Professional Voice Users

An occupational or professional voice user is anyone whose voice is essential to their job. We are all accustomed to thinking of singers, actors, and broadcast personalities as professional voice users, but this also applies to teachers, clergy, salespeople, courtroom attorneys, telemarketers, receptionists, and countless other professions that rely heavily on the voice.

Vocal problems can be functional, such as overuse, abuse, or misuse of the voice. They can also be caused by physiologic changes brought on by environmental exposure (allergies), alterations in hormones, or other systemic conditions that can adversely affect the voice such as acid reflux disease (GERD), acute infectious laryngitis, and benign vocal fold masses.

There are three main treatments used for vocal problems. Behavioral treatment refers to speaking and singing therapy.  Another option is medical treatment, which treats allergies, reflux, dryness, and things of that nature. Lastly, in some cases, surgical treatment may be an option. Your otolaryngologist can help decide which treatment option is right for you. The UConn Voice and Speech clinic has three voice trained speech pathologists, two of whom are singing/acting specialists.