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Understanding Your Voice: Disorder Prevention
Dr. Kimberly Steinhauer
Voices •
4/1/2004
Editor's Note: This volume of Voices offers important information on the care and maintenance of your most important tool — your voice. We’ve invited expert physicians from the field — doctors recommended to us and used by our OPERA America member companies — to share their knowledge with you. In the following article, vocal health experts Clark A. Rosen, M.D., and Kimberly Steinhauer, Ph.D., both of the University of Pittsburgh Voice Center, along with members of the Watergate Voice Consortium, give instruction and advice on protecting your voice from damage and maximizing its potential.
Advisory Note Patient education material presented here does not substitute for medical consultation or examination, nor is this material intended to provide advice on the medical treatment appropriate to any specific circumstances.
Voice health follows overall health. Prevention of voice disorders requires individuals to value all aspects of their voices. Voice health follows the overall health of your body — things that help you stay healthy in general also preserve the quality and function of your voice. Additionally, healthy living can enable improved recovery in the event of a voice disorder.
About the Author: Kimberly Steinhauer, Ph.D., is a singing-voice specialist and received her doctorate in Communication Science and Disorders from the University of Pittsburgh. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Indiana University of
Pennsylvania and a Master of Arts in Speech Communication from The Pennsylvania State University. She has taught vocal music in the elementary through high school grade levels, and has performed extensively in community and professional venues. As a singer highly committed to voice education, Dr. Steinhauer focuses her research on the relationship between teaching techniques and vocal skill learning. Dr. Steinhauer works collaboratively with Clark Rosen, M.D., to tailor vocal exercises and repertoire specifically for singers who have experienced vocal injury.
This article was written by Dr. Steinhauer in collaboration with the principals of the Watergate Voice Consortium: Charles N. Ford, M.D., F.A.C.S.,
Jamie A. Koufman, M.D., Clark Rosen, M.D., Robert Sataloff, M.D., D.M.A., Peak Woo, M.D., and Steven M. Zeitles, M.D., F.A.C.S.. This group of doctors serve as the board of editors for the VoiceProblem.org Web site (www.voiceproblem.org). The Voice Problem Web site is a nonprofit educational Web site funded through the Watergate Voice Foundation. The Web site’s entire purpose is to support patients with voice disorders as they seek healing for more complex, more intractable voice problems.