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The Voice Lift: Should vocal fold surgery be considered a cosmetic procedure?

by Tom Valeo •

The elements that go into the voice lift evolved in large part from the treatment of singers who had strained their voices in some way. “The problems of singers are merely exaggerations of problems everyone can have,” Dr. Sataloff said. “Professional singers are analogous to Olympic athletes: If you can take care of them with their high level of demands and self-analysis, you can take care of the weekend warriors.”

Like singers, anyone who undergoes a voice lift must commit to strengthening and exercising the vocal apparatus. Dr. Sataloff, a professional singer who has a doctorate in music and voice performance, has his own vocal workout. “I practice scales every single day for at least 5 to 10 minutes,” he said. “My scales are recorded on a CD. If all else fails, I do them in my car on the way to work. I’ve studied singing for more than 30 years, so I pay close attention to my own voice.”

Tom Valeo is a freelance writer based in St. Petersburg, Fla.

A Patient’s Experience

Just as cosmetic plastic surgery evolved from the treatment of war wounds, so the voice lift has evolved from the treatment of vocal damage, with professional singers the most frequently wounded.

Frank Whiting, of Glen Ellyn, Ill., did not consider himself a professional singer when he recognized he needed help. “I would call myself a semi-pro,” said Whiting, 50, an executive recruiter who also spends a lot of time talking on the phone. “Singing was a hobby, not my vocation. I was untrained. I was doing about 50 dates a year, maybe more, both as a solo artist and in a band—classic rock, country, folk style, contemporary Christian.”

One typical week he had a Thursday night solo gig, followed by a band date on Saturday night and a church performance on Sunday. “I pushed too hard,” Whiting said. “The harder it became for me, the harder I pushed. A few days later, as the hoarseness I expected subsided, my throat started to feel incredibly dry. I couldn’t get humidified no matter how much I drank or how much time I spent in the steam room.”

When the dryness didn’t pass, Whiting went to see Robert Bastian, MD, at the Bastian Voice Institute in nearby Downers Grove, Ill. Dr. Bastian diagnosed a hemorrhagic polyp—a problem that could be corrected easily with surgery. But Whiting wasn’t ready for surgery.