Class #14 Flashcards
Almost every person has had what type of voice problem in their life?
- Acute/ temporary
Voice Disorder
abnormal voice production often due to a laryngeal pathology that results in changes to a person’s pitch, loudness, and/or quality
Prevalence
the total number of cases of a disease in a given population at a given time
Prevalence of on-going voice conditions:
- 6-7% of school-aged children
- 3% of adult population
Why are there more children with chronic voice problems than adults?
- kids are more rowdy and loud, they do a lot more vocal abuse than adults do
- developmental aspect: learn how to control yourself as you grow older
- There are a lot of kids who have voice disorders that don’t get addressed
Types of Voice Disorders
1) Structural Pathologies of the Larynx
2) Inflammatory Conditions of the larynx
3) Trauma or Injury of the Larynx
4) Systemic Conditions Affecting Voice
5) Non-Laryngeal Aerodigestive Disorders Affecting Voice
6) Psychiatric and Psychological Disorders
7) Neurological Disorders Affecting Voice
8) Other disorders Affecting Voice
Malignant VC Lesions
- Cause: smoking, environmental irritants, chemicals, genetics, etc.
- Mechanism: Massing of malignant cells on the vocal cords
- Vocal Characteristics:
1) Quality: hoarseness
2) Pitch: lower
3) Loudness: variable
Vocal Nodules
- aka singer’s or screamer’s nodes
- Cause: vocal abuse; phono-trauma
- Mechanism: Localized cute or chronic benign growth on VC cover, which is usually bilateral near the AC
- Vocal Characteristics:
1) Quality: hoarseness
2) Pitch: reduced pitch range
3) Loudness: decreased - Treatment: eliminate behaviors; rest voice
Laryngitis (chronic)
- Cause: vocal abuse
- Mechanism: inflammatory thickening of VC
- Vocal Characteristics:
1) Quality: hoarse
2) Pitch: low pitch
3) Loudness: decreased
Inhalation Injury
- Cause: Inhalation of gases, smoke or steam; ingestion of toxic materials
- Mechanism: Burns the laryngeal tissues causing edema and scarring
- Vocal Characteristics: odynophagia (painful swallowing), odynophonia (painful phonation), cough (globus– feel like there is something there when there’s not)
1) Quality: hoarse
2) Pitch: reduced pitch
3) Loudness: reduced loudness
Allergies
- Cause: allergens that cause mucosal changes
- Mechanism: Allergens create an abnormal immune response that leads to irritation/ swelling
- Vocal Characteristics:
1) Quality: hoarseness or aphonia (no voice)
2) Pitch: reduced pitch
3) Loudness: reduced loudness
4) Resonance: hyponasal
Candida
- Cause: fungal infection
- Mechanism: fungus appears as white patches on inflamed, red vocal fold tissues
- Voice Characteristics: pain, edema (swelling)
1) Quality: hoarse, strained, or breathy
2) Pitch: variable
3) Loudness: variable
Gender Identity Dysphoria
- Dysphoria: confusion
- Cause: Gender identity dysphoria
- Mechanism: Surgery for male to female to feminize the voice; hormones for female to male to make the voice more masculine
- Voice Characteristics:
1) Quality:
2) Pitch: desire a different voice pitch and overall communication style that better fits desired gender
3) Loudness:
Vocal Cord Paralysis
- Cause: stroke, infection, tumor, trauma
- Mechanism: recurrent laryngeal nerve damage, which can be bilateral or unilateral
- Voice Characteristics:
1) Quality: breathiness or hoarseness
2) Pitch: reduced pitch range
3) Loudness: reduced
Muscle Tension Dysphonia
- Dysphonia: impaired voice
- Cause: stress; increased laryngeal tension
- Mechanism: hypertension; under or over adduction of VC
- Voice Characteristics:
1) Quality: breathiness, harshness or hoarseness
2) Pitch: variable
3) Loudness: variable
