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Voice and Swallowing

Voice Conditions

Contact Information
 
1 S. Park Clinic
(608) 287-2500
 
UW Hospital
(608) 263-6190
 
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talking on the phoneThe voice experts at UW Health are internationally recognized for excellence in research, diagnosis and treatment of a wide variety of voice disorders.
 
Our holistic approach to voice care recognizes the wide range of factors that can affect vocal function, and is enhanced by our close collaboration with colleagues in other medical specialties.
 
Patients visit UW Health physicians to discuss concerns related to their voice. These concerns often focus on the sound of the patient's voice, their ability to project their voice (speak loudly), the amount of physical effort required to speak or sing, or a combination of these issues. An accurate diagnosis is critical to understanding how these symptoms interact with each other, and to determine how to correct the problem.
 
We enjoy an international reputation for excellence in providing highly specialized care for professional and amateur singers and actors, as well as other professional voice users such as teachers, broadcasters, salespeople, clergy and others.
 
Voice Concerns
 
Common voice concerns include:
  • Hoarseness
  • Scratchy, weak or breathy voice
  • Difficulty with loudness
  • Pain or discomfort with speaking or singing
  • Change in singing voice
  • Increased effort to talk
  • Frequent laryngitis
  • Voice fatigue (worsening voice quality or discomfort with voice use)
  • Changes in voice after trauma or surgery to the neck, throat or larynx

Voice disorders can be caused by a variety of factors and are frequently related to vocal nodules, polyps, cysts, granulomas, cancer, papilloma, vocal fold paralysis, vocal edema (swelling), muscle tension dysphonia or other changes to the vocal folds and how they move.

 

We also evaluate voice problems related to:

Conditions

Treatments and Services

 

The health care providers at our voice clinics provide a wide range of general and specialized care for the voice. We recognize that the voice is quite a complicated function that can affect swallowing, breathing and speaking. Through an initial evaluation, our staff will determine the best approach to care for your voice concerns:

Our team is at the forefront of providing in-office treatments for many voice, resonance and airway conditions. In-office treatments are more comfortable and convenient for the patient, and do not require being taken to the operating room.

 

Office-based upper airway procedures are routinely performed using only topical anesthesia, sparing the patient a trip to the operating room. This option allows patients to miss less work and avoid the added costs associated with anesthesia.

 

In-office procedures include:

  • Laryngotracheoscopy (airway exam)
  • Transnasal esophogoscopy (TNE)
  • Laryngoscopy
  • Pulsed-dye Laser
  • Hollow-core Laser
  • Injection medialization procedures

Surgical procedures include:

Other treatments and services include:
  • Diagnosis and treatment of voice and velopharyngeal disorders
  • Diagnosis and treatment of chronic cough and vocal cord dysfunction

Professional and Performing Voice Programs