Causes of Voice Change
The voice changes that happen through life are caused by many different things. Changes in the larynx, vocal cords, and throat can occur from a variety of reasons such as overuse, injury, aging, or infection. The following is a list of some of the common causes of voice change:
– Wearing a Tonsil Guard to stop snoring.
– Laryngitis, inflammation of the voice box and vocal cords caused by a virus or bacteria infection.
– Dysphonia, sometimes called ‘soft voice’, is where there is a problem with the muscles that control your voice box causing them to not work as well as they normally do. This causes sound problems, such as a breathy or hoarse voice. The sound of your voice may have been altered due to a larynx injury that could be temporary or permanent.
– Receptive aphasia is a condition that occurs when the part of the brain that understands language is impaired, preventing understanding what others are saying. This can cause problems with verbal comprehension, which can affect the individual’s ability to speak clearly.
– Speaking too much in an improper manner like shouting or screaming excessively can cause voice problems after some time. Similarly, singing incorrectly for a long period of time will also affect your voice.
– Menopause – Hormone changes often caused by menopause can affect the voice and exacerbate certain pre-existing conditions such as allergies or asthma.
– Alcohol – Drinking too much alcohol for too long can make it difficult to speak clearly, as well as lead to a sore throat.
– Cancer of the larynx (voice box) or vocal cords can alter your voice especially if chemotherapy or radiotherapy is used to treat cancer.
– Physical trauma – This can be caused by an accident, fall, sports injury, etc. which could lead to larynx problems like polyps on the vocal cords or damage to the cartilage.
Causes of voice disorders:
There are many causes of voice disorders. These include vocal abuse or misuse, allergies, colds and flu, reflux disease, acid indigestion, sinusitis, hormonal changes due to menstruation, pregnancy, menopause, certain medications (such as in some antibiotics), polyps in the throat, over-singing, and voice misuse or overuse.
Voice disorders can arise from many causes, including vocal abuse or misuse; allergies; colds and flu; reflux disease; acid indigestion (gastroesophageal reflux); sinusitis; hormonal changes due to menstruation, pregnancy, menopause, certain medications (such as in some antibiotics), and polyps in the throat.
Some people with voice disorders may not experience any symptoms at all, although their voices may still sound significantly different than before. Others might notice that they are speaking much more softly or that their voice is trembling, heavy and weak.
Some people may feel pain in the throat when using their voice and others might develop infections like a common cold that lasts for longer periods of time (viral upper respiratory tract infection) and easily reoccurs because of the lack of vocal rest.
The problem usually begins to improve once the patient has recovered from whatever illness was plaguing him or her, but it can persist if proper precautions aren’t taken by the patient.
What causes vocal cord nodules?
Vocal cord nodules occur when you abuse your voice by shouting or screaming for a long time, especially if you have a poor technique when you speak. In this case, the vocal cords may grow abnormally large and form calluses that can cause them to stick together. Vocal cord nodules can also be caused by acid reflux disease.
In most cases of vocal cord paralysis, trauma, or injury to the neck is seen as a major cause of damage to the nerve supplying the larynx (vocal cords). This paralyzes one of the two vocal cords which results in paralysis. Injury leading to vocal cord scarring has been reported as another common factor among people with vocal cord paralysis.
The following can lead to injuries:
A hard blow during an accident – Falls on the face or on the chest like in a sports accident
Straining or pushing with too much force during heavy lifting
Vocal abuse is also seen as another possible cause of vocal cord paralysis. Vocal cord paralysis can be caused by infections such as Thyroid and parathyroid conditions – Cancer of the thyroid and parathyroid affects the function of these glands responsible for regulating your metabolism and calcium levels.
Cancers affecting the larynx, esophagus, trachea, lungs, and kidneys may all involve parts of the nervous system supplying your voice box (larynx), resulting in nerve damage that causes vocal cord paralysis. Treatment is done based on each patient’s specific case. Generally, patients having surgery have an improvement in 25% cases, and in some cases 40% improvement is possible.
Vocal cord lesions – Cancer of the vocal cords can cause scarring and stiffness, leading to paralysis. Vocal cord lesions are often caused by repeated injury to the vocal cords from overuse or misuse of the voice. Generally, treatment is done based on each patient’s specific case.
In most patients, there will be a significant improvement in their condition following surgical procedures aimed at removing a tumor or correcting a paralyzed cord, but some may have only minor improvements due to permanent damage to the affected nerve.
voice problem treatment:
If you or someone that you know is suffering from any of the problems mentioned above, it’s important to visit a doctor/speech therapist and do whatever treatment is necessary in order to return back to normal.
It’s important to remember that when you abuse your voice for a long period of time, there is a big chance that it will cause permanent damage and potentially result in a serious health problem.
It should be noted that many people who have vocal cord lesions do not know that they have them since the symptoms might not show right away or they might not even notice them. In other cases, some people might notice potential problems but don’t take the necessary steps in order to get help from a specialist which can result in more severe issues later on.
What causes voice change in adults:
Another common problem that you might face is suffering from a voice change in adults. This occurs when the voice gets deeper or an adult, often starting between the ages of 30-40. However, there are many people who have this condition at much younger ages. For others, it happens after having their tonsils removed.
The most common reason for someone noticing problems with his or her voice is excessive use of the vocal cords for speaking or shouting that has damaged them over time without being treated properly.
The main symptom associated with this problem is knowing your own voice isn’t as it used to be but not knowing what exactly changed about it.
There are various potential causes for this problem which include:
a) Diseases like Parkinson’s Disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), vocal cord polyps and vocal cord tumors, acid reflux, and so on.
b) Normal aging: most people usually notice a change in their voice after turning 40.
c) Vocal abuse: if you tend to speak too loudly or use your voice for extended periods of time without allowing it to rest, you might be causing damage which results in symptoms such as the ones mentioned above.
The most effective treatment method is surgery since there is simply no better option for this kind of problem that offers satisfying results. The only way to find out whether you need surgery or not is by visiting a specialist who will tell you exactly what needs to be done and decide if surgery is really necessary in your case.
In some cases, the problem might not be as serious as to require surgery but if you still want it to go away, your doctor can prescribe steroid injections which will reduce the inflammation and provide the necessary relief that you’re looking for.
In any case, it’s important to find out what exactly is causing this voice issue and make sure that there isn’t something else going on or a more serious issue behind the scenes.
Hoarse voice and mucus in throat:
If you have a hoarse voice, it can be caused by many things. It could be due to being sick, talking too much or singing at a high pitch for an extended period of time, smoking, or drinking excessively.
There are many causes associated with this problem so the best thing that you can do is get help from your doctor in order to find out what exactly may have happened and how can it be treated effectively.
Most cases are easily treatable but there are also some others that may not go away on their own over time which means that if you notice these types of symptoms, it’s important to visit a professional right away especially if they don’t go away after taking medication.
The main reason why this occurs is excessive use of your voice, so it’s important to rest the throat and not talk too much for a while. After all, there are many ways in which you can communicate with people even if you don’t speak.
You might also want to get yourself tested since one of the most common causes that lead to this problem is infections or viruses that affect your voice box. If this is the case, it will be easy to get rid of them by taking medicine for this specific health issue.