Breakout Session
Voice Care Fact or Fiction: Hydration, Lubrication, Herbs, Supplements and Medications
Sunday, July 10 • 9:00 a.m - 10:00 a.m.
Presenter: Stephanie Fort
Introduced by: Brian Horne
Location: Grand Ballroom Salon I - 7th Floor
Home remedies, tips and wives tales about voice care are ubiquitous and sometimes conflicting. But what’s the truth? Controversy surrounds best vocal hygiene practices. The body is a complex organism, and there is great potential for medications and products to affect the voice, both positively and negatively. These interactions between products used may create undesired outcomes for the uneducated user. New and upcoming research has begun to prove that some information in textbooks used in the past is now outdated and in some cases, wrong. Often times, recommendations have been made based upon past experience, or widely used and accepted home remedies that come from the public domain, and are not based in research. We have culled our databases for the most up-to-date and evidence-based information on hydration, vocal hygiene, and the surprising truth about the effects of many medications, herbs and supplements on the voice.
About Stephanie Fort
Stephanie Fort, M.M., M.S., CCC-SLP, earned her master’s degree in communicative disorders from University of Wisconsin in 2012 and a master’s degree in voice performance and pedagogy from Penn State University in 2003. She joined Massachusetts Eye and Ear after completing her clinical fellowship in voice at the Philadelphia Ear, Nose and Throat Associates, which is operated by Dr. Robert Sataloff. Stephanie served as Assistant Professor of Voice at Brewton-Parker College in Georgia from 2005 to 2008. She co-authored “The Effect of Oral Topical Anesthesia on the Characteristics of Voice,” published in Journal of Voice in January 2014. Her clinical interests include working with singers, teachers and other professional voice users. Stephanie is a member of the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) and the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Voice.
