Many vocal pathologies develop because the singer is using their voice in a less than optimal way, but a vocal fold cyst typically eventuates for all manner of reasons; not necessarily because of anything the singer did or didn’t do.
Vocal fold cysts fall into the organic grouping of voice disorders. A vocal fold cyst is a small sac of fluid that can randomly appear. They can be rather deceptive because a mucus retention cyst, for example, will often swell with vocal use and then reduce in size with vocal rest, leaving the voice user believing they’re voice has ‘healed’. But when the voice is placed under load again, the cyst will swell once more.
The only course of action available to the person with a vocal fold cyst is removal via surgery. Here we see Dr Matthew Broadhurst, a Brisbane based laryngologist surgically removing a cyst from the right vocal fold. While voice therapy will not assist in removal and resolution of a vocal fold cyst, it will most certainly play a major role post-surgery; helping to lessen vocal fold stiffness and potential scarring.
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