What is the treatment for Muscle Tension Dysphonia?
Take our quiz to find out if you may suffer from MTD. This quiz is designed to predict the likelihood that you have some degree of muscle tension dysphonia.
Muscle Tension Dysphonia is diagnosed when someone uses excessive vocal force or compensatory muscles to voice. This results in hoarseness and voice fatigue.
We previously covered causes, symptoms, and treatment options. Here we'll explore steps to reduce muscle tension in your voice and improve your sound.
Step 1) Find tension - Scan your body for tension. Start at the scalp and work your way down the body. Notice any areas that feel tight. Pay attention to which muscles are engaging when you use your voice. Your face, neck, and shoulders should feel loose and relaxed.
Tips:
Check your posture - Is your jaw jutting forward or is your neck properly in line with your spine? Keep a straight spine to create space in the body and reduce compression.
Notice your breathing during voicing. Aim for full, deep breaths for voicing instead of shallow breathing. Deep breaths help reduce strain on the vocal cords.
Step 2) Release tension - Relax and let the tension go. When you are scanning and find an area that feels tight, this is an area that should be released. Tension can be released both mindfully and manually. Mindfully create expansion in the throat by bringing your awareness to the area and relaxing it. You can manually reduce tension by massaging the muscles around the larynx.
Tips:
We recommend you come in for a laryngeal massage performed by our voice therapist or physician.
If you aren’t sure how to release tension, ball your hand up into a fist, squeeze the muscles tightly, and then release. Notice how muscles feel when they are tense vs. relaxed.
Step 3) Retrain use - Let your breath do the work. Take the pressure off of your throat. Healthy voicing should feel relatively effortless in the throat for conversational use. Think of your throat as a passive structure; an open hallway for air. When you voice, let the sound resonate freely throughout your head. Let breath and resonance carry your sound, instead of the muscles in your throat.
Tips:
Maximize breath support - take breaths more frequently if you find yourself straining your vocal cords to reach the end of your sentences.
Use all of the air available to you - engage your abs at the end of the exhale to carry your voice to the end of your sentence, instead of pushing from your throat.
Training in voice exercises is a great way to find and maintain a healthy voice. This is best done through voice therapy.
Step 4) Rehearse it - Practice using this new, relaxed voice and make it a habit. Start on some gentle hums. Once you harness the feeling of a relaxed, open throat, progress it into words, phrases, and sentences. Over time, the reduction of muscle tension in your throat should improve your voice quality and alleviate strain and discomfort.
Tip:
Be patient with yourself. It takes time to train a new way of voicing.
A voice therapist is a speech pathologist with specialty training in voice rehabilitation. Schedule an appointment with our voice therapy team for treatment.
Interested in working with the best professionals in LA for voice care and rehabilitation?
Meet Dr. Gupta, the top voice doctor in LA, and Tressa Cox, the leading voice therapist specializing in voice rehabilitation.
Learn more about their expertise and services at the Center for Vocal Health.
