Our voice is integral to our personality and serves in a way as our signature.In today's world, communication is playing an even greater role with the variety of professional voice users encompassing actors, disc jockeys, radio jockey's, news commentators besides of course singers...
Learn more...Imagine getting up one fine morning with no voice. A term referred to in medical circles as ?Aphonia?. That?s exactly what happened to Tanya (name changed) one week ago due to paralysis of one of her vocal folds. In her case the diagnosis of ?idiopathic vocal fold palsy? has been made, which is another way [...]
Medication is warranted in laryngitis and laryngopharyngeal reflux.Voice therapy is the first line of management for vocal fold nodules, early polyps, ventricular phonation, bowed vocal fold and vocal fold...
When both the vocal fold are paralysed and stay in the midline (abductor paralysis), the person has no space for breathing and this is an emergency situation. It is important to find out the cause of this paralysis and the patient needs an emergency tracheostomy (opening made in the airway through the neck with the insertion of a tracheostomy tube).If this condition does not spontaneously improve in 6-8 months various surgeries can be performed to create space for breathing. Using the CO2 laser to make an opening in the vocal fold or the arytenoids is a very effective surgery to restore the airway called laser cordectomy or laser arytenoidectomy.
If both the vocal fold are paralysed but lie apart(adductor paralysis), the patient has ample space to breath but no voice. Furthermore, liquids tend to easily slip into the airway on attempted swallowing. This is called aspiration and necessitates a tracheostomy in the patient.
One of the vocal folds can become paralysed for a number of reasons. These include:
The patient of UVFP has a gap between the vocal folds resulting in a breathy voice and occasional aspiration of liquids. A new breath has to be taken constantly in between words (air hunger) resulting in vocal fatigue.
In this situation, as one vocal fold is moving, voice therapy exercices are given to make the moving vocal fold work even harder and close the gap (compensation exercices)
In the eventuality that the voice does not improve with voice therapy or spontaneous recovery, surgery is recommended. One of the commonest surgeries is thyroplasty where a silastic implant is used to push the paralysed vocal fold medially. If the posterior gap is large then a special stitch called arytenoid rotation or adduction is required.