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Have you ever lost your voice? It can be inconvenient, embarrassing, and even painful! The medical term for this is laryngitis. What causes laryngitis? Laryngitis is actually an inflammation of the vocal cords. In most cases, the inflammation in laryngitis is caused by a viral infection, but sometimes the culprit is bacterial infection of some sort.
In laryngitis, the thin, fragile mucous membranes of the vocal cords become inflamed and swell up. When there is swelling and irritation of the vocal cords, the voice becomes deeper and then often lower. In some cases, though more uncommon, the voice can be lost completely. Sometimes, but not always, depending on the cause of the laryngitis, besides the raspy or hoarse voice, there are cold or flu-like symptoms. Laryngitis can also be a symptom itself, of bronchitis, pneumonia, or the flu. It is because these infections cause you to cough, which inflames and swells the vocal cords. One other cause of laryngitis occurs in people who use their voice a lot, like singers. In these cases, there are no flu-like symptoms, and treatment simply requires, giving the voice or vocal cords a rest. Laryngitis can also occur if you smoke or are around smoke or other harmful fumes that irritate and thus, inflame the mucous membranes of the vocal cords.
Persistant hoarseness or laryngitis may be a sign of a more serious disorder such as cancer of the larynx. See your doctor if this persists. Finally, there are two other causes of laryngitis that occur from conditions that effect mostly children. The first is croup. Croup is a childhood illness that causes hoarseness, wheezing, a cough that sounds like a bark, fever, cold symptoms and difficulty eating and swallowing.
The second childhood illness associated with swelling of the vocal cords and laryngitis is called Epiglottitis. Swelling of the epiglottis, which is the flap that covers the windpipe, or trachea, when swallowing to prevent aspiration, causes difficulty swallowing and fever. It is caused by a bacterial infection and usually comes on suddenly. This can be dangerous because the trachea can become very narrow and the child may have trouble breathing. This a life threatening thing and you should seek emergency medical treatment, call 911 if your child has trouble breathing, passes out or turns bluish in color.
Testing and treatment consists of throat cultures, blood tests or x-rays, or any one of these to identify the exact cause of the laryngitis. Most cases are viral which means they cannot be treated with antibiotics, unless your doctor gives them to you to prevent secondary infections or complications. In these cases we treat the symptoms. Your voice should return within a few days or so. Your doctor will tell you to rest your vocal cords, which means no talking! Also treatments can be done, like steam inhalations. Pain relievers can be taken if there is a sore throat. Drinking warm liquids may be soothing while helping to reduce swelling in that area. If fever is present, and/or a congested cough, the culprit may be bacterial. So see your doctor because this would require antibiotics to resolve. In cases of bacterial infections, the laryngitis can last a bit longer, up to a week or two. If you have prolonged or frequent laryngitis, with or without sore throat and swelling, see you doctor as this can be signs of more serious disorders.
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