【Learning points】
- Causes of hoarseness: benign or malignant laryngeal tumors, allergies, or acute inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, vocal cord atrophy resulting in incomplete closure of the vocal cords.
- If you have any symptoms of hoarseness, you should tell the doctor as soon as possible, and the doctor will examine your throat, neck, chest and other related parts in detail to evaluate whether there are other abnormalities in order to make a correct diagnosis.
I.Where are your vocal cords and how do vocal cords work?
The vocal cords are located in the glottis of the throat, above the trachea. The two vocal cords are close together. The air from lungs makes vocal cords to vibrate; the volume and pitch of your voice can be controlled by expiratory airflow and tension of vocal cords.
II.Causes of Hoarseness
- Benign or malignant laryngeal tumors usually present with hoarseness in the early stage.
- Allergies or acute inflammation of the upper respiratory tract may cause thickening, swelling, and increased secretions of the vocal cords.
- Vocal cord atrophy causes incomplete closure of the vocal cords, resulting in hoarseness.
- Head and neck surgery, neck trauma, endotracheal tube insertion, or lung disease often injure the recurrent laryngeal nerve, causing vocal cord paralysis and hoarseness.
- Excessive use of the vocal cords for a long time, or suffering from chronic diseases such as tuberculosis and syphilis that invade the vocal cords, resulting in chronic inflammation of the vocal cords
III.Treatment
- If you have any symptoms of hoarseness, you should tell the doctor as soon as possible, and the doctor will examine your throat, neck, chest and other related parts in detail to evaluate whether there are other abnormalities in order to make a correct diagnosis.
- For acute inflammation, in addition to taking anti-inflammatory and detumescence drugs, water should be added.
- Do not speak for 1-2 weeks. The vocal cords should be fully rest; most of them can be cured by resting.
- For chronic inflammation, in addition to medication and rest, sometimes it is necessary to consult a speech therapist to correct bad pronunciation habits.
- If the hoarseness is caused by a tumor, general anesthesia is used, and abiopsy or tumor resection is performed through direct laryngoscopy.
IV.Considerations for daily life
- Speak at an appropriate volume: avoid yelling or raising the voice volume, especially in a noisy environment.
- Speak at an appropriate speed: you can exaggerate the shape of your mouth when speaking, and the speed will naturally slow down, take a pause and breathe between sentences and sentences.
- Speak in an appropriate tone: avoid lower voice tone to reduce resistance and vocal cord tension during vocalization.
- Avoid chatting for a long time: avoid long chats.
- Drink plenty of warm water to keep your throat moist, drink at least 1500-2000c.c. of water every day to replenish the water lost by the vocal cords due to long-term use.
- Avoid taking such as tobacco, alcohol, pepper, coffee or strong tea.
- Minimize the use of vocal cords when you have a cold: when you have a hoarse voice, rest is the best way. If the symptoms persist for more than 2 weeks, you should go to see a doctor.
- Avoid forcefully clearing your throat, if you feel your throat is stuck, drink water or silently and softly clear your throat instead.
V.Conclusion
Most acute hoarseness can be recovered after rest. However, detailed examination should be considered when the hoarseness has not been improved after rest; proper diagnosis should be make for further treatment and management.
VI.Reference
- 何念萱、簡珮如、朱本元（2020）．喉癌的臨床症狀與診斷．臨床醫學月刊，86(3)，533-539。https://doi.org/10.6666/ClinMed.202009_86(3).0096。
- Adamu, A., Kolo, E. S., Ajiya, A., Mahmud, A., Shuaibu, I. Y., & Nwaorgu, O. G. B. (2022). Fibreoptic laryngoscopic assessment of patients with hoarseness: A cross-sectional analysis. Journal of West African College of Surgeons, 12(2), 12.https://doi.org/10.4103/jwas.jwas_75_22