Malcolm Baxter and Debbie Phyland are both part of the multi-disciplinary team at Monash Health Respiratory Department who evaluate and treat patients with Vocal Cord Dysfunction (VCD), and other upper airway disorders. VCD is an increasingly recognised condition, especially in patients with ‘difficult to treat asthma’. All patients identified as having a diagnosis of VCD are then initially seen by Dr. Debbie Phyland and the Voice Medicine Australia team at 376 Victoria Parade, for ‘Respiratory Retraining’. Patients who do not have adequate symptom relief from this therapy alone may then be offered Vocal Cord Botox, or increasingly, daytime CPAP. The Team have published their results soon, and are also involved in new research looking at the behaviour of hyper-ventilation on the Vocal Cords in the normal and asthmatic patient.
