Voice Therapy Glossary
Plain-language explanations of voice therapy terms, conditions, anatomy, and techniques. Written for anyone who wants to understand how voice care works.
Conditions
Muscle Tension Dysphonia (MTD)
Muscle tension dysphonia is a voice disorder caused by excessive tension in the muscles surrounding the larynx during speech. Unlike structural voice ...
Presbyphonia
Presbyphonia refers to age-related voice changes resulting from the natural aging process of the larynx and respiratory system. Changes include thinni...
Puberphonia
Puberphonia (also called mutational falsetto or functional falsetto) is a voice disorder in which a person — typically a post-pubertal male — continue...
Spasmodic Dysphonia
Spasmodic dysphonia is a neurological voice disorder characterised by involuntary spasms of the laryngeal muscles during speech. In adductor spasmodic...
Vocal Cord Paralysis
Vocal cord paralysis (more accurately termed vocal fold paralysis) occurs when one or both vocal folds cannot move due to damage to the nerves that co...
Vocal Fold Nodules
Vocal fold nodules are bilateral, symmetrical growths that develop at the midpoint of the membranous vocal folds — the point of maximum vibratory impa...
Techniques
Diaphragmatic Breathing
Diaphragmatic breathing, also called belly breathing or abdominal breathing, is a breathing technique that emphasises the descent of the diaphragm dur...
Lax Vox
Lax Vox is a voice therapy technique developed by Marketta Sihvo in Finland in which a person phonates through a silicone tube (typically 35 cm long, ...
Resonant Voice Therapy
Resonant voice therapy is an approach to voice treatment developed by Dr. Katherine Verdolini Abbott that focuses on producing voice with strong vibra...
Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract (SOVT)
Semi-occluded vocal tract exercises are a family of voice therapy techniques in which the mouth is partially closed or narrowed during phonation. This...
Straw Phonation
Straw phonation is a specific SOVT exercise in which a person voices through a drinking straw, creating a narrow opening that produces back-pressure i...
Vocal Function Exercises (VFE)
Vocal function exercises are a systematic programme of voice exercises developed by Dr. Joseph Stemple designed to strengthen and coordinate the laryn...
Anatomy
Cricothyroid Muscle
The cricothyroid muscle is one of the intrinsic muscles of the larynx, connecting the cricoid cartilage to the thyroid cartilage. When it contracts, i...
Thyroarytenoid Muscle
The thyroarytenoid muscle is an intrinsic laryngeal muscle that forms the body of the vocal fold itself. It runs from the inner surface of the thyroid...
Concepts
Laryngeal Tension
Laryngeal tension refers to excessive muscular activity in and around the larynx (voice box) during voice production. This can involve the intrinsic m...
Phonation Threshold Pressure
Phonation threshold pressure (PTP) is the minimum amount of subglottal air pressure required to initiate and sustain vocal fold vibration. It is deter...
Singer's Formant
The singer's formant is a prominent concentration of acoustic energy around 2500-3500 Hz that allows a trained singer's voice to project over an orche...
Vocal Fatigue
Vocal fatigue is a condition characterised by increased effort to produce voice, deterioration in voice quality, and reduced vocal endurance over the ...
Vocal Fry
Vocal fry (pulse register or glottal fry) is the lowest vocal register, characterised by a slow, irregular vibration pattern of the vocal folds that p...
Vocal Hygiene
Vocal hygiene refers to a set of behaviours and environmental modifications that promote healthy voice production and prevent voice disorders. It enco...
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