If acid finds its way back up to the larynx, it can cause irritation and laryngitis-type voice changes. Along with persistent or worsening hoarseness, other symptoms of throat cancer include pain or difficulty swallowing, difficulty breathing, sore throat, pain in ear, and lump in the neck.Īnother common irritant is stomach acid. Smokers who also drink alcohol seem to have even higher risk.
And smoking causes most cases of throat cancer, also called laryngeal cancer. Smoking damages the larynx and triggers voice changes, most notably hoarseness. A voice change that lasts longer than one month in a smoker may indicate throat cancer. If voice changes persist for longer than 2 to 4 weeks, seek the advice of your doctor or an otolaryngologist (an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) doctor). Laryngitis usually resolves on its own after a period of voice rest and drinking plenty of water. Infections and viruses can cause vocal cords to swell and lead to the raspy, hoarse, breathy, or rough voice of acute laryngitis.
Many people experience voice changes during upper respiratory infections and colds. We may also have less mucus to lubricate the vocal cords. The muscles in our throat may lose some of their mass, tone, and coordination. Our voices may change as we get older, too. As the voice box adjusts to its new size, voices crack and falter, eventually evening out to a more "adult" tone. And with the larger size come thicker, longer vocal cords and a deeper voice. On average, a boy's larynx will grow more than a girl's - developing into the Adam's apple more common in males. The most common voice change occurs during puberty, when our voice box (or larynx) grows right along with the rest of our body.
And people who use their voice for a living - teachers, singers, actors, salespeople, telemarketers - may go through more episodes of voice troubles. Our voices' quality and pitch may alter, or we may experience difficulty or even pain when we speak. And our voices can change throughout our lives and in times of illness, injury, and misuse. From high or soft lilting tones to low-booming ones, our voices come to identify us like audible fingerprints. Many of us rely on our voices as our primary form of communication.
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