Hypernasal Speech

Let your voice be clear- Get Treated for Hypernasal Speech

Speech is a necessary attribute that defnes a human. It is among the few things in which we stand alone from other species that we share this world with. Speech is often produced while exhalation of air from lungs combined with some actions involving vocal cords and resonance of the exhaled air from mouth and nose. Such air is then shaped into proper speech using the movement of tongue and lips.

Hypernasal speech It is a speech disorder in which the airfow during exhalation increases while speaking and the increased airfow causes a nasal obstruction which afects the resonance of the voice.

The condition mostly afects children. They encounter an excess airfow out of their nose while talking and it seriously afects their pronunciation. The afected child usually cannot pronounce vowels at all and have difculties in pronouncing certain consonants also.

This happens due to velopharyngeal insufciencyc lack of coordination in proper closing of nasal and vocal gap due to abnormal functions of the soft palates of the walls of pharynx or velopharyngeal incompetencec improper closing of nasal and vocal gap due anatomic abnormalities of the walls of pharynx or sometimesc the child is yet to learn to speak properly can also show the symptoms of hypernasal speech.

Diagnosis • Mirror techniquec a method in which the speech therapist will hold a mirror under the nose of the child. When the child is speakingc the

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condition of hypernasality is determined by the density of fog caught on the mirror A speech therapist records the perceptual speech of the afected child and identifes possible speech abnormalities of the child Nasometry can be used to analyze the airfow through the nose and pharynx of the afected child Nasopharyngeal endoscopy can be done while the child is speaking to monitor the movements of the vocal cord and pharyngeal walls Pressure fow techniques can be employed in the velopharyngeal openings to determine the intensity of an airfow

Treatment Speech therapy Speech therapy involves in analyzing of the nasal airfow of an afected child and training to overcome the situation of hypernasal speech.

Continuous speech therapy also strengthens the muscles around the vocal cords and walls of the pharynx leading to a complete cure of this condition. An ENT specialist in India usually assists in speech therapy of an afected child.

Speech therapy involvesc • For limited symptomsc the child can be taught to speak with closing the nosec the pressure created while doing so will regulate the airfow. Then the child can be taught to speak properly without closing the nose to organize speech • The afected child be trained with opening the mouth wide while practicing speech • Altering the usual volume and tone of the afected child will manage airfow out of the nostril • Raising the awareness regarding how speech is produced and how to speak certain words properly towards the afected child can be rendered useful • Getting the children to imitate various speech responses will make them understand the words properly and help them to speak freely Surgery Surgical treatments can be opted during certain worst-case scenarios or if the speech therapy does not work. Surgeries can be done for older children to ensure cooperation and complete development of the pharyngeal walls. There are two types of surgeries performed for the cases of hypernasal speechc P fap surgery for vertical cleft palates of the pharyngeal walls and sphincter pharyngoplasty for horizontal cleft palates of the pharyngeal walls