You woke up today to find out your voice is gone. In a rush to search, how to get your voice back, you started a hunt on the net. If this scenario is relatable, then you are at the right place. However, before we solve the problem, know the problem.
Why did you lose your Voice?
Losing your voice means you suffer from laryngitis. Laryngitis happens when your voice box (larynx) gets inflamed or becomes irritated.
It normally occurs when you shout, yell or sing at the top of your lungs, or are suffering from a throat infection. However, the usual cause of laryngitis is viral infections such as the common cold.
Your voice box has vocal cords inside. When you speak, these cords move to and fro smoothly to make the sound of your voice. This happens as the air passes through these cords and they start moving and vibrate to make a sound.
When these cords are swollen, air changes its way to pass through them and disturbs your voice, as a result, your voice may become quiet or may sound hoarse.
Laryngitis usually heals by itself, but most of the time it becomes chronic. To gain your voice back, you need to treat the irritation and inflammation occurrence in your voice box.
When you’re exposed to such conditions, try any of these remedies to get your voice back.
How to get your voice back?
1. Give your voice box a complete rest
For starters, stop talking. Giving your vocal cords a break is the most awesome treatment for faster results. Try not to speak for about 24 to 48 hours. If you have to communicate, then communicate via indirect speech. The remedy works because often inflammation and irritation take time to heal.
Additionally, if you try hard to speak and not give your neck the needed rest, it may hinder the healing process.
2. Take an OTC Pain Reliever
A pain reliever can also come in handy in case of swollen veins. Over-the-counter pills provide relief and comfort to your vocal cords. You can take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as naproxen (Aleve) and ibuprofen (Motrin) that can reduce swelling from your vocal cords.
3. Don’t Whisper
You may not know that in normal conditions whispering is hard for the vocal cords. When you usually whisper while having your regular speech, it tightens your vocal cords. In cases, where you already have swollen cords, whispering will make it harder to heal if you compel your cords to do extra efforts by whispering.
4. Drink lots of Fluids
Laryngitis transpires due to a viral infection. To help your healing process get faster, drink plenty of liquids. Set an aim to drink around two to three liters of water until you get your voice back.
5. Avoid using Decongestants
It’s completely normal to use decongestants when you are struggling with a blocked nose or when you have a bad cold. If you have lost your voice due to a cold, try to avoid medications like decongestants. They tend to dry out your nasal passageways as well as esophagus and as a result, you face ruggedness in eating and drinking.
6. Talk to a Medical Professional to have an OTC
If you’re engaged with a profession that involves singing or talking, your doctor may prescribe you steroids to continue it for someday. Corticosteroids is a steroid that helps in reducing inflammation and is being prescribed to heal vocal cords.
7. Gargle with Saltwater
Mix a teaspoon of salt into a warm glass of water and gargle twice or thrice a day until you have your voice back. The salt in the water will aid in healing your irritating throat and warm water will soothe your inner skin, preventing it from getting dry.
8. Drink Warm Fluids
As mentioned, warm water helps in soothing your throat pain, drinking warm liquid 4-5 times a day will also comfort your throat. Warm fluids like soup, broth, tea, and milk pacify your irritated throat. To facilitate the healing process you can also try green tea, which acts as an antioxidant and prevents irritation.
9. Take a Hot Bath
While you have irritation in your vocal box, having a hot water bath will help moisten your cords and give comfort to your inflamed throat. It will be more helpful if you can add refreshing essential oils like eucalyptus.
Rub your hands with some essential oil drops and bring them near to your face, breathe deeply to have the essence through your body. You can also hang eucalyptus in your bathroom. It’s refreshing and the fragrance will soothe your throat and make your bathroom aromatic just like a spa.
10. Suck a Lozenge
Sucking something improves the production of saliva in your mouth that prevents your throat from drying out. A throat lozenge can numb or soothe your irritated throat.
Try having lozenges mixed with honey. Honey contains anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties that help in reducing itching and swelling of your throat as well.
11. Chew Gums
To keep your throat moist, chewing gum frequently keeps your throat moist for the rest of the day. Chewing gum also upsurges saliva production but to avoid extra calories, try chewing gums containing less or no sugar. Special gums are also formulated to treat dry throat, which typically is available at any local pharmacy.
12. Boil Water Steam
An alternative option to a hot shower is taking steam. Keep your head on to a boiled water pot by putting a towel or warm cloth over your head to let the steam go through your throat and make it moist. Breathe heavily with an open mouth to unclog your airways.
Keep your head close to the pot, but be careful. Take a break in between if you feel stuffy or uncomfortable.
13. Get a Humidifier
When you sleep at night, your mouth produces considerably less saliva and bacteria begin to grow inside your mouth, that’s why you get a bad breath in the morning. When you already have a sore throat, drying out your mouth will increase irritation and as a result, your vocal cords can also damage.
To prevent this, you can use humidifiers. They help your throat to run out drying and stimulates the healing process.
14. Don’t Drink Alcohol
Alcohol and other fizzy drinks can dry out your throat and damage your vocal cords badly. Think about when you got a hangover with a dry mouth. Even a sip of liquor can dry out your throat and increase dehydration.
15. Don’t Smoke
Nicotine present in cigarettes and vipers are too harmful to your entire body, and if you’re suffering from throat issues it will slow down the healing process as well. If you’re a regular smoker, then try to take a break from smoking, unless it will dry out your throat and create irritation. The best thing you could have is nicotine chewing gum. It will produce saliva and prevent your throat from further damage.
When you should visit a Doctor?
In laryngitis, you don’t specifically need a doctor or any specific treatment is required. The suffering will resolve on its own without any external intervention.
But if your laryngitis does not improve in two or three weeks, then you should see a doctor for a proper throat treatment, or else it will become chronic.
Your doctor may perform some important tests and might refer you to have an appointment with a throat surgeon if necessary.
Take away
Losing your voice as a result of laryngitis is short term ailment and can be treated with home remedies. Viral infections, overuse of voice can be some of the reasons for laryngitis. You can get away with the suffering if you put your throat to rest, stay well hydrated, and keep up with the precautions to stimulate the healing process.