Voice Thickening

What is Loudness?

Sound has 3 characteristics: loudness, intensity and timbre. The sound characteristic that causes a sound to be characterized as thin or thick is the loudness of the sound (pitch). If the frequency of sound waves is high, the sound is thin, if it is low, the sound is thick. The loudness of the sound depends on 3 different qualities of the vocal cords:

• Length of the vocal cords: As the length of the vocal cords shortens, the amount and frequency of vibration increases. As the frequency increases, the sound becomes thinner.
• Thickness of the vocal cords: As the vocal cords become thinner, the amount and frequency of vibration increases. The sound becomes thinner.
• Tension of the Vocal Cords: As the vocal cords are stretched, the amount and frequency of vibration increases. The sound becomes thinner.

The fundamental frequency of sound is expected to be below 120 Hz in healthy men and above 150 Hz in healthy women.

What is Voice Thickening?

Most people want to change their voice tones that are not suitable for their gender, status or physical characteristics with aesthetic interventions. Voice thickening operations are usually requested by men who are psychologically affected by having a thin voice, people with a voice that is too thin to be compatible with their appearance and gender due to a previous vocal cord trauma, and people with congenital vocal cord sulcus vocalis problems.

During puberty, the pitch and quality of the voice begin to change due to the development of the organs that provide voice formation under the influence of growth and hormones. These changes are much more pronounced in boys than in girls. During adolescence, voice problems such as pitch and voice breaks, instability and hoarseness can be seen. Although there is no problem in the structure of the larynx, the voice may not thicken but remain thin. No surgical intervention is applied in this disease called mutational falsetto or puberphonia. Recovery is usually achieved with a single 30-40 minute session of voice therapy.

In parallel with the developments in the field of medicine, the height of the human voice can be changed with some surgical interventions. During these operations, the desired changes can be made in the vocal cords and the voice can be restructured through intervention through the mouth or through small incisions (incision) in the neck.

In order to thicken the human voice, it is necessary to lengthen, thicken or reduce the tension of the vocal cords.

How is Voice Thickening Surgery performed?

Voice thickening is a surgical intervention in which changes and adjustments are made in the vocal cords, in other words, in the vocal folds, in order to thicken the voice by reducing the voice frequency. Different surgical techniques can be applied:

Tiroplasti Tip 3 (Isshiki Thyroplasty Type III – Relaxation): It is one of the commonly used techniques. With the help of a small incision made in the front lower part of the neck, the edges of the vocal fold are loosened and the loudness / pitch is reduced. In this way, the voice becomes thicker. It is mostly applied under local anesthesia and sufficient thickening is achieved by allowing the patient to hear the structuring of the voice during the operation.
Voice thickening surgeries are mostly painless and the patient is discharged on the same day. A one-week vocal rest is generally recommended after the operation. It takes 3-5 months for the voice to fully settle. During this period, voice therapy support helps to achieve the result faster.

Voice aesthetic surgeries are not ordinary surgical interventions. For this reason, it should be performed by a specialist experienced in voice diseases and surgery.

If you are also experiencing problems with your thin voice and want your voice to become thicker, you can contact us using our contact information.