Dr. Toby Meltzer, a plastic surgeon and advocate for LGBT healthcare access and equality, holds an MD from Louisiana State University where he was named to the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society. Currently, Dr. Toby Meltzer serves as president and founder of the Meltzer Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona. Over the course of his career, he has had transsexual and transgender patients, and has contributed to peer-reviewed articles in medical journals related to this work.
Men who transition to women are often seek to “feminize” their voices as part of the process. Also known as laryngoplasty, surgery to alter vocal pitch typically makes changes to the larynx, often referred to as the voice box. In male-to-female transgender patients, laryngoplasty shortens vocal cords and reduces the size of the thyroid cartilage in the voice box.
Among specific procedures, thyrohyoid approximation can increase vocal pitch in male-to-female patients by raising the voice box to a higher position. Thyrohyoid approximation effectively shortens the pharyngeal chamber, which raises the resonance of the pharynx and increases vocal pitch. Minor increases in vocal pitch can also be scheduled through laser tuning, a less-invasive option. Laser tuning can increase vocal pitch slightly by tightening the vocal cords.
Dr Toby Meltzer 