On the occasion of World Voice Day, the hospital reminds the public that 8.5% of people in Europe suffer some kind of speech and/or communication disorder
Gran Canaria, April 16 2017: On the occasion of World Voice Day, Hospiten Roca wishes to emphasize the value of the role of the speech therapist in treating problems relating to communication in patients and to lend help to those professionals whose voice is a basic tool in their work. The hospital also reminds the public that they offer consultations with a speech therapist to rehabilitate the voice, which involves important aspects like breathing, relaxing the neck and shoulders, projection of the voice when speaking and singing and articulation of phonemes.
It is estimated that 8.5% of people in Europe suffer oral communication disorders, and in Spain, for every 10,000 inhabitants, 20 have some kind of speech-language pathology and according to the Spanish Society of Otorhinolaryngology, around 5% of people in industrialized countries suffer voice disorders requiring the care of a specialist.
Hospiten Roca speech therapist, Nuria Lorenzo points out that more than two million people in Spain suffer voice disorders requiring medical care, with dysphonia (hoarseness) and a raspy, breathiness being the most common. It is estimated that seven in ten cases are due to forcing the voice and bad speaking habits, for instance speaking above background noise or speaking for longer than the average per day, which is around four hours - anything above that requires a careful technique to avoid damaging the voice.
Nuria Lorenzo also points out that incorrect breathing patterns, tense muscles, inappropriate resonators and forcing the voice all contribute to laryngeal problems leading to hoarseness. Hoarseness may be functional or organic, “If a teacher has worked his/her own voice, he/she may be better prepared to instill correct speaking habits in students, helping to prevent misusing or abusing the voice; at the same time, the teacher will be able to detect voice disorders in children and other young people”, she explains.
The Hospiten Group is an international healthcare network committed to providing top quality service, with over 45 years’ experience and with nineteen private medical-hospital centers in Spain, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Jamaica, and over a hundred ambulatory health centers, both their own and associated under the brand name Clinic Assist, which is presided over by Dr. Pedro Luis Cobiella Suarez and attends over a million patients a year from all over the world and employs more than 4,000 people.