When is voice therapy a good idea?

Voice therapy is suitable for most types of voice disorders (dysphonia). A voice disorder is a persistent change in someone’s voice. The voice is then often hoarse, but it might also be strained, husky or soundless. It is then weaker and less powerful too: For instance, someone with a voice disorder may not be able to hold a key for as long as they could before. Or they may no longer be able to sing very high or low notes, or speak in a very high or deep voice. Sometimes, a person’s voice may disappear altogether (aphonia).

What does voice therapy involve?

You typically see a therapist once a week or several times a week over a few months. Each session of therapy usually lasts 45 minutes. It is also sometimes possible to do online sessions at home on the computer.

Voice therapy may include the following exercises:

• Breathing exercises – for example, practicing using your diaphragm more when breathing, or learning to better coordinate your speech and breathing.
• Relaxation exercises to reduce tension
• Movement or posture exercises to improve your posture
• Exercises for the mouth and jaw muscles – for instance, using chewing movements or intentional yawning and sighing

People who don’t speak in their ideal register can practice speaking in a better-suited register.

There are various approaches to the therapy and the exercises. Different exercises will be suitable for different people, depending on individual factors and the cause of the voice disorder: If fears and anxiety play a big role, that will be taken into consideration in the therapy. Then it may be a good idea to consider having psychological treatment too.

What’s the difference between voice disorders and speech disorders?

It is also difficult to speak if you can’t move your tongue, mouth or jaw properly. Then the problem is not the voice, but the fact that it’s hardly possible to turn vocal sounds into understandable speech. Doctors call that a speech disorder or speech impediment (dysarthria).

Voice disorders and speech disorders can occur together – for instance, after a stroke or in other neurological conditions like Parkinson's disease. It may be hard to swallow, too. Then speech therapy and swallowing therapy are needed in addition to voice therapy. That involves doing suitable exercises to improve the formation of vocal sounds in your mouth and throat (articulation) and training the muscles you use to swallow in order to make it easier to eat and drink.

What can you do yourself?

If you have voice therapy, it’s important to also practice at home and not just during the sessions with the therapist. Even once you’ve completed the therapy, it's worth making regular exercises a part of your daily routine.

It is also important to not overuse your voice in everyday life. Instead of raising your voice to compete with loud background noise, you could try to find a quieter place to have longer conversations or – if that’s not possible – find a way to rest your voice enough. It isn’t a good idea to whisper because that puts a lot of strain on your vocal cords. If you want to go easy on your voice, it's better to try to speak less.

All of the things that you can do to keep your voice healthy are often summed up as “vocal hygiene.”

Sources

• Lenarz T, Boenninghaus HG. Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde. Berlin: Springer; 2012.
• Mansuri B, Tohidast SA, Soltaninejad N et al. Nonmedical Treatments of Vocal Fold Nodules: A Systematic Review. J Voice 2018; 32(5): 609-620. [PubMed: 29032130]
• Pschyrembel Online. 2023.

• IQWiG health information is written with the aim of helping people understand the advantages and disadvantages of the main treatment options and health care services.

  Because IQWiG is a German institute, some of the information provided here is specific to the German health care system. The suitability of any of the described options in an individual case can be determined by talking to a doctor. informedhealth.org can provide support for talks with doctors and other medical professionals, but cannot replace them. We do not offer individual consultations.

  Our information is based on the results of good-quality studies. It is written by a team of health care professionals, scientists and editors, and reviewed by external experts. You can find a detailed description of how our health information is produced and updated in our methods.