If you find yourself struggling to be heard as you get older, it’s likely due to a condition called presbylaryngis, the medical term for vocal cord atrophy. Like many other muscles in your body, your vocal cords can be harder to keep in shape as you age.
Corrective voice therapy from the speech specialists at Lawrence Otolaryngology Associates can help you overcome vocal volume loss. Essentially, corrective voice therapy uses a series of exercises to isolate and strengthen your vocal cords, improving your ability to modulate and project your voice.
As with other systems in your body, your larynx and vocal cords change over time, and for a variety of reasons. As well as the physical effects of aging, your voice may also suffer from current and past medical conditions, hormone changes, and medication you’re taking.
Many people perceive voice changes as a normal part of aging and consequently don’t think to seek treatment for problems like loss of volume in their speaking voice.
When combined with another age-related issue like hearing loss, voice problems may lead you to withdraw from social situations without understanding why. Without treatment, this isolation may affect your quality of life. This, in turn, could bring about mood disorders, including anxiety and depression.
When you visit Lawrence Otolaryngology Associates for voice volume loss, we first rule out or treat other potential causes of your condition. For instance, since breathing is essential for speaking, we check for problems that impact how well you breathe.
We might find that nasal obstructions are interfering with air intake. Mouth breathing or sleep apnea may irritate your larynx and affect your speaking voice. We treat these issues first, so you have the breath to support a healthy voice.
At this point, we assign you to our speech therapy associates, including Jennifer Cannady, MA, CCC-SLP, for experienced specialist care.
Your initial voice assessment determines how voice exercises can support your condition, returning volume to your voice. Typically, this changes from patient to patient, to provide the workout your vocal cords need without introducing exercises that might aggravate or strain your larynx.
We choose from vocal exercises like:
As well as therapy with our team, you have at-home exercises to follow as part of your treatment program. It’s important to follow these as instructed, since both under- and over-performance could have an impact on your program.
Typically, corrective voice therapy is all the treatment you need to regain the projection and volume you’ve lost.
Your voice deserves to be heard. Contact Lawrence Otolaryngology Associates in Lawrence and Ottawa and book an appointment by phone or online to start the healing process today.
