The putative involvement of the transabdominal muscles in dysphonia: a preliminary study and thoughts

Abstract

Objectives/hypothesis: Real-time ultrasound was used as an adjunct to assess patterns of periabdominal musculature in 14 individual with dysphonia and muscle tension dysphonia.

Materials: Fourteen individuals with muscle tension dysphonia were evaluated with real-time ultrasound as a part of their initial evaluation and management.

Results: In 13 of 14 individuals, there was an imbalance found during phonation between the transversus abdominis muscles (TAs) and internal oblique muscles (IOs), whereby the IOs were found to be overactive and the TAs underactive. After physiotherapy, this pattern was reversed.

Conclusion: The abdominal muscle pattern of overactivity of the internal oblique and underactivity of the TA during phonation was found to be present in the large majority of patients in this pilot sample who had presented with muscle tension dysphonia. The significance of this is unclear but deserves further review.