Why husky voice

For spasmodic dysphonia, botulinum toxin injections may be helpful. For those whose problems persist, voice therapy can be very helpful in reducing damage while restoring your voice to health. That said, it is now recommended that anyone with hoarseness have a larygnoscopy before voice therapy is prescribed. There are many potential causes of hoarseness that range from primarily a nuisance to very serious.

The important thing to keep in mind is that hoarseness is a symptom that something isn't working right in your body. Not only is it important to make a diagnosis especially since many of the possible causes are more treatable when caught early to figure out the best treatment, but living with a hoarse voice can seriously reduce your quality of life.

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Table of Contents. When to Call Your Healthcare Provider. Hoarseness can either involve both vocal folds or only one. Was this page helpful? Dysphonia has many causes which are detailed below. Changes to the voice can occur suddenly or gradually over time.

The voice can be described as hoarse, rough, raspy, strained, weak, breathy, or gravely. There may be voice breaks where the voice completely stops or cuts out. There may be pitch changes, either higher or lower for the patient. The patient may have a complete loss of voice for a period of time as well. Sometimes the patient will complain of pain with speaking or singing and difficulty projecting the voice.

Most commonly, dysphonia is caused by an abnormality with the vocal cords also known as vocal folds but there can be other causes from problems with airflow from the lungs or abnormalities with the structures of the throat near the vocal cords. The best assessment for dysphonia is done by an Otolaryngologist Ear, Nose, and Throat physician that treats voice disorders in conjunction with a speech pathologist.

Obtaining an accurate history of when the dysphonia began and what the voice complaints are, along with listening to the voice, help the physician and speech pathologist in understanding the voice disorder. Speak with your doctor if your hoarseness becomes a persistent issue, lasting more than one week for a child and 10 days for an adult. See your doctor promptly if hoarseness is accompanied by drooling in a child and difficulty swallowing or breathing.

A sudden inability to speak or put together coherent sentences may indicate a serious underlying medical condition. Your doctor may give you a breathing treatment using a mask or insert a breathing tube into your airway to assist you in breathing. Your doctor will likely want to take an inventory of your symptoms with a thorough medical history to determine the underlying cause. They may ask about the quality and strength of your voice and the frequency and duration of your symptoms.

Your doctor may ask about factors that worsen the condition of your symptoms, such as smoking and shouting or speaking for long periods. Your doctor will likely examine your throat with a light and tiny mirror to look for any inflammation or abnormalities. Depending on your symptoms, they may take a throat culture , run a series of plain film X-rays of your throat, or recommend a CT scan another type of X-ray. Your doctor may also take a sample of your blood to run a complete blood count.

This assesses your red and white blood cell, platelet, and hemoglobin levels. Your doctor will be able to help determine the cause of your symptoms and the proper treatment. If you have persistent and chronic hoarseness , a serious underlying medical condition may be the cause. Early intervention can often improve your outlook. The quality of our voice—its pitch, volume, and tone—is determined by the size and shape of the vocal folds and the resonating cavities. This is why people's voices sound so different.

Individual variations in our voices are the result of how much tension we put on our vocal folds. For example, relaxing the vocal folds makes a voice deeper; tensing them makes a voice higher. You should see your doctor if your voice has been hoarse for more than three weeks, especially if you haven't had a cold or the flu. You should also see a doctor if you are coughing up blood or if you have difficulty swallowing, feel a lump in your neck, experience pain when speaking or swallowing, have difficulty breathing, or lose your voice completely for more than a few days.

Your doctor will ask you about your health history and how long you've been hoarse. Depending on your symptoms and general health, your doctor may send you to an otolaryngologist a doctor who specializes in diseases of the ears, nose, and throat. An otolaryngologist will usually use an endoscope a flexible, lighted tube designed for looking at the larynx to get a better view of the vocal folds. In some cases, your doctor might recommend special tests to evaluate voice irregularities or vocal airflow.

Laryngitis is one of the most common causes of hoarseness. It can be due to temporary swelling of the vocal folds from a cold, an upper respiratory infection, or allergies. Your doctor will treat laryngitis according to its cause.

If it's due to a cold or upper respiratory infection, your doctor might recommend rest, fluids, and nonprescription pain relievers. Allergies might be treated similarly, with the addition of over-the-counter allergy medicines. Misusing or overusing your voice. Cheering at sporting events, speaking loudly in noisy situations, talking for too long without resting your voice, singing loudly, or speaking with a voice that's too high or too low can cause temporary hoarseness.

Resting, reducing voice use, and drinking lots of water should help relieve hoarseness from misuse or overuse. Sometimes people whose jobs depend on their voices—such as teachers, singers, or public speakers—develop hoarseness that won't go away. If you use your voice for a living and you regularly experience hoarseness, your doctor might suggest seeing a speech-language pathologist for voice therapy.

In voice therapy, you'll be given vocal exercises and tips for avoiding hoarseness by changing the ways in which you use your voice.