MANUAL CIRCUMLARYNGEAL THERAPY FOR FUNCTIONAL DYSPHONIA - AN EVALUATION OF SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM TREATMENT OUTCOMES

Manual circumlaryngeal therapy (manual laryngeal musculoskeletal tensi on reduction) was used to treat 25 consecutive functional dysphonia pa tients. Pre-and post-treatment audio recordings of connected speech an d sustained vowel samples were submitted to auditory-perceptual and ac oustical analysis to assess the immediate and long-term effects of a s ingle treatment session. To complement audio recordings, subjects were interviewed in follow-up regarding the stability of treatment effects . Pre-and post-treatment comparisons demonstrated significant voice im provements, No significant differences were observed between post-trea tment measures, suggesting that vocal gains were maintained. Interview s revealed 68% of subjects reported occasional partial recurrences, ty pically less than 4 days in duration, which resolved spontaneously. Th ese results replicate and extend previous research suggesting the util ity of manual circumlaryngeal therapy for functional voice disorders.