Country star Shania Twain had to put her career on hold, British
superstar Adele  is recovering right now after going under the knife
this month and Keith Urban  just recently stepped forward as the latest
star to find out that their vocal cords are damaged.

Cases that seem rare are something doctor's and therapists see everyday here at the Vanderbilt Voice Center.

"We
study the way they are using their voice", says Dr. David Francis. If
walls could talk then the ones here would have some unique stories to
tell. "We will see patients and all of a sudden hear a famous person
singing in next room", explains Dr. Francis.

The dozens of
pictures and gold albums that line the hallways pretty much speak for
themselves. Dolly parton thanks the doctors here, so does Faith hill and
Martina McBride. Willie Nelson even wrote the song "Superman" after
losing his voice and some of the lyrics are dedicated to his doctors
visit here!

Testaments continue along every wall, even into
patients rooms, where you'll find a Patty Loveless guitar. It was her
way of saying - "Thanks for giving me my voice back!"

"We are
fortunate to be in this town. Great to have the privilege to help them
accomplish they want to accomplish", says Dr. Tom Cleveland.

Dr.
Cleveland has been a part of the voice center since it opened 30 years
ago and has helped save some pretty famous sounds! "One of the ppl who
came here was Johnny Cash. That was a very amazing experience"

Dr.
Cleveland remembers every detail of Cash's visits and admits it's
probably the only time he's been star struck! "He would make a b-line
for Emmylou's picture and stand there and say isn't she just the most
beautiful think you've ever seen and then say ok let's go do what we
need to do"

Decades of use  isn't the only cause of vocal cord
damage. Doctors and therapists often see new artists as well. 17 year
old Jordyn Shellhart was recently forced to make an appointment. "I went
to record a demo. Started singing and my co writer stopped me and said
if you sound anything like yourself i would keep going but you need to
go to a doctor now"

Thankfully Jordyn  was simply singing wrong.
No surgery was required. Something doctor Gaeylyn Garret says is often
the case. "Less than 10 percent of patients i see end up requiring
surgery"

Instead,  they do voice therapy and see a speech
pathologist. "Its very easy to get it out of whack and so we restore the
balance of those systems so those ppl can use efficient, clear , easy
voice again" explains speech-language pathologist Amy Zeller.

Sometimes
surgery is inevitable, usually to remove a lesion such as a cyst or
polyp. Exactly the case for country star Gary Alan. "He got to the point
where he was working so hard and putting so much strain on chords he
started to develop legions that didn't respond to conservative
management" says Dr. Garrett.

"For me i was loosing my falsetto. So i would have someone double me or and forcing my mid voice to hit the note" says Alan.

One
year after removing the vascular polyp Alan has fully recovered.
Another success story on the wall of fame. "I sing like a kid again
.Every big of good if not better than it's ever been" Alan says.

Its
not only  musicians that could benefit from getting a strobe. Anyone
who overuses their voice - say teachers, preachers or lournalists - they
should come in to get an exam just to make sure everything as fine. As a
TV journalist I have been overusing my voice for years. I've never seen
my vocal chords so we are going to take a look" says Entertainment
Reporter Stacy McCloud.

I thought I had a natural rasp in my
voice - but a strobe shows a different reason. Lesions along both sides
of my vocal cords. "When you close all the way you are only closing at
the mid point so you will have breathiness to your voice because you
have a little gap in the back and the front when you vibrate so you have
to squeeze them together a little more to make noise These are
probably  nodules from voice over use and misuse. The treatment for that
is primarily speech therapy" - explains Dr. Francis.

A great
example of how anyone who overuses their voice can benefit from a trip
to this little secret 7th floor, where music meets medicine!


"It's one of the most rewarding things you can do in a day is give ppl back their voices" exclaims Zeller.

For more information on the Vanderbilt Voice Center you can click on the link below.

http://www.vanderbilthealth.com/billwilkerson/26740
 Vanderbilt Voice Center