Conservative approaches to the management of voice disorders

The presence of a voice disorder not only affects social interaction but potentially also has a major impact on the work environment. The latter is becoming more important given the increasing demands employers make in terms of competency in both communication skills and adequacy of phonation. The development of newer and more precise phono-microsurgical techniques for the treatment of an increasing variety of voice disorders has not entirely replaced a conservative approach to voice rehabilitation. Nevertheless, conservative methods have to demonstrate an higher effectiveness in comparison with the microsurgical intervention given the alternative indications. This would be especially true for the more specific and systematically a given individual glottic pathophysiology could be changed in direction of individual phonatory physiology or supplementary phonation mechanism. This desired changing depends not only on the theoretical concepts but also on maintaining strict therapeutic principles during their clinical application. Conservative management of voice disorders has to be intensive and comprehensive, especially in the case of accepting our model of Larnygeal Double Phonation Function and the existence of a phonatory feedback loop.