The condition of a hoarse voice is a very unpleasant phenomenon. It is generally accepted that the cause of a hoarse voice is a cold or loud screaming. But there are other, more serious reasons that require mandatory treatment by an otolaryngologist and doctors of related specialties. Why does the voice wheeze and become hoarse? How to quickly restore a hoarse voice? What treatment for hoarse voice is effective? You will find the answers in our new article.
The voice plays an important role for a person. Thanks to it, we can fully communicate with each other and lead a normal lifestyle. Remember the discomfort that occurs when your voice becomes hoarse and hoarse. A hoarse voice is becoming a problem on a global scale for representatives of speech professions: singers, announcers, teachers, tour guides. And any ordinary person in everyday life, if his voice is hoarse, faces a lot of inconveniences: it is impossible to answer phone calls, contact colleagues, participate in discussions, etc.
In medicine, a disorder of the vocal apparatus, when the voice wheezes and becomes hoarse, is called dysphonia.
Hoarseness can occur at any age. Of course, when this symptom appears, the only desire that arises is to quickly restore a hoarse voice. The ability to speak fully, without hoarseness, is restored after proper treatment. But before you start treating a hoarse throat, it is necessary to establish the causes of a hoarse voice. Determining the cause and prescribing the correct treatment determines how quickly the functioning of the vocal apparatus will be restored.
Why does the voice wheeze and become hoarse? How to quickly restore a hoarse voice? What treatment for hoarse voice is effective? Let's find out!
Need to shout
To raise your voice, you need to shout well. If the idea is brought to life at home, then you should stock up on a large pillow. This is necessary so as not to scare the neighbors. Next, the algorithm of actions is as follows:
- We take a large pillow, lean it against our face and begin to scream heart-rendingly. The stronger the scream, the greater the chances of losing your voice in a short time;
- You need to scream without a break for 10-15 minutes, after which you should take a short break and continue;
- The procedure should be continued until overstrain of the ligaments begins to be felt.
It is worth considering that the loss of the ability to speak does not appear immediately, but after several hours.
If you experience severe pain in the throat while screaming, you should stop immediately!
Treatment
Help before diagnosis
Targeted therapy is aimed at eliminating the cause of hoarseness. However, this is not always possible to achieve at the pre-medical stage. In the acute stage of inflammation and vocal fatigue, it is necessary to remain silent and avoid contact with any irritating substances.
In cases where hoarseness is associated with a cold, dry heat on the neck area (scarf, salt heating pad), inhalation, and warm gargling help. Any warming procedures are contraindicated when body temperature rises, so you should not self-medicate and postpone a visit to the doctor.
Conservative therapy
Local ENT procedures are indicated for laryngitis, tonsillitis, and phonasthenia. For hoarseness, endolaryngeal instillations of drugs, medicinal inhalations, and procedures using the Tonsillor apparatus are performed. Antiviral drugs, antibiotics, antiseptics and antihistamines are prescribed.
For laryngeal paresis and GERD, etiotropic drug therapy is selected. In cases of severe dehydration and hyperthermia, intravenous infusions of saline solutions are administered. Physiotherapy (electrophoresis, electrical stimulation, DMV therapy), psychotherapy, and IRT contribute to faster elimination of hoarseness. Foreign bodies in the throat must be removed using endoscopic techniques.
Surgery
If there is a threat of asphyxia due to acute laryngeal stenosis, emergency tracheostomy or conicotomy is indicated. The presence of tumors that interfere with normal breathing and voice formation is an indication for their endolaryngeal removal. For malignant neoplasia, resection intervention is required in the amount of hemilaryngectomy, extended or combined laryngectomy.
If the cause of hoarseness is compression of the recurrent nerve by tumor formations, appropriate surgical interventions are performed: thymomectomy, removal of a mediastinal tumor, excision of a retrosternal goiter, etc. For anomalies in the development of the larynx, cicatricial stenoses, various modifications of laryngoplasty are performed.
Phonopedic correction
If hoarseness does not disappear after eliminating the etiofactor, a course of phonopedic classes is prescribed. In speech therapy classes, phonation and voice exercises and speech therapy massage are used. At the final stage, they automate the skills of correct voice production, work on increasing strength, restoring timbre, and expanding the range of the voice. An important role in the prevention of recurrence of hoarseness and the effectiveness of rehabilitation work is played by compliance with the recommendations of a phonopedist on vocal hygiene.
Whisper
Many people believe that speaking in a whisper protects their vocal cords. In fact, whispering is a great way to quickly get laryngitis in familiar home conditions. When a person talks quietly, his throat becomes very dry, which also helps to achieve the goal in a short time.
To lose the ability to speak, you need to switch to whispering for a while. Just a couple of hours of active conversations in lower tones and the result will be achieved. An important condition is that you should not drink water, as dry mucous membranes are more easily irritated.
Popular and Famous Hoarse Voices
The desire to make a girl’s voice sound hoarse is quite understandable if you look at musical performers who have such a sound.
Here is a selection of Russian and foreign singers with a low, hoarse voice:
1. Russian singer Olga Kormukhina
2. English rock singer Bonnie Tyler
3. French singer ZAZ
4. American singer Nina Simone
British singer Bonnie Tyler suffered from a vocal cord disease, which caused the hoarse sound of her voice, thus giving its owner worldwide popularity.
Songs with a hoarse male voice are no less popular. Among the singers with a hoarse sound, I would like to especially mention the American black singer Charlie Armstrong, the grandson of the legendary jazz musician Louis Armstrong:
Among the singers with hoarse voices are our compatriots Vladimir Vysotsky, Nikolai Noskov, Grigory Leps:
Cough
To quickly lose your voice, you need to cough intensely. The louder and more intense the cough, the greater the chance of a throat rupture and loss of the ability to speak normally. You should cough until you feel itching and pain in your throat. If this happens, we can say that the goal has been achieved and after a couple of hours, instead of a normal voice, only a whisper will be heard.
To achieve results faster, you can use several methods simultaneously. For example, shout, sing and cough in turns.
Infectious causes
Infectious diseases of the upper respiratory tract are the most common cause of hoarseness. Pathogenic microorganisms begin to activate in the laryngopharynx: an inflammatory process occurs, which also covers the vocal cords. The vocal cords become swollen and cannot close tightly. As a result, the voice becomes hoarse and hoarse.
This condition is called laryngitis or laryngotracheitis.
In addition to hoarseness, other symptoms of the disease appear: sore throat, sore throat, fever, cough, runny nose. Among the infectious ones, the following causes of sore throat and hoarseness can also be distinguished:
- flu;
- acute respiratory viral infection;
- laryngeal candidiasis;
- adenovirus infection.
Only an otolaryngologist can determine the exact cause of a hoarse throat, accompanied by fever, cough and other symptoms. He also prescribes effective treatment for the disease in adults. After the treatment of the underlying disease and treatment of the sore throat are carried out in full, hoarseness will go away on its own.
Fan
A good way to lose your voice is to attend sporting events as spectators. In this case, the main thing is to shout loudly, supporting your favorites. Some people believe that the fans' throats are the main drawback of the competition, but if this is the task, then go ahead.
If there are no competitions planned, then you can go to a bar where they place bets on sports. You can definitely have a fun and useful time there, and most importantly, lose your voice for several days.
Why is hoarseness attractive?
Some people are attracted to a man's hoarse voice because of its sexuality and seems like a treasured key to a woman's heart.
For some, female hoarseness has an attractive power.
For some, a hoarse voice adds reliability, severity and creates a sort of brutal image that one wants to imitate.
And then the obsessive thought “how to make a hoarse voice” haunts you.
Gargling
You can drink sour drinks or simply gargle with them. To do this, you can use a solution of lemon juice or vinegar. To make such a solution, you need to take ¼ cup of lemon juice and mix with the same amount of cold water. You should gargle several times until the result is achieved.
After rinsing your throat with an acidic solution, you should rinse your mouth with clean water. This will help preserve tooth enamel.
The structure of human ligaments
Human ligaments look like two small folds located in the oral cavity. Inhalation and exhalation pushes the folds apart, allowing air to pass through. The passing air causes vibration, which produces sound. It depends on the shape of the folds. Thus, an increase in the shape of the folds leads to a change in the voice, making the sound low or high, depending on the tasks.
The upper and lower resonators are also involved in the formation of speech. The upper resonator is considered to be the throat, nasal cavity, mouth and everything that is located in this part, areas in which air is present, forming sounds. The lower resonators include the bronchi and human lungs.
The main role in sound production is played by the upper resonators, specifically the oral cavity. Due to the structure of the lower jaw, it is capable of changing volumes, and the tongue located in it helps to change the shape of the upper resonator, which includes the lips.
The voice is an integral oscillatory system, including folds that act as a vibrator and upper and lower resonators. The sound production system is closely connected and cannot function without each other. During this process, sound is obtained from the air located in the resonators, and not from the vibrator or cords.
Cold
If the goal is to become hoarse for some time, then a cold would be an ideal option. It is not difficult to catch a cold; to do this you need to dress poorly in cold weather, eat a lot of cold foods, and drink cold milk.
In addition, poor sleep and poor nutrition contribute to a decrease in immunity. If you need to sneeze for a while, you can try to catch a cold, but you need to remember that a cold will bring weakness, high fever and a runny nose. But if the end justifies the means, then you can safely get down to business.
Diagnostics
The appearance of hoarseness requires an immediate visit to an otolaryngologist to determine the cause of the dysphonic disorder. If laryngeal diseases are excluded, in-depth diagnostics may be required with the involvement of other specialists: endocrinologist, neurologist, oncologist.
- Endoscopy.
An instrumental examination begins with laryngoscopy - this makes it possible to detect inflammatory changes in the mucous membrane, the presence of neoplasms, and foreign bodies. In order to assess the function of the vocal folds, the study is supplemented with stroboscopy. If the respiratory tract and gastrointestinal tract are involved in the pathological process, bronchoscopy and endoscopy are performed. - EPI methods.
Electrophysiological diagnostics are indicated for dysfunction of the vocal apparatus caused by neuromuscular disorders. Electroglottography and electromyography are performed. EPI allows you to assess the motor and contractile function of the laryngeal muscles. - X-ray examination.
X-ray diagnostics are mainly required to visualize space-occupying lesions in the neck and chest cavity. If oncological processes causing hoarseness are suspected, X-ray of the lungs, CT of the larynx, and MRI of the mediastinum are prescribed. - Sonography.
To exclude compression of nerve structures by enlarged lymph nodes and tumor conglomerates, an ultrasound scan of the thyroid gland and mediastinal organs is performed. If necessary, a puncture biopsy of detected tumors is performed under ultrasound navigation.
Endoscopy of the larynx
Allergy
If a person knows that he is allergic to plant pollen or animal fur, then he can smell flowers in the park for a couple of hours or pet a cat. Usually this is enough for inflammation of the pharyngeal mucosa to begin, with all the ensuing consequences. But do not forget that a severe allergic reaction may occur, which may result in anaphylactic shock.
Before an allergic person comes into contact with an allergen, you should think several times. It is necessary to understand that the desire to become hoarse for a while can result in serious health problems.
Before resorting to all the proposed methods, you should analyze everything thoroughly. It may be easier to learn to pretend to be hoarse than to artificially create health problems for yourself. Smoking will help you become hoarse quickly, but before you start smoking cigarettes one after another, you need to think about whether you need health problems.
Prevention
In many ways, the appearance of dysphonia is a signal that somewhere they haven’t looked after something and haven’t taken care of their health. To avoid having to subsequently be treated by an ENT doctor:
- treat infectious diseases in a timely manner;
- do not get too cold, do not breathe through your mouth in the cold and do not drink ice-cold drinks;
- do not shout, do not speak in a raised voice;
- take breaks if you have to talk a lot and for a long time;
- do special exercises recommended by phoniatrists to avoid strain on the vocal apparatus;
- avoid contact with allergens;
- wear masks if you work in unfavorable conditions;
- stop smoking.
If a problem does arise, do not engage in self-diagnosis or self-medication: a timely visit to an ENT doctor will help avoid complications and speed up the recovery process.
At the ENT Clinic of Doctor Zaitsev, consultations are conducted by highly qualified ENT doctors and phoniatrists with extensive practical experience. When the first signs of voice problems appear, please call the following numbers: +7 (926) 384-40-04 and come!
We will be happy to help you!
