Overview
Hoarseness is a general term that describes abnormal voice changes and thickening it and is caused by irritation of the vocal cords.
Hoarseness may be several forms, involving breathing difficulties, forcing changes in voice or sound intensity or tone of voice.
When a person speaks or sings, the vocal cords closer to each other, the air flow is reduced, the strings vibrate and results the sound.
In some cases hoarseness can be a condition in itself, others may be the result of colds or chronic diseases. Hoarseness occurs following irritation of mucous membranes lining the upper throat or trachea.
Contents
1. Overview
2. Causes
3. Prevention and home care for hoarseness
4. Remedies
Causes
- Acute laryngitis – is usually caused by a virus, such as that that triggers a cold. This is often caused by a bacterial infection and not treated with antibiotics. When the vocal cords become infected, they may become inflamed and loss of voice or hoarseness occurs.
The best remedy for acute laryngitis voice is resting, drinking drinks at room temperature and request emergency medical assistance if you have difficulty breathing.
- Chronic laryngitis – refers to the loss of voice or hoarseness that persists for weeks or even months. There is usually an underlying cause of chronic laryngitis involving exposure to an irritant such as:
> constantly straining voice
> presence of acid reflux
> chronic sinusitis accompanied by post-nasal discharge
> fungal infections (especially for those who use inhalers to treat asthma, following chemotherapy or other conditions that weaken the immune system)
> smoking
> alcohol
> exposure to smoke resulted from chemicals.
- Hoarseness in people who smoke and drink alcohol – alcohol and cigarettes can cause hoarseness benign and this should be evaluated by an ENT specialist if it takes more than three weeks.
This is especially important in smokers or drinkers because these habits have been shown to increase the risk of throat cancer.
- Loss of voice or hoarseness triggered by acid reflux – acid reflux can cause hoarseness and loss of voice. When sleep and stomach acid flows into the esophagus, it can affect your vocal cords.
The best measure that can be taken in this case is to treat acid reflux. This means making certain changes in your lifestyle such as do not eat before bed and ask your doctor to recommend antacids (H2 antagonists or proton pump inhibitors).
- Misuse of voice – Voice loss and hoarseness were associated with misuse of the voice, the most common frequency-to people who need to talk or sing more in their profession.
This category of people needs counseling that will involve learning techniques on using voice properly. Misuse can cause the vocal cords including the appearance of vocal cysts or bleeding in their level.
It is important to find the cause of loss of voice or hoarseness. For this purpose it will be necessary to see your ENT doctor.
Prevention and home care for hoarseness
Gargle has no therapeutic effect on the vocal cords. Avoid decongestants as they dry vocal cords and prolong irritation. Rest your voice as much as you can. Other measures are:
- Make steam inhalations or aerosol
- Control your cough
- Avoid aerosol eat
- Not whisper because it involves a higher tension of the vocal cords than loud speaking
- Avoid exposure to people suffering from throat infections to prevent contact of acute infections
- Drink plenty of fluids and rest
- Seek a counselor to teach you how to use your voice properly, and proper breathing techniques, singing and speaking
- Make investigations to know if you have a fungal infection (important for people who have a weakened immune system or those who inhaled corticosteroids to treat asthma).
- Treat gastroesophageal reflux
- Try to reduce the volume of irritating substances such as dust or smoke resulted from chemicals
Remedies
- Apple cider vinegar to treat laryngitis is a traditional remedy: Mix one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in half glass of water. Drink a little every seven hours.
- Pour a cup of boiling water over 1/4 teaspoon of pepper and a few drops of lemon. Mix and drink it slowly and warm.
- Boil a pot of water and remove from the heat. It will add 2 drops chamomile essential oil, 3 drops of lavender essential oil and 2 drops of essential oil of thyme. Put a towel over your head, stand over the pot and inhale the steam.
- Peel one small ginger root and cut it into thin slices. Place the pieces in a small pot with water. Allow to boil for tea. Ginger tea will provide tingling in the throat, but soon the discomfort will ameliorate. This type of tea also functions for the voice recuperation after a cold.
- Mixture of honey and lemon is soothing the throat.
- Suck pills with anesthetic for sore throats or even sweet candy throughout the day to moisten the throat
- An excellent remedy is onion tea or juice. To make onion juice or syrup, sliced three large onions and put them in four or five cups of water, boil them until thick. Put a few tablespoons of syrup in a glass of warm water with a tablespoon of honey and a dash of lemon. Drink it slowly
- Gargle with sea salt and water can be used several times a day to relieve throat pains.
To remove hoarseness you can try one of the following teas:
- Fenugreek, eucalyptus or mallow tea, which can be also used as a gargle
- Tea from valerian root, skullcap or cap that will be absorbed as warm as possible.
Any hot tea will stimulate the throat and help relax the vocal cords. You should suck daily zinc tablets to ease the discomfort in the throat.
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