Moshe Berk; Voice Therapist

Health

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Moshe Berk; Voice Therapist

Does your voice get tired or hoarse when you

sing, daven or give over a shi'ur???

Moshe will give you the tools & techniques needed in order to use and project your voice properly without getting hoarse or tired.

For further information call today:

054-635 5069

[email protected]

Moshe Berk- Qualified Voice Teacher & Hoarseness Therapists (B.mus) Hebrew university


What is hoarseness?

If you are hoarse, your voice will sound breathy, raspy, or strained, or will be softer in volume or lower in pitch. Your throat might feel scratchy. Hoarseness is often a symptom of problems in the vocal folds of the larynx.

What are some of the disorders that cause hoarseness and how are they treated?

Your doctor will ask you about your health history and how long you've been hoarse. Depending on your symptoms and general health, your doctor may send you to an otolaryngologist (a doctor who specializes in diseases of the ears, nose, and throat). An otolaryngologist will usually use an endoscope (a flexible, lighted tube designed for looking at the larynx) to get a better view of the vocal folds. In some cases, your doctor might recommend special tests to evaluate voice irregularities or vocal airflow.

Hoarseness can have several possible causes and treatments, as described below:

Laryngitis. Laryngitis is one of the most common causes of hoarseness. It can be due to temporary swelling of the vocal folds from a cold, an upper respiratory infection, or allergies. Your doctor will treat laryngitis according to its cause. If it's due to a cold or upper respiratory infection, your doctor might recommend rest, fluids, and nonprescription pain relievers. Allergies might be treated similarly, with the addition of over-the-counter allergy medicines.

Misusing or overusing your voice. Cheering at sporting events, speaking loudly in noisy situations, talking for too long without resting your voice, singing loudly, or speaking with a voice that's too high or too low can cause temporary hoarseness. Resting, reducing voice use, and drinking lots of water should help relieve hoarseness from misuse or overuse. Sometimes people whose jobs depend on their voices—such as teachers, singers, or public speakers—develop hoarseness that won't go away. If you use your voice for a living and you regularly experience hoarseness, your doctor might suggest seeing a speech-language pathologist for voice therapy. In voice therapy, you'll be given vocal exercises and tips for avoiding hoarseness by changing the ways in which you use your voice.

Gastroesophageal reflux (GERD). GERD—commonly called heartburn—can cause hoarseness when stomach acid rises up the throat and irritates the tissues. Usually hoarseness caused by GERD is worse in the morning and improves throughout the day. In some people, the stomach acid rises all the way up to the throat and larynx and irritates the vocal folds. This is called laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR). LPR can happen during the day or night. Some people will have no heartburn with LPR, but they may feel as if they constantly have to cough to clear their throat and they may become hoarse. GERD and LPR are treated with dietary modifications and medications that reduce stomach acid.

Vocal nodules, polyps, and cysts. Vocal nodules, polyps, and cysts are benign (noncancerous) growths within or along the vocal folds. Vocal nodules are sometimes called "singer's nodes" because they are a frequent problem among professional singers. They form in pairs on opposite sides of the vocal folds as the result of too much pressure or friction, much like the way a callus forms on the foot from a shoe that's too tight. A vocal polyp typically occurs only on one side of the vocal fold. A vocal cyst is a hard mass of tissue encased in a membrane sac inside the vocal fold. The most common treatments for nodules, polyps, and cysts are voice rest, voice therapy, and surgery to remove the tissue.

Vocal fold hemorrhage. Vocal fold hemorrhage occurs when a blood vessel on the surface of the vocal fold ruptures and the tissues fill with blood. If you lose your voice suddenly during strenuous vocal use (such as yelling), you may have a vocal fold hemorrhage. Sometimes a vocal fold hemorrhage will cause hoarseness to develop quickly over a short amount of time and only affect your singing but not your speaking voice. Vocal fold hemorrhage must be treated immediately with total voice rest and a trip to the doctor.

Vocal fold paralysis. Vocal fold paralysis is a voice disorder that occurs when one or both of the vocal folds don't open or close properly. It can be caused by injury to the head, neck or chest; lung or thyroid cancer; tumors of the skull base, neck, or chest; or viral infection (for example, Lyme disease). People with certain neurologic conditions such as multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease or who have sustained a stroke may experience vocal fold paralysis. In many cases, however, the cause is unknown. Vocal fold paralysis is treated with voice therapy and, in some cases, surgery. For more information, see the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) fact sheet Vocal Fold Paralysis at www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/pages/vocalparal.aspx.

Neurological diseases and disorders. Neurological conditions that affect areas of the brain that control muscles in the throat or larynx can also cause hoarseness. Hoarseness is sometimes a symptom of Parkinson's disease or a stroke. Spasmodic dysphonia is a rare neurological disease that causes hoarseness and can also affect breathing. Treatment in these cases will depend upon the type of disease or disorder. For more information, read the NIDCD fact sheet Spasmodic Dysphonia at www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/pages/spasdysp.aspx.

Other causes. Thyroid problems and injury to the larynx can cause hoarseness. Hoarseness may sometimes be a symptom of laryngeal cancer, which is why it is so important to see your doctor if you are hoarse for more than three weeks. Read the National Cancer Institute fact sheet What You Need To Know About Cancer of the Larynx at www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/larynx. Hoarseness is also the most common symptom of a disease called recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP), or laryngeal papillomatosis, which causes noncancerous tumors to grow in the larynx and other air passages leading from the nose and mouth into the lungs. Read the NIDCD fact sheet Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis or Laryngeal Papillomatosis at www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/pages/laryngeal.aspx.

(source; National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication disorders)


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