Plastic surgery to make your voice sound younger

Main Category: Cosmetic Medicine / Plastic Surgery
Article Date: 19 Apr 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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You can have plastic surgery to make your voice sound younger, and many people are having it done. Many patients who have spent thousands of dollars making their faces look younger, reducing the size of their bellies, getting rid of love handles, have found that their new look clashes with their raspy, trembling voice.

So, they have a voice lift. It seems that a voice lift really does make you sound younger.

A voice can sound old when it wobbles or trembles.

People are only now beginning to realise that voice lifts are available. In fact, they have been around a while, says Dr. Leroy Young, Plastic Surgeon, St. Louis, USA. Dr. Young is also Chairman of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons' emerging trends task force.

Two things can be done to make your voice sound younger. You can have an implant, it is inserted through an incision in the neck - the vocal cords are brought closer together. The other way is to inject collagen or fat to plump up the cords and bring them back to youthful suppleness.

These interventions have generally been used for patients with severe problems, such as diseases which rob them of their voice or serious injuries. Now, people are asking for the same procedures for reasons of vanity.

There are risks in the procedures. The surgeon cannot fine tune your voice as he goes along, like a piano-tuner can. To have this done you have to be under general anesthesia - if you are asleep the surgeon cannot ask you to make sounds. The surgeon cannot be certain what you are going to sound like until after your operation when you try to speak.

People who need a good strong voice for their career may see this as a blessing - people such as politicians, singers, teachers and instructors, and of course actors.

www.plasticsurgery.org

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