Voice therapy

What is voice therapy?

Voice therapy helps individuals with voice disorders in managing and resolving their voice problem. There are a variety of techniques and approaches available to help individuals with voice problems. The speech and language therapist will tailor a voice therapy programme for the individual’s specific needs or abilities.

Voice therapy is a method of treatment which helps individuals with voice problems. There are different types of voice therapy available; these will vary depending on the type and severity of the voice disorder, the client’s age and their underlying cause of their voice disorder.

Different types of voice therapy include:

Vocal hygiene programme

A vocal hygiene programme will give advice on vocal hygiene and lifestyle options which can help to improve the voice. A vocal hygiene programme will give advice on what to do and what not to do in order to gain the most out of your voice. This may include avoiding certain foods e.g. spicy foods and sipping water on a regular basis. Vocal hygiene programmes will be individualised for the individual’s specific needs and lifestyle.

Breathing and relaxation techniques

Breathing and relaxation techniques can improve the individual’s control of their breathing and voice. Our speech and language therapists will teach the individual the appropriate way to use their breath support in order to achieve effective communication.

Voice exercises

Similar to breathing and relaxation exercises, these exercises will teach the individual how to coordinate their breathing with the use of their voice and speech in order to maximise their communicative potential.

Voice therapy can work on many aspects of the voice in order to help an individual communicate more effectively, these include breath support, laryngeal posture, resonance, intonation, rate and rhythm, volume and pitch.

Our speech and language therapists may use a combination of the above treatments when helping an individual with a voice disorder. The speech and language therapists will tailor the individual’s voice treatment to suit their specific needs and lifestyle.

What are the benefits of voice therapy?

Voice therapy can help patients with conditions including neurological problems, voice problems and head and neck cancer.

There are many benefits of voice therapy; the main benefit is helping the individual to communicate more effectively. Other benefits include increased social life, improved quality of life and increased confidence and self-esteem.

Summary

Voice therapy helps individuals to manage their voice in order to communicate more effectively. Voice therapy can involve a variety of different management approaches and the speech and language therapist will address the individual’s specific needs when creating a treatment plan.

If you feel you may benefit from speech and language therapy or would like any more information on our services please email office@slt.co.uk or call 0330 088 5643.