s always a good idea get a screening from a speech therapist if you’re noticing any symptoms.

How Do Speech Therapists Screen For Voice Disorders?

If you suspect you or your child has a voice disorder, a speech therapist can help.

The first step is to assess your voice production and quality.

Your speech therapists will consider your vocal range, pitch, flexibility, resonance, breathing, and other factors.

Based on what they find, your speech therapist will take a closer look to uncover the root cause of your symptoms.

As we mentioned before, voice disorders can have a variety of different causes.

Getting a better understanding of what’s causing your voice disorder is an important part of putting together an effective treatment plan.

How Can Speech Therapy for Voice Disorders Help?

Speech therapists are trained in how to treat voice disorders.

Your speech therapist will put together a treatment plan for you that addresses your specific voice disorder and its cause.

These sessions will often include exercises to help reduce the effect of your voice disorder.

If you have a monotone voice, speech therapy can help you develop ways to speak that allows you greater expression.

If your monotone voice is caused by a condition like social anxiety, this may also include techniques to manage that anxiety along with your expression.

With a hoarse or breathy voice, the treatment may help to make your voice smoother.

Speech therapy can also provide you with exercises for specific situations to aid in making your communication clearer to others.

Speech therapy can ultimately help in ways that improve your voice and allow you to navigate the world in a manner where you have less difficulties.

Book Your Appointment With Voz Speech Therapy Today

Do you suspect you may have a voice disorder?

If so, we can help.

Book your appointment with Voz Speech Therapy today.