An estimated 40 percent of the country's 5 million teachers have voice problems and only 15 percent seek treatment, according to the National Center for Voice and Speech - a division of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
The overuse wreaks havoc on their voices that can lead to permanent damage and costs the United States an estimated $2.5 billion a year for substitute teachers, medical costs and early retirement, the center says.
Unlike other professionals who depend on their voices for their craft, such as singers or actors, teachers rarely learn to care for their pipes, say voice doctors.
"That is your tool you need to perform your job," said Schwartz, a 53-year-old kindergarten teacher at Bethlehem Lutheran School in Lakewood. "If you don't have that, you're out of a job."
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"Teachers have the most use and abuse of the voice of any profession," said Dr. Andre Reed, medical director of the Center for Voice and Swallowing Services.
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