How I gave Adele her voice back: Throat surgeon

He had the nerve-racking task of saving one of the world’s most-loved voices.
Now throat surgeon Dr Steven Zeitels has told how he knew surgery on Adele’s vocal cords had been a success when the singer gave him a ‘beautiful’  private rendition of her hit song, Rolling In The Deep.
Dr Zeitels, whose patients have included Julie Andrews, Lionel Richie, and Roger Daltrey, treated Adele at the end of 2011 after a sore on her vocal cords caused her to lose her voice.

 

 

Star surgeon: Dr Steven Zeitels, left, says he not only saved Adele's (right) voice but improved it

He claims that not only did he save her voice, he even improved it.
In a two-hour operation, he used microsurgical instruments and a laser to remove a polyp and repair a burst blood vessel with skills he claims are the result of a teenage passion for sewing leather bags.

 

Dr Zeitels, 55, has told of his pride at the singer’s spectacular comeback, with an Oscar for Bond theme Skyfall this year.
The professor of laryngeal surgery at America’s renowned Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, said: ‘There was an overwhelming epiphany that I had restored this beloved voice that would bring joy to and inspire millions of people.

 

 

Sought help: Dr Zeitels has also treated other big names such as Dame Julie Andrews, left, and Lionel Richie, right

‘I could see using my laryngoscope that she seemed to have healed properly, but I had to see how her singing voice was faring.
‘I asked her to test her singing voice and she sang Rolling In The Deep beautifully. If anything, her voice sounded cleaner and clearer than before.

Who are you: Roger Daltrey also sought Dr Zeiteil's help

'Of course, I was overjoyed … It was a wonderful moment for both of us and one of the most memorable in my career.’
Sound of Music star Julie Andrews, 77, sought Dr Zeitels’s help after a routine operation with another surgeon in 1997 went wrong.
Despite seeing Dame Julie four times, Dr Zeitels was unable to restore her voice completely.
Adele has recalled how her voice was reduced to a whisper after developing the polyp. Reappearing after surgery, at the Grammy Awards in February 2012, she thanked Dr Zeitels on stage in the first of six acceptance speeches.
The 24-year-old, whose full name is Adele Adkins, said: ‘It was a bit traumatic. Thank God my voice healed. I stuck to all of the rules they gave me.’
She has admitted surgery changed her voice, saying it is  ‘not as husky’ and is higher than it used to be.
The surgeon, who also treats throat cancer, said: ‘Cancer surgery is rather like a fight with  a club, but voice-restoration surgery for benign lesions is more  like fencing.
‘With the singers I’ve operated on, I don’t just have to think how it looks at the end of the procedure, but also how it will look and mechanically vibrate in several weeks when it’s healed as well as in years or even decades to come.’
Dr Zeitels is developing a gel which he claims will restore vocal cord elasticity if injected into the throat regularly.