What are the most frequent voice disorders?
A distinction must be made between organic and functional voice disorders (or dysphonia). The most frequent are functional dysphonia, which are those voice disorders in which there is no anatomical alteration. On the other hand, within the organic dysphonia in which there is an anatomical alteration, vocal nodules stand out, which is undoubtedly the most frequent organic lesion, these occur mainly with voice abuse and in the female sex.
What factors can cause dysphonia?
The most frequent cause is usually the excessive use, or rather, voice abuse, especially in patients who have a bad vocal gesture or a bad speaking technique. There are other factors that can contribute to the development of voice disorders such as smoking, alcohol, gastroesophageal reflux, etc. We must not forget that due to the development of larynx and voice exploration systems, more and more lesions are being diagnosed that are congenital, that is, that the patient has them since birth and they usually appear between the 2nd and 3rd decade of life.
Can there be a disease behind it?
Undoubtedly the most dreaded disease behind a voice disorder is laryngeal cancer, especially in patients who smoke; for this reason it is advisable to have a dysphonia evaluated by an otolaryngologist if it persists after 15 days. Other diseases that can hide are gastroesophageal reflux, a viral papillomatosis, a thyroid lesion paralyzing a vocal cord, etc.
What is the treatment?
There are three types of treatment for a voice disorder:
1.- Medical treatment with antibiotics, cortocoids; anti-inflammatory drugs, mucolytics, etc.
2 .- Rahabilitación speech therapy very important in most voice disorders and are also often used as an adjunct to surgery.
3 .- Surgical treatment is what is called phonosurgery