What is esophageal speech and who is it for?

Esophageal speech is essentially the act of burping out air from the stomach and controlling the articulation within the oral cavity. The speech will reduce frequency and pitch causing the voice to sound breathy and rough. Laryngeal speech training may begin as early as three weeks. The airflow in the esophagus will cause mucosa vibrations within the esophagus and the pharynx. This location is essentially known as the pharyngoesophageal segment in the neoglottis. This action allows for esophageal speech to occur. (Širić, Rosso & Včev, 2018).

Individuals who went through a total laryngectomy procedure may benefit from esophageal speech. Total laryngectomy is the removal of the patient’s larynx. After the removal of a larynx, questions such as, “how will it affect voice, respiration, and swallowing.”

Advantages of esophageal speech include;

• Esophageal speech is the most natural option for phonation because it does not require a device, hands or any procedures.
• It is cost-effective due to not needing to buy any devices.
• The patient will not have to worry about infections caused by a device.

https://www.electrolarynx.com/esophageal-speech.html#/