Being able to speak without having to occlude the stoma or hold an electrolarynx  to the sweet spot is a valuable skill. For those with esophageal speech it is no problem but for the rest of us it is a challenge.

Many years ago, I was given a hands-free device. It had to be placed in a baseplate, instead of a normal HME,. However it was large, difficult to set up and I have rarely used it. This is partly down to the fact I produce a large pressure when speaking with a voice prosthesis.  I am not alone however because research indicates the success rate in using  a hands-free device  is not high.

At the March meeting of HNChelp, Paula Barnes from Severn Healthcare, gave a presentation about a new Inhealth hands-free hme. It is very different to previous solutions and it will be interesting to see if it can increase the numbers of our community who can finally speak hands-free.