Speech disorders may result from disruption of phonation (hoarseness), articulation (dysarthria), resonance, or prosody. A speech disorder however, is a symptom – not a diagnosis. It cannot be properly treated if a cause is unknown. Further, it can be a manifestation of a serious underlying disorder. At VOX CURA, we encourage all patients with persistent speech disorders to register for a thorough diagnostic evaluation.

For Example: Hoarseness, otherwise known as raspiness, coarseness, rough voice and strained is most commonly due to infectious laryngitis or vocal abuse and will usually resolve with voice rest. However, a patient with hoarseness, which persists more than two weeks, should be referred for a laryngeal exam. From here the doctor can decide the process necessary for voice rehabilitation.

Why not more ‘voice rest’?

Traditionally, doctors and speech-language pathologists have recommended three to even eight weeks of voice rest for a patient. However, four weeks of voice rest for an elementary teacher is obviously unreasonable. So, if you are not speaking efficiently or even introducing trauma to the voice when you are speaking, it is likely due to bad speaking habits. Avoiding these problems with voice rest will only avoid repairing the voice permanently.

At VOX CURA, we teach proper voice techniques for all types of professionals and strives to provide a long-term solution as quickly as possible. Motivation to practice the variety of techniques provided once in therapy is key.

Voice rest is only recommended for 4 to 7 days following phonosurgery or when performers suffer vocal hemorrhage.