Louisville Center For Voice Care
Is the only recognized interdisciplinary voice care team in the greater Louisville area, providing state-of-the-art assessment and treatment of voice, upper airway and swallowing disorders.
Your voice is important to us at Louisville Center for Voice Care. Regardless of how you use your voice, our interdisciplinary team strives to provide you with personalized, effective and research-based care when you need it most. Call to schedule your appointment.

Services
Our team of experienced speech-language pathologists together with our fellowship trained laryngologist are the only multi-disciplinary voice care team in the region. This allows us to evaluate and treat voice disorders, upper airway problems and dysphagia (swallowing difficulty) in the most efficient and effective manner with your goals and interest at the forefront of all decisions.
Voice Disorders
Voice disorders can occur for a number of different reasons and require careful, thorough evaluation to ensure that appropriate treatment is employed.

Voice Evaluation
Our speech pathologists have received specialized training in the evaluation and treatment of voice disorders, making us uniquely equipped to help you understand and treat your voice disorder. Members of our team have also conducted and presented research in the field with the intent to improve our understanding of the voice and provide the best clinical services possible. We welcome voice users of all kinds!

Voice Therapy
The voice is an essential part of communication. For many, voice is an essential part of their employment and work. At any one time, about 3 to 9 percent of the population is experiencing a voice disorder, though the incidence is much higher among heavy voice users. These include teachers, singers, lawyers, clergy, salespeople and public speakers. Our therapists have been providing voice therapy for over 20 years. We strive to help you understand your voice and to equip you with tools to improve and treat your voice problem. With experience treating singers, teachers, news broadcasters and other professional voice users, we are able and prepared to help you care for your voice.

High-Definition Videostroboscopy
Louisville Center for Voice Care was the first in the region to utilize high-definition videostroboscopy for the evaluation of voice disorders. Stroboscopy is an imaging technique that allows the clinician to sync the patient’s frequency of vibration (pitch) with a strobe light. The strobe effect permits the clinician to view vibration of the vocal folds in a simulated slow-motion view. This allows for more detailed analysis of the vibratory behavior of the vocal folds and is often useful in revealing the underlying problem for a voice disorder.

Professional Voice Care
Is your voice essential for completing your work duties? Whether you are a singer, actor, lawyer, doctor, teacher or receptionist, you are considered a “professional voice user.”

Professional Therapy
At Louisville Center for Voice Care, our therapists are trained to work with those who depend on their voices for their jobs. We know your voice is important to you and we strive to provide individualized care to meet your unique needs.

Multi-disciplinary Care
At Louisville Center for Voice Care, patients will experience treatment from multiple providers on their first visit, including a physician and a speech language pathologist who specialize in voice disorders. These providers will diagnose and treat your voice disorder by offering a comprehensive voice evaluation using specialized equipment and techniques such as videostroboscopy, Phonatory Aerodynamic System® analysis / laryngeal function studies and laryngeal manipulation. Multidisciplinary treatment is the standard of care for voice disorders and the voice center has also partnered with other healthcare professionals in other disciplines such as gastroenterology and allergy to help diagnose and treat vocal issues.


Swallowing
Swallowing is an essential function to life. It is what allows us to eat and receive the nutrition we need. When swallowing goes wrong, it can lead to weight loss, aspiration (food/liquid going into the lungs) and/or pneumonia.

Swallowing Evaluation
Swallowing disorders can happen for a number of different reasons. Any swallowing difficulties, including coughing, choking or the feeling of food getting stuck should be shared with your doctor. Our therapists are equipped with specialized knowledge and training to evaluate and treat a variety of swallowing disorders. We regularly perform clinical bedside swallowing evaluations and Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES).

Swallowing Therapy
Establishing a safe swallow is essential to remaining healthy and nourished. If you have a swallowing problem (dysphagia), swallowing therapy may be indicated. This therapy often focuses on using compensatory maneuvers while eating and strengthening exercises to elicit a stronger swallow.
Breathing and Cough
Our group of speech pathologists are trained to evaluate and treat Paradoxical Vocal Fold Movement.

Paradoxical Vocal Fold Motion [PVFM]
Paradoxical Vocal Fold Movements (PVFM), also known by other names, such as Exercise Induced Laryngeal Obstruction (EILO), Induced Laryngeal Obstruction (ILO) and Vocal Cord Dysfunction (VCD), is a laryngeal movement disorder in which the vocal folds come together during inhalation rather than pulling apart as they normally would. This causes an obstruction in the airway and can make a person feel short of breath with difficulty getting air in. It may also be accompanied by a noise and often does not respond to inhalers. Often mistaken for asthma, PVFM is a movement disorder that requires careful and thorough examination.

Chronic Cough
Chronic cough can have a multitude of causes and often originates from disorders of the throat. A comprehensive evaluation of the head and neck region, with special attention to the larynx is an essential component to aiding in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic cough. Several treatments can be offered aimed at controlling a laryngeal cause of chronic cough.


Gender-affirming Voice Care
Voice is the foundation of our ability to communicate effectively. If an individual does not feel their voice reflects their gender expression, this can create significant and devastating impacts on one’s ability to communicate and express themselves genuinely. Our clinic provides gender-affirming voice therapy by certified speech language pathologists who are trained and proficient in providing voice modification services for our gender-diverse clients. The SLP, in collaboration with the client, assesses a variety of aspects of verbal and nonverbal communication, such as vocal pitch, intonation, voice quality, resonance, fluency, articulation, pragmatics and non-verbal vocalization, such as laughing or coughing (ASHA).

Group Therapy
Our clinic is now pleased to offer periodic group sessions for our gender affirming voice patients!

Teletherapy
We know that traveling to appointments can sometimes be a hassle. That is why we offer telehealth services! To best fit your needs, we offer voice therapy sessions over Zoom for patients who reside in the state of Kentucky. Ask your speech-language pathologist for more information if you are interested in completing sessions online.

Professional Therapy
At Louisville Center for Voice Care, our therapists are trained to work with those who depend on their voices for their jobs. We know your voice is important to you and we strive to provide individualized care to meet your unique needs.
Assessment
At the Louisville Center for Voice Center, we provide an individualized treatment plan based on the results of our advanced diagnostic testing for voice problems.

Stroboscopy
Stroboscopy is a way to examine the vibratory nature of the vocal cords. This is a detailed image of the vibration of the vocal folds that is not visible to the naked eye. The technique uses a strobe light that is linked to the frequency of the patient’s voice. When a person utters a tone, the light flashes at a frequency that is close to that of the person’s voice.
The result is a set of images that mimic the vibration of the vocal cords. Doctors use this information to diagnose and evaluate the vocal cords for the presence of cancer, scar tissue or stiffness, as well as muscle tone.
Voice Analysis
Hoarseness is often a complicated condition to evaluate because vocal changes can be very subtle. We use a series of tests to analyze your voice and help determine the cause. We are able to capture recordings of your voice and use our experience and state of the art equipment to analyze the voice signal and obtain perceptual/acoustic and aerodynamic measures of the voice. This analysis provides objective information on your vocal quality and helps us determine optimal areas for improvement.
