I Love My
Voice You
Have Been
Diagnosed
With a Voice
Disorder.
Should You
Consider
Vocal
Surgery?
by Diana Yampolsky
When somebody suddenly experiences
difficulties with their speaking or singing
voice, they usually get really concerned,
but are still hoping that the problem will
go away by itself. Weeks, and sometimes
months, will pass and the voice problem
not only hasn’t gone away, but has actually
become worse.
This person ends up trying to push their
voice harder and harder to make it work
the way it used to, not realizing that it is
doing more harm than it’s worth.
Eventually, after they seem to have tried
everything, they end up getting a referral
to an ENT specialist, hoping that the specialist will shed light on their problem and
offer them a quick and “magical” fix.
And yes, after the diagnosis, especially
with polyps, nodes, nodules, or cysts, the
ENT specialist usually offers a quick laser
or scalpel operation to remove the growth
on their vocal cords or their throats.
That operation seemed to also be offered
to Joan Rivers, who evidently had some
problems with her vocal cords, as she
was sounding more raspy and hoarse
in recent years. She was obviously
concerned with her speaking voice, as
her livelihood was depending on it, and
rightfully so.
One might ask, should she have considered a non-surgical way of fixing her voice
problem first, especially given her age
and the numerous other surgeries she
had been through?
The answer is most probably yes, but
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that would require the time, energy, and
money; although in her case, the latter
probably would not matter.
Like many people today, she was living
her life at a fast pace and probably did
not want to allocate the time to thoroughly
investigate what could have been done
with regards to fixing her voice in a less
invasive manner.
Surgery of any sort carries a risk and
could cost you your life. Here in Canada,
I was friends with Bella Kovarsky, the first
Ballet teacher of one of the greatest dancers of all time, Mikhail Baryshnikov. She
was the founder of the Bayview School of
Ballet, here in Toronto.
In the year 2000, Bella Kovarsky died
suddenly during what was supposed to be
a very mundane and simple procedure (a
type of appendix removal). Her death was
not only sad but completely unexpected.
Nobody could have predicted such a
tragic end for this wonderful and talented
individual who dedicated all of her life to
ballet and great choreography.
Both Bella and Joan’s surgeries were
thought to be simple procedures, and yet
both of these very talented people did not
survive this simple invasion. Any surgical
invasion, even those in outpatient facilities
(like the one where Joan Rivers’s surgery
took place) can be dangerous and could
easily end your life.
So, in my opinion, especially concerning
vocal problems (since it is in my field of
expertise), I would try everything non-surgically first and then, if there is no way to
fix the voice naturally and holistically, turn
to a surgical procedure.
To conclude:
If you love your voice and yourself for that
matter, please do not hesitate to spend
the time to research the best alternative
care and try absolutely everything possible to conquer your problem naturally,
scalpel-less, and laser-less for that matter.
About the Author
Diana Yampolsky is the one of the world’s
foremost specialists on the topic of the
human voice and is the creator of Vocal
Science, a unique and truly revolutionary
accelerated vocal development technique
that is trademarked with the government
of Canada. It is a holistic and scientific
approach to voice mechanics that enables
all singers to reach their full potential in
an extremely short period of time. Proven
results are guaranteed in 10 hours for
beginners and even less for semi-professionals and professionals.
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