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Voice Health Management in Sports Occupational Voice Users

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Voice Disorders in Athletes, Coaches and other Sports Professionals

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Abstract

With the emergence of the multidisciplinary approach to the management of patients with voice disorders, nonsurgical “conservative” voice management has gained popularity as a primary treatment option in sports occupational voice users (SOVU) and others with dysphonia. The most commonly adopted strategies are vocal hygiene therapy (VHT), vocal function exercises (VFE), and voice amplification (VA). Vocal hygiene therapy (VHT) stresses voice health education, nontraumatic phonatory behavior, and lifestyle behavioral modifications, whereas VFE includes supervised voice training to reduce laryngeal muscle tension and imbalance and improve the coordination between oscillation (vocal fold vibration), respiration, and resonance to optimize phonation. VA aims to decrease vocal dose by amplifying the voice, using either via a stationary or portable system. Although VA does not address the laryngeal behavior directly, it is still an alternative treatment strategy in SOVU with or without dysphonia, and it can be used in combination with VHT and VFE.

This chapter provides a scientific review of the usefulness of the above voice health strategies in other professional voice users (such as teachers and singers) with dysphonia. The same therapeutic strategies are applicable to SOVU. Proper education and training of coaches and sports instructors, periodic inspection of sports equipment, and proper implementation of athletic regulations also are essential in the prevention of sports-related voice injuries.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon

    Abdul-Latif Hamdan

  2. Adjunct Professor, Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Abdul-Latif Hamdan

  3. Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Robert Thayer Sataloff & Mary J. Hawkshaw

  4. Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, Wynnewood, PA, USA

    Robert Thayer Sataloff

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  1. Abdul-Latif Hamdan
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  2. Robert Thayer Sataloff
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  3. Mary J. Hawkshaw
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Correspondence to Abdul-Latif Hamdan .

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Hamdan, AL., Sataloff, R.T., Hawkshaw, M.J. (2021). Voice Health Management in Sports Occupational Voice Users. In: Voice Disorders in Athletes, Coaches and other Sports Professionals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69831-7_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69831-7_11

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