Patients with head and neck problems often experience difficulty with voice, speech and swallowing. The Head and Neck Speech Pathology Service within the Department of Otolaryngology, Tisch Hospital, provides a variety of services to patients with head and neck problems. These services include diagnostic evaluation and intervention designed to help individuals develop effective communication and swallowing skills. These include helping individuals with the following:
articulation problems to learn correct production of speech sounds (such as after oral cancer surgery)
voice problems to improve voice (such as after head and neck cancer)
treatment (e.g., surgery or radiotherapy), vocal cord surgery or voice overuse/misuse)
swallowing problems to improve swallowing safety and efficiency (such as after head and neck cancer treatment (e.g., surgery or radiotherapy) or surgery involving the larynx)
The Head and Neck Speech Pathology Service also teaches skills to enhance communication effectiveness by improving everyday communication skills such as voice pitch, projection, accent and nonverbal communication; and helps people who have had a total laryngectomy to communicate by methods such as using an electrolarynx, learning esophageal speech, or using a voice prosthesis.
Swallowing problems can result from a variety of causes, including head and neck cancer surgery, radiotherapy to the head and neck, vocal cord surgery, neurosurgical, spinal cord, and cardiac surgery, prolonged intubation, acute and progressive neurologic disease, and deconditioning due to prolonged illness. Comprehensive evaluation and treatment of swallowing disorders utilizes x-ray (fluoroscopy). The x-ray assessment (a modified barium swallow (MBS) procedure) includes identification of abnormal swallow physiology and therapeutic techniques to improve swallow efficiency and safety. We specialize in the multidisciplinary approach to evaluation and treatment, with detailed assessment and focused rehabilitation.
