Voice is sound - that is, vibration. For a pure, clear voice, the vocal cords come together and vibrate, allowing pulses of air to leave the voice box and create a pure musical tone. That musical tone we describe primarily in terms of pitch and volume. It comes from the larynx and we use the voice mainly to carry speech over a distance, and we use the voice for emotion.

Dr. Thomas’s special area of interest is voice disorders, including singing, speaking, breathing, swallowing. Dr. Thomas’s qualifications for the voice subspecialty of ear, nose, and throat surgery (otolaryngology), include a passionate interest in voice disorders, as well as extensive study including and beyond a six year residency training program in otolaryngology. Dr. Thomas has traveled widely, studying under numerous other laryngologists (otolaryngologists who specialize in throat disorders) in the United States, Canada, and in Europe. In addition, Dr.

This site represents my opinions and is my attempt to inform you, the visitor, about voice disorders from a physician's perspective. It is specifically not meant to establish a doctor-patient relationship with you. I have an office in Portland, Oregon where patients wishing to be seen and establish a relationship may reach me.

All of the content on this site, including photos and videos, are available for your use under a creative commons license which allows you to use the content for non-profit or educational purposes at no cost, as long as you attribute its source.

Vocal cords are a pair of structures in our throat (our larynx) that vibrate. They are the source of all the sound we produce. When we are hoarse, something has changed about those vibrations, and the goal of a physician should be to identify the cause of that hoarseness.

Interestingly, there are only two ways to be hoarse: