April 16th is World Voice Day. On the 20th anniversary of World Voice Day, with the theme “Lift You Voice,” we encourage everyone, young and old, to pay attention to voice health and take action to improve or maintain good vocal habits.
There are some patients in the otolaryngology clinic who sound hoarse, harsh, tense, weak, pitched too high or too low, fatigue easily, and even lose their voices.
These are vocal problems!
These conditions can easily lead to voice disease
1. The most common is acute laryngitis. Viral and bacterial infections of the respiratory tract can cause swollen vocal cords, and the swollen vocal cords vibrate irregularly during pronunciation, resulting in hoarseness.
2. Noncancerous vocal cord lesions. Such as vocal cord nodules, polyps or cysts, which are caused by long-term strain and trauma to the vocal cords due to too much or too loud speech.
3. Precancerous lesions or cancerous changes. If the hoarseness lasts for more than 4 weeks, or if you are a long-term smoker, please be alert to the possibility of precancerous lesions or cancerous changes.
4. Nervous system disease or disorder. Hoarseness can be caused after Parkinson’s disease or stroke; spastic dysphonia can also cause hoarseness or shortness of breath; vocal cord paralysis, usually after surgery, viral disease, or trauma.
5. Vocal cord atrophy. With age, vocal cords become thinner and looser, and age-related timbre changes can occur quietly.
6. Throat reflux disease. It refers to the retrograde flow of acidic or non-acidic gastric contents into the esophagus or throat, which changes the pH value of the throat and causes throat reflux disease.
7. Smoking. Smoking increases the risk of throat cancer and can cause permanent changes in the vocal cords, such as swelling of the vocal cords and a lower pitch.
8. Other related diseases. Such as thyroid tumors, allergic diseases, laryngeal trauma or menstrual hormone disorders.
If these problems occur, the doctor will call you to see a doctor!
1. Persistent hoarseness for more than 4 weeks, especially with a long history of smoking;
2. Voice changes, such as harshness and tension or weakness, breath sounds, high or low pitch, fatigue, discontinuity or trembling;
3. dysphonia;
4. associated with dyspnea;
5. Professional voice users cannot work due to voice problems.
Voice disease, there is a way!
The electronic laryngoscope is the most basic inspection method for throat diseases (including voice diseases).
Laryngoscopy is not terrible
With the development of modern equipment and technology, the diameter of the laryngoscope is getting thinner and softer, and the inspection process will not be painful. , will not cause damage.
For patients with sensitive throats, some short-acting topical anesthetics may be used in the throat to reduce the gag reflex. Under the premise of these adequate preparations, laryngoscopy is a breeze. In fact, the vast majority of people, including children, tolerate laryngoscopy well.
For voice specialist diseases, in addition to ordinary electronic laryngoscopy, a series of more comprehensive and detailed laryngeal voice examinations may be performed, such as dynamic laryngoscopy, narrow-band imaging, voice analysis, color Doppler ultrasound, CT, magnetic resonance imaging Wait.
The treatment of voice diseases can be drugs or surgery, and diseases related to pronunciation abuse, improper use of voice, or voice problems that occur after surgery often require voice correction and rehabilitation training.
Voice disease can be prevented!
In daily life, professional voice users (such as singers, teachers, announcers and salespersons, etc.), certain age groups (including children, the elderly) and smokers are at greatest risk of voice problems crowd.
1. Drink water frequently and use a humidifier in a dry environment to moisturise the mucous membranes of the throat.
2. Use a loudspeaker to assist pronunciation in noisy environments to avoid shouting.
3. In the process of using your voice for a long time, you can take several short breaks to reduce voice fatigue.
4. Avoid smoking or second-hand smoke. The harmful substances contained in the smoke will stimulate the mucous membranes of the throat, and there is a risk of cancer in long-term exposure.
5. Avoid alcoholic and caffeinated beverages, as they can dry out the throat and thicken mucus.
6. Avoid repeated throat clearing.
7. Actively treat long-term chronic cough and primary diseases of surrounding organs, such as reflux esophagitis, thyroid disease, lung disease, etc.
Once a voice problem occurs, such as repeated hoarseness, no improvement after rest, or even aggravation or loss of voice, please actively seek professional medical help. Some complex voice disorders involve neurogenic disorders (eg, spastic dysphonia, essential tremor), nerve or joint damage due to tumor invasion or trauma (eg, vocal cord paralysis, cricoarytenoid dislocation), gastroesophageal reflux (eg, laryngopharyngeal reflux disease) and other factors.