April 16 is World Voice Day, a day when organizations around the world join together to encourage healthy voice habits. This year’s World Voice Day motto is “VO!CE, the original social media,” reminding us that we rely heavily on our voices to communicate—whether at school, work, or play. The American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) has sponsored the United States observance of the day since 2002.
The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) joins AAO-HNS and organizations around the globe to celebrate our voices and encourage good voice habits. In honor of this year’s social media theme, we encourage you to share our infographic with friends and colleagues. Help us spread the word: your voice matters and you can take steps to protect it! For more information about voice and voice disorders, visit the NIDCD website’s health information pages.
Research on Voice Disorders
This World Voice Day and every day, NIDCD-funded researchers are working to better understand voice production and ways to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of voice disorders.
The NIDCD is currently supporting a prospective clinical trial to determine whether voice therapy improves voice-related quality of life for children with vocal fold nodules—small noncancerous growths that form within or along vocal folds. Vocal folds are the two muscular bands of tissue that vibrate when we exhale to create voice. The NIDCD also supports research to identify causes of voice injury and to help scientists better understand both normal voice mechanics and vocal problems caused by spasmodic dysphonia, vocal fold injury, and Parkinson’s disease.
The goal of the NIDCD’s voice research is to improve quality of life for the millions of Americans who have trouble using their voices. By understanding how vocal injuries occur and who is at risk, we may be able to prevent some vocal injuries and discover new and better treatment options for those already affected.