What is voice disorder? How to deal with it

Voice disorders, also known as dysphonia, refer to abnormalities in the volume, pitch, sound quality, duration of sound, and resonance of the voice due to the incoordination of the vocal organs (respiratory organs, vocal cord vibration, and resonance organs) or the presence of organic lesions of the vocal cords. Voice disorders are an abnormal state of voice caused by a variety of reasons, including organic factors, functional factors, neurogenic factors, psychological factors, etc. The combined effect of multiple factors will have a direct impact on the morphology, structure, and function of the human vocal organs, ultimately leading to voice disorders. Voice disorders are very common in our daily lives, and hoarseness and inability to make sounds are all voice disorders. However, since people generally do not have professional medical knowledge and are unfamiliar with the medical definition of voice disorders, they will have a wrong understanding of voice disorders and reduce people's attention to voice disorders, which can easily lead to more serious consequences. Do you encounter confusion about voice disorders in your daily life? Let's talk about the pathogenesis and coping methods of voice disorders!

1. What is voice ?

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Voice is a kind of sound that everyone has. The vibration caused by the resonance cavity of the human body when passing through the air will form a sound, which is the voice. Everyone's voice is different, which is determined by many factors such as the structure, morphology and function of the organs that produce it. The laryngeal cavity, pharyngeal cavity, oral cavity, nasal cavity and chest cavity are all resonance cavities in our body. The larynx, pharynx, teeth, tongue, etc. are the articulation organs of the human body. The larynx is the main pronunciation organ, and together with the articulation organs and the resonance cavity, it forms the pronunciation structure of the human body and is responsible for producing sound. Any pathology or dysfunction of the resonance cavity, articulation organ, and pronunciation organ may cause voice disorders, leading to difficulty in pronunciation, changes in pitch, etc., and in severe cases, it may cause loss of voice.

2. What causes voice disorders?

Voice disorders can be caused by a variety of factors, including disease factors, habit factors, etc. Among them, disease factors, as the fundamental factors causing voice disorders, are related to the occurrence and development of a variety of diseases. Patients with voice disorders need to pay great attention to them, and pay attention to observing their voice changes in daily life, which can be used as a basis for predicting diseases.

First, specific infections such as acute laryngitis, chronic laryngitis, syphilis or laryngeal tuberculosis can cause local inflammation in the human body. The occurrence of inflammation will cause direct stimulation to the patient's articulation structure, pronunciation structure, and resonance cavity, leading to voice disorders.

Second, inflammatory diseases such as acute upper respiratory tract infection, chronic upper respiratory tract infection, sinusitis, bronchitis, tonsillitis, etc. will affect the human vocal cords, affect normal pronunciation, and cause voice disorders.

Third, neurogenic diseases are one of the common disease factors that cause voice disorders, including vocal cord paralysis and vocal cord spasm. Vocal cord paralysis and vocal cord spasm are disorders of the nerves that control the vocal cords, which change the function of the vocal cords and affect normal voice production.

Fourth, trauma such as laryngeal fracture or cricoarytenoid joint dislocation can also cause voice disorders.

Fifth, proliferative diseases and tumor diseases such as vocal cord tumors and vocal cord polyps account for a large proportion of the causes of voice disorders.

Sixth, due to endocrine dysfunction such as sex hormone changes, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, etc., the patient's normal pronunciation function will be affected, resulting in changes in voice and causing voice disorders.

Seventh, emotional excitement or severe mental trauma can also lead to voice disorders. The main feature is that the appearance of the vocal cords does not change, but the person cannot speak or make sounds. The pronunciation is normal when coughing, yawning, etc. This is more common in young women.

Eighth, speaking in a noisy environment for a long time, speaking at an inappropriate frequency, liking to scream, using voice for a long time, etc. will all affect pronunciation.

Ninth, bad habits such as long-term smoking, alcoholism, and staying up late will increase the burden on the pronunciation structure and easily lead to voice disorders.

Tenth, laryngopharyngeal reflux disease: Refluxed gastric acid may irritate the patient's throat mucosa and vocal cord epithelium, causing changes in voice, manifested as hoarseness, dry cough, and in severe cases, loss of voice and other symptoms.

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How to deal with voice disorders

Voice disorders are relatively common and will affect patients' daily life, work, study, etc., and have a wide range of hazards. Voice disorders are not terrible. Through timely and effective treatment, they can be improved and restored to normal voice, and the prognosis is generally good. The treatment of voice disorders generally adopts a conservative approach, and commonly used drugs, physical therapy, and speech correction programs can achieve ideal treatment effects. Before treating voice disorders, it is necessary to clarify the specific cause, whether it is a disease factor or an unhealthy lifestyle, so as to choose effective treatment for patients, avoid blind treatment, delay disease treatment, and increase treatment costs.

For example, if the voice disorder is caused by acute laryngitis, antibiotics can be used for anti-inflammatory treatment under the doctor's advice, which helps to suppress inflammation, relieve vocal cord congestion, and reduce the degree of hoarseness. At the same time, Chinese patent medicines can be taken, such as Jinsang Kaiyin Capsules, Ganju Bingmei Tablets, Huangshi Xiangsheng Pills, etc., which can relieve vocal cord congestion. If necessary, nebulization treatment can be used, using inhaled budesonide suspension, which acts on the surface of the patient's vocal cord mucosa through laryngeal nebulization treatment, which helps to relieve vocal cord congestion. For voice disorders caused by other inflammatory diseases, drugs should be used for anti-inflammatory treatment first. After eliminating the cause, the condition can be improved by improving living habits and voice habits. If the voice disease is caused by laryngeal reflux, anti-reflux treatment is recommended. It is recommended that patients with laryngeal reflux avoid eating acidic foods, eat more pasta at dinner, eat less greasy foods, such as fried chicken, fried cakes, etc., and spicy foods, including peppers, peppers, onions, etc., and fast 2-3 hours before sleep. In addition, patients can try to raise their pillows as much as possible when sleeping and sleep in the left side position to reduce the reflux of gastric acid into the throat.

If the voice disorder is caused by a tumor or mental reasons, the primary disease needs to be treated, and the patient needs psychological counseling and emotional support to promote disease treatment and improve symptoms.

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For voice disorders caused by more serious diseases such as vocal cord polyps and vocal cord tumors, it is recommended that patients receive surgical treatment as soon as possible. Microsurgery is the first choice for benign lesions, precancerous lesions, and vocal cord paralysis. Under the guidance of a supporting laryngoscope, surgical microscopes, microsurgical instruments, laser technology, etc. are used to completely remove the diseased tissue, restore the normal physiological anatomical structure, and reduce the impact of the diseased tissue on the pronunciation system. If the voice disorder is caused by vocal cord motor disorders or vocal cord tension diseases, vocal cord injection filling and laryngeal framework surgery can be used in the treatment plan. When performing vocal cord injection filling on patients, according to the different defects of the patient's vocal cords, autologous (allogeneic) biomaterials are injected or filled into different layers of the patient's vocal cords and paraglottic spaces, and the closed state of the glottis is improved as much as possible to promote the recovery of the patient's vocal cord vibration characteristics. The types of implants include medical silicone, hydroxyapatite, titanium clips, etc. The operation is easy and the effect is good. Laryngeal framework surgery will not cause direct damage to the vocal cords. The surgical operation only adjusts the position of the vocal cords, which has no effect on the characteristics and quality of the vocal cords themselves. Compared with other surgeries, laryngeal framework surgery has less impact on the patient's vocal cords, and the patient's voice changes little after surgery, which is basically the same as the natural voice. Vocal cord paralysis caused by various reasons can be treated clinically with laryngeal nerve repair, which restores the physiological function of the paralyzed nerve through surgical operations.

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Speech correction programs are often used in the treatment of voice disorders. Their main function is to correct the patient's incorrect vocal habits and voice usage. The premise of speech correction is to determine the pathology of the patient's voice disorder, use non-invasive technical means to treat the patient, promote mucosal regeneration, and restore normal mucosa. At present, the speech correction method for voice disorders relaxes the neck muscles and adjusts the breathing. The training method is simple, easy to use, and effective. Voice training needs to be conducted under the guidance of a professional voice trainer. The training methods mainly include: breathing exercises (abdominal breathing), lip-breath training, air tube training, lip-tongue exercise training, resonance organ coordination exercises, expansion of pitch and timbre exercises, reduction of hard onset, chewing method, yawning, sighing method, and throat massage. Training needs to be carried out every day, 2 to 3 times a day, 30 minutes each time, for 2 months, and guided training once a week.

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Voice disorders are very common and affect people's lives, work, and studies. Understanding the causes and coping methods of voice disorders can help you detect the condition in time and actively treat it to reduce the impact. At the same time, you need to do a good job of daily prevention and develop good voice habits to reduce the incidence of voice disorders. There is no need to worry about suffering from voice disorders. Actively receive treatment and take medication as prescribed by the doctor to achieve ideal results.