I know this may sound like a stupid question. Does having a tracheal shave make using your female voice easier? It seem that if the Adams apple is gone that maintaining a female frequency would be easier to maintain.

I tend to think it wouldn't affect the voice whatsoever, just thinking about how pitch and resonance are controlled.  Reports from others who have had a trachea shave state their voice dropped in range.  Though this may simply be a psychological affect resulting from the surgery, it may also instead be factual.  In either case, I have no personal experience to contribute.

No. If it's done properly it doesn't alter your voice whatsoever. If they ->-bleeped-<- up, well, you end up with problems.

<-- had it done

The size of the cartilage that makes up an adam's apple has no effect on your voice. Shaving part of it off, won't either, unless a surgeon cuts too deep, damaging the vocal chords directly behind the adam's apple. Then your voice could really change, or you could be a mute.

I naturally have/had a passable feminine voice, however my issue was the small bump.

I have come to find out it actually makes it worse speaking from personal experience,

I am currently looking into laser vocal tuning to fix it with Dr. T (voice doctor).

My original surgery was done under general along with 2 other procedures by Dr. Burin @ PAI (July 2009).

My neck is very smooth, the scar is short and hidden under the chin.

My voice gets tired easily and i lose it quick. I believe it was a result of aggressive shaving.

Dr. T evaluated the information i provided him via e-mail and suggested probably the vocal cords became loose and they need to be tightened up for me to get a natural high result.

Not sure if it was worth this surgery since my trachea was very small to begin with.

If i was to go back in time, I would have done it with an Ear-Nose-Throat specialist surgeon who could have been careful with shaving and the vocal cords.

It's not worth the damage to the voice to have a smooth neck; the neck is smooth now but the voice needs fixing as it crackles and goes hoarse.

I can still speak and pass  but it has affected the quality of my voice, it is a bit of an effort to keep it that way.

So there was a trade-off. Plastic surgeons really need to step off some areas of medicine/surgery, and leave it to the specialists for that area.

A local ENT could have done just fine, places like Thailand really should be considered for holidays, not surgery.

That is my very own experience and advice.

I'm so sorry, Jade.
It's always nice to hear a courageous, post-operative patient give their feedback on a procedure that didn't turn out for the best. Thank you for your courage and honesty.

Tracheal shaves are very delicate surgeries, and reports of accidents affecting the voice negatively are numerous. If it's done right, it shouldn't affect your voice at all. But it can't help, sadly.

Wow... first I wanna thank everybody for their input and personal experience. All this great info is something to really consider. I'm really glad I asked this.

I would add a perspective from a singing point of view - I had the cosmetic tracheal shave and it did not at all affect my speaking voice but it did affect my singing voice - it may be my own case and may not apply to others, but I'll add it anyway.
It felt like there was now less 'space' in my throat and that it was tighter, which meant the top notes of my range were a bit harder to reach and took off a couple of the very top notes, but in exchange, my mid range (above typical male chest voice but below the highest head voice) seemed much easier and has more resonance.

Quote from: jade on December 04, 2011, 07:42:19 PM
I naturally have/had a passable feminine voice, however my issue was the small bump.

I have come to find out it actually makes it worse speaking from personal experience,

I am currently looking into laser vocal tuning to fix it with Dr. T (voice doctor).

My original surgery was done under general along with 2 other procedures by Dr. Burin @ PAI (July 2009).

My neck is very smooth, the scar is short and hidden under the chin.

My voice gets tired easily and i lose it quick. I believe it was a result of aggressive shaving.

Dr. T evaluated the information i provided him via e-mail and suggested probably the vocal cords became loose and they need to be tightened up for me to get a natural high result.

Not sure if it was worth this surgery since my trachea was very small to begin with.

If i was to go back in time, I would have done it with an Ear-Nose-Throat specialist surgeon who could have been careful with shaving and the vocal cords.

It's not worth the damage to the voice to have a smooth neck; the neck is smooth now but the voice needs fixing as it crackles and goes hoarse.

I can still speak and pass  but it has affected the quality of my voice, it is a bit of an effort to keep it that way.

So there was a trade-off. Plastic surgeons really need to step off some areas of medicine/surgery, and leave it to the specialists for that area.

A local ENT could have done just fine, places like Thailand really should be considered for holidays, not surgery.

That is my very own experience and advice.

Same experience here.  I had it done by Ousterhout, but I suffered the same complications.  I lost about an octave and a half of singing range, and while my voice is still passable, it's often hoarse and tired.