[clarification needed] During speech or swallowing, the soft palate lifts against the back throat wall to close the nasal cavity.

When producing nasal consonants (such as "m", "n", and "ng"), the soft palate remains relaxed, thereby enabling the air to go through the nose.

First, the acoustic effect of a given velopharyngeal opening varies greatly depending on the degree of occlusion of the nasal passageways.

Of course, in speech training of the hearing impaired, there is little possibility of making nasality judgments aurally, and holding a finger to the side of the nose, to feel voice frequency vibration, is sometimes recommended.

[12] Speech therapy can be recommended post-surgery to correct any residual articulation disorders due to mislearning during presence of a functional deficiency.

[10][13] There is insufficient evidence to support the use of traditional non-speech oral motor exercises can reduce hypernasality.

Velopharyngeal closure patterns and their underlying neuromotor control may differ for speech and nonspeech activities.

[14][15][16][17][18] The two main surgical techniques for correcting the aberrations the soft palate present in hypernasality are the posterior pharyngeal flap and the sphincter pharyngoplasty.

When the child speaks, the remaining openings close from the side due to the narrowing of the throat caused by the muscle movements necessary for speech.

Two small flaps are made on the left and right side of the entrance to the nasal cavity, attached to the back of the throat.

[19] The most common complications of the posterior pharyngeal wall flap are hyponasality, nasal obstruction, snoring, and sleep apnea.

Some researches suggest that sphincter pharyngoplasty introduces less hyponasality and obstructive sleep symptoms than the posterior pharyngeal wall flap.