A Voice disorder is any of a group of problems involving abnormal pitch, loudness or quality of the sounds produced by the larynx (the voice box). Disorders may be due to injury to the

vocal cords

, two bands of muscle in the larynx that vibrate to make sound. Injury may occur from such activities as excessive talking or singing, screaming, constantly clearing the throat or smoking. These can also lead to problems such as nodules and polyps on the vocal cords. Other causes of voice disorders include infections, stomach acid moving up into the throat, growths due to a virus, cancer and diseases that paralyse the vocal cords. Treatment for

voice disorders

varies widely depending on the cause and may include behaviour change, medication and surgery.

Phonosurgery

involves procedures to maintain, restore or enhance the voice. It may include phonomicrosurgery (microsurgery of the vocal folds performed with an endoscope), laryngoplastic phonosurgery (open-neck surgery that restructures the cartilages of the larynx and soft tissues), laryngeal injection (injection of medications into the larynx), and re-innervation (restoration of the nerve supply) of the larynx.