ENTtoday
  • Home
  • COVID-19
  • Practice Focus
    • Allergy
    • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
    • Head and Neck
    • Laryngology
    • Otology/Neurotology
    • Pediatric
    • Rhinology
    • Sleep Medicine
  • Departments
    • Issue Archive
    • TRIO Best Practices
      • Allergy
      • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
      • Head and Neck
      • Laryngology
      • Otology/Neurotology
      • Pediatric
      • Rhinology
      • Sleep Medicine
    • Career Development
    • Case of the Month
    • Everyday Ethics
    • Health Policy
    • Legal Matters
    • Letter From the Editor
    • Medical Education
    • Online Exclusives
    • Practice Management
    • Resident Focus
    • Rx: Wellness
    • Special Reports
    • Tech Talk
    • Viewpoint
    • What’s Your O.R. Playlist?
  • Literature Reviews
    • Allergy
    • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
    • Head and Neck
    • Laryngology
    • Otology/Neurotology
    • Pediatric
    • Rhinology
    • Sleep Medicine
  • Events
    • Featured Events
    • TRIO Meetings
  • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
    • Triological Society
    • Advertising Staff
    • Subscribe
  • Advertise
    • Place an Ad
    • Classifieds
    • Rate Card
  • Search

Management of the Aging Voice

by Alice Goodman • March 1, 2008

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version

Voice therapy usually is sufficient to improve glottic insufficiency for most patients; however, some people may need more invasive help to close a particularly large gap in the vocal folds or because of the failure of voice therapy to provide adequate improvement to meet the needs of the patient.

You Might Also Like

No related posts.

Explore This Issue
March 2008

Surgery

The fourth and final step in the voice lift therapy process, according to Dr. Sataloff’s schema, is surgery. There are several approaches to surgery, but the basic principle of all of them is to bring the vocal folds closer together, so that when people exert minimal effort, instead of having a gap and flabby partial closure, they have good, firm, redundant closure for a little effort, said Dr. Sataloff.

Two main surgical approaches are used to bring the vocal folds together: injection laryngoplasty or thyroplasty. The most common first approach used is injection therapy, in which filler such as collagen, fat, or hydroxyapatite is injected into the larynx to bulk up the vocal folds. Thyroplasty is often used to correct large vocal fold gaps, and consists of an implant placed through a small incision in the neck to compress the laryngeal tissues. According to Dr. Sataloff, it takes a great deal of skill and experience to determine when to use which approach.

If someone has vocal folds that are almost completely closed and just a little gap and flabbiness and a lack of resistance, then often injecting a little filler to bulk up the vocal folds is the ideal methodology, he said. Although, he said, a disadvantage of this approach is the frequent need to repeat the procedure several times to obtain permanent closure, he also emphasized the need at times to intentionally use only temporary fillers.

If you’re not sure how a filler will work or if the patient is not certain he or she wants it done, there are temporary substances that we can inject that are gone in anywhere from five weeks to six months, depending on what we choose to inject, he said, adding that temporary fillers are also good for patients with temporary vocal fold paralysis who cannot wait for their voice to recover on its own, such as radio announcers.

Thyroplasty, or external implants, he observed, is often reserved for people with large vocal fold gaps, although this approach too has complications, including shifting implants and, more rarely, infection or rejection.

©2008 The Triological Society

Pages: 1 2 3 4 | Single Page

Filed Under: Departments, Laryngology, Medical Education, Practice Focus Tagged With: geriatrics, patient communication, patient satisfaction, Quality, surgery, therapy, treatment, vocal foldsIssue: March 2008

You Might Also Like:

The Triological SocietyENTtoday is a publication of The Triological Society.

The Laryngoscope
Ensure you have all the latest research at your fingertips; Subscribe to The Laryngoscope today!

Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology
Open access journal in otolaryngology – head and neck surgery is currently accepting submissions.

Classifieds

View the classified ads »

TRIO Best Practices

View the TRIO Best Practices »

Top Articles for Residents

  • Do Training Programs Give Otolaryngology Residents the Necessary Tools to Do Productive Research?
  • Why More MDs, Medical Residents Are Choosing to Pursue Additional Academic Degrees
  • What Physicians Need to Know about Investing Before Hiring a Financial Advisor
  • Tips to Help You Regain Your Sense of Self
  • Should USMLE Step 1 Change from Numeric Score to Pass/Fail?
  • Popular this Week
  • Most Popular
  • Most Recent
    • The Dramatic Rise in Tongue Tie and Lip Tie Treatment
    • Some Studies Predict a Shortage of Otolaryngologists. Do the Numbers Support Them?
    • Vertigo in the Elderly: What Does It Mean?
    • Neurogenic Cough Is Often a Diagnosis of Exclusion
    • Complications for When Physicians Change a Maiden Name
    • Vertigo in the Elderly: What Does It Mean?
    • New Developments in the Management of Eustachian Tube Dysfunction
    • Some Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Resists PPI Treatment
    • The Dramatic Rise in Tongue Tie and Lip Tie Treatment
    • Eustachian Tuboplasty: A Potential New Option for Chronic Tube Dysfunction and Patulous Disease
    • Tympanoplasty Tips: Otology Experts Give Advice on the Procedure
    • How Treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) Is Evolving to Give Patients a Better Night’s Sleep
    • Vestibular Schwannoma Position Relative to Internal Auditory Canal Helps Predict Postoperative Facial Function
    • Vocal Fold Lipoaugmentation Provides Long-Term Voice Improvements for Glottal Insufficiency
    • Upper Lateral Cartilage Mucosal Flap Enables the Successful Closure of Larger Septal Perforations

Polls

Do you think there will be a shortage of otolaryngologists in the next five to 10 years?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
  • Polls Archive
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Visit: The Triological Society • The Laryngoscope • Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology

Wiley
© 2022 The Triological Society. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN 1559-4939

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.