Dr. Chang Quoted in the Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal on 3/15/13 published a story on how voice therapy and vocal surgery can dramatically improve a person's vocal quality... seemingly taking years away from how you sound.

In this story, Dr. Chang was quoted a few times and even included a patient he has treated successfully with voice surgery to restore his voice.

In regards to how aging can create muscle atrophy and bowing resulting in:

"It creates a breathy, raspy voice," says Christopher Y. Chang, an otolaryngologist at Fauquier Ear, Nose & Throat Consultants in Warrenton, Va.

Later in the WSJ article, surgical intervention is discussed and introduced Mr. James Driver, a Warrenton, VA jewelry repair storeowner who Dr. Chang treated:

"In the procedure, called injection augmentation of the vocal folds, a doctor threads an endoscope through the patient's nose or mouth into the throat, then injects a tiny amount of collagen, fat, hyaluronic acid or a gel filler into the vocal cords to plump them up. The substances usually last three to six months. If the procedure works, a doctor may recommend inserting silicon or Gore-Tex implants to fatten the cords permanently.

In 2011, James Driver was felled by an episode of temporary paralysis that left one of his vocal cords frozen. The 57-year-old owner of a Virginia jewelry-repair business worked with a therapist and did throat exercises on his own, but he could only manage a whisper. "You had to be right next to him with your ear to his mouth" to hear him, says his wife, Erin.

The couple sought out Dr. Chang, who recommended an injection. The day after the procedure, Mr. Driver was speaking at near regular volume. A year later, he's still going strong, though he hears his own voice as being slightly raspier than it used to be. "It made a huge difference," Mrs. Driver says."

 Read the full article here.