Is it possible to permanently change your voice

Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Occasional vocal cord injury usually heals on its own. However, those who chronically overuse or misuse their voices run the risk of doing permanent damage, says voice care specialist Claudio Milstein, PhD. Milstein says. Your doctor may prescribe treatment beyond rest and behavior modification, including antibiotics, steroids and anti-reflux medication.

For example, a teacher who has surgery to repair vocal damage and then quickly returns to teaching full time is likely to develop problems again. You need to allow time for your vocal folds to heal before returning to full voice use. Your doctor examines your vocal cords during this time to make sure the vocal cords are healing. When this has occurred, your doctor may recommend voice therapy once a week for four to six weeks.

Your speech-language pathologist will work with you to help prevent vocal misuse and vocal damage. Surgeries for voice feminization focus on raising habitual speaking pitch by reducing the ability to produce a low-pitched voice. This means that surgery will reduce the overall pitch range of your voice. Although vocal cord scarring can alter a singing voice, it can also do far more extensive damage.

Can you permanently change your voice? This will make it easier to figure out how to change it. If you have a speech disorder , working with a speech therapist will help.

Speech disorders can include difficulties with articulation, such as lisping, or difficulties with fluency, such as stuttering. If you wish to make your voice more powerful, eliminate an accent, or improve the overall quality of your speaking voice, working with a vocal coach, either in person or online, can help.

A voice coach will help you learn how to shape vowels and consonants differently and isolate various elements of speech. You can find a speech therapist or a voice coach through the Voice and Speech Trainers Association. There are a number of surgical procedures that can lower or raise the pitch of your voice. They include:. If you want to be your own vocal coach, there are voice exercises you can do at home.

First, you need to know how your voice actually sounds. Your voice may sound different to you than it does to everyone else. The sound your voice makes is transmitted into your eardrums via air, where it vibrates three tiny bones: the malleus, incus, and stapes. It then travels to your cochlea and, ultimately, to your brain. While this is happening, the vibrations from your vocal cords propel sound directly to the cochlea.

For that reason, it makes sense to record your voice first. To identify the differences in your speaking patterns, experts recommend recording your voice in multiple scenarios, such as:. Evidence shows that you can manipulate your voice to have more accurate pitch. There are many books , including audiobooks on vocal training, which include warmup exercises and tips. You may find that it helps to emulate a voice you like. To do this, make sure to listen carefully to the enunciation, tone, pitch, and timbre of that voice.

Vocal cords age just like the rest of the body. To keep yours healthy and optimized, try these tips:. When you speak or sing, the process that creates your voice starts with your lungs.

If your lung capacity is diminished, your voice may sound weak. Your ribs, diaphragm, and abdominal muscles provide physical power to force air out of the lungs and into the trachea and larynx, which holds your vocal cords. The air flows between your vocal cords, making them vibrate. Your voice, like all sound, is energy made by vibrating air particles. Your pitch is determined by the number of vibrations your vocal cords make.

This is referred to as frequency. Fewer vibrations generate a lower pitch. More vibrations generate a higher pitch. The vibrations propel the particles of air to continue traveling to your mouth and sinuses, where your voice acquires resonance, tone, and the uniqueness of your own particular sound.