Loud and Clear: Voice Care Center Opens
The waiting rooms of the voice specialists at Duke Clinic may be filled with a motley crew: drill sergeants and choir soloists, attorneys and “American Idol” hopefuls, actors, professors and lung transplant patients.

Some are professionals who rely on their voices for their careers; some are patients with complex voice, swallowing and airway disorders; some are patients who have experienced a change in their voice that impedes their usual social and professional activities.

The new Duke Voice Care Center coordinates vocal care expertise to help all of these patients prevent and treat voice problems and use their voices well.

The center staff includes three otolaryngologists, three speech pathologists and a singing voice specialist who are all skilled in addressing a range of illnesses and disorders, from neurological disorders and cancer to benign lesions.

The center’s team has access to the latest diagnostic tools to examine the vocal cords and identify a range of complex conditions that may interfere with voice quality, pitch and loudness. Patients learn exercises and how to take care of their voice to help restore and maintain their voice quality. Professional vocalists can also learn new ways to improve the quality and projection of their voices.

“At the Voice Care Center, we treat the patient’s voice to restore their confidence in daily communication,” says David Witsell, M.D., a Duke otolaryngologist. “People often think there’s nothing that can be done for their voices. It does take an interdisciplinary team to properly treat a disorder, but our patients are often astonished with the results.”

For more information, call the Duke Voice Care Center at 919-681-4984.