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Do you find yourself suffering from a raspy or hoarse voice on a regular occasion? Do you lose your voice easily? The experts at Topeka ENT are equipped with a comprehensive speech therapy clinic and are prepared to help with a wide range of speech and voice disorders.
What are Vocal Cord Lesions?
There are three common types of vocal cord lesions: nodules, polyps, and cysts. Each is a noncancerous growth or bump, like calluses on your vocal cords. They can cause your voice to sound raspy, breathy, or hoarse. Your voice may crack or cut in and out as the bumps prevent your vocal cords from vibrating normally. Voice overuse -- such as talking too loudly or too much -- is frequently the cause of these growths, but they can also result from constant coughing, acid reflux, or allergies.
What are the Symptoms of Vocal Cord Lesions?
The most common symptom of a vocal cord lesion is hoarseness or a raspy voice. Other symptoms may be experienced depending on the lesion’s size and how much it interferes with your vocal cords opening, closing, and vibrating together.
Other symptoms include:
Hoarseness
Breathiness
Vocal fatigue
Loss of your voice
Loss of your vocal range
A voice that breaks easily
A harsh, raspy, or scratchy voice
Frequent coughing, throat clearing, or general fatigue
General neck pain or a shooting pain that travels from ear to ear
How are Vocal Cord Lesions Treated?
Treatments can range from voice therapy, behavior changes to improve your vocal health and surgery.
Voice therapy: A speech-language pathologist is trained to work with you through a series of voice therapy sessions. Voice therapy teaches how to use your vocal cords so they can heal. This therapy can also teach you how to protect your throat from developing lesions or voice injuries in the future. Voice therapy is the most conservative form of treatment for vocal cord lesions.
Behavioral modifications: Behavioral interventions are lifestyle adjustments that will help you better care for your voice. Lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking, reducing stress, and improving your diet can complement voice therapy to ease your symptoms and heal vocal cord lesions.
Surgery: You may need surgery for nodules that don’t improve after implementing the treatments mentioned above. You may need surgery if you have a polyp or cyst. Unlike nodules, polyps and cysts don’t typically improve with voice therapy. You may need voice therapy after surgery to reduce your risk of irritating your vocal cords and developing new lesions.
Prevention
Don’t delay seeking care if you have ongoing symptoms of a nodule, polyp, or cyst. See a specialist at Topeka ENT if you are concerned you may be developing a voice problem. Early interventions can often prevent more invasive treatments such as surgery. Preserving your vocal cord function is as simple as allowing your vocal cords time to heal and learning how to prevent future injury through voice therapy.
If you find yourself hoarse or have other symptoms of a vocal cord lesion for more than two to three weeks, it is time to schedule an appointment with a specialist. Growths on your vocal cords can interfere with your ability to easily and comfortably communicate with others.
For more information about voice therapy, contact Topeka Ear, Nose, and Throat today.
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