Question: I am 19 years old, male. I have a high pitched male voice, I mean I am misunderstood as a lady most frequently when I answer the phone. this has been a great concern to me since most of my life but it really affected me after my friends got their voices roughen. And also once I am too tired or under a pressure situation words don’t come out, time to time once or two comes out, in these occasions people ask whether I am ill. Now I am fed up of this situation. Please……..can I know what the reason might be for this? Can I get a remedy for this, specially a non surgical one, please help me…….
Answer: As a young male enters puberty, there is a change in the voice box (or larynx) that general makes the voice become lower in pitch. This is the same change that makes a male’s “adam’s apple” more visible at this time. In some, the change comes earlier and in others, later.
Having a voice that is “too high” can be quite stressful for a young man. However, in most this will resolve- If not, we would first recommend speech therapy, to help change how you use your vocal cords.
If that should fail, there is a simple surgical procedure, a type of thryoplasty, which removes some of the tension on the vocal cords and is generally successful in lowering pitch of a high pitched male voice.
I hope this clears things up.
Robert Pincus MD
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