Do you constantly feel an itchy and irritated throat? Does your voice sound weird? You may be suffering from laryngitis. Find out more about this disease and how to deal with it.

What is Laryngitis?

Laryngitis occur when your vocal cords become swollen and your voice become hoarse. Its most common cause is excessive screaming or yelling. Amazingly, it may also be caused by your stomach. Sometimes the stomach acid in your stomach may rise up to your swallowing tube and thus irritate the vocal cords. Aside from these smoking may also contribute to the development of laryngitis.

Symptoms of Laryngitis

You may be suffering from laryngitis when your voice becomes hoarse and raspy and may also feel a tickle in your throat. It can even be that you will have no voice at all or may need to cough or clear your throat. Usually, these may just last a few days but if it becomes longer, see a doctor immediately before it escalates.

Treatment for Laryngitis

Your doctors, before treating you, will administer some tests on you so don’t be surprised when he asks you to open up your mouth for his inspection. He will need to see the condition of your throat in his process of diagnosis.

You will also discover that the treatment will depend on the cause of your laryngitis. If it is caused by a viral infection, what your doctor will be prescribing is ingestion of fluids and the resting of your voice. If the cause of your laryngitis, on the other hand, is excessive yelling, then the treatment would be mild and your doctor may simply prescribe a little voice rest. Sometimes, complete silence is needed and this surely is one instance that it is.

If it is your stomach acid that caused your laryngitis, your doctor will discuss with you the possible medications that you can avail of and he may even go as far as prescribe an appropriate diet for you. This may mean, of course, that you may have to change some of the types of food that you eat and the quantity of your food intakes.

How to Prevent Laryngitis?

Fortunately, laryngitis can be prevented.

The simplest and easiest way of preventing it is to minimize yelling and excessive talking. Your body has its way of reminding you of your limits, heed it. Normally, when you are overstretching your vocal cords capacity it will be reflected by the sound of your voice, be sensitive to the changes and adjust accordingly.

You may also use humidifiers that can increase the water content in the air and will prevent the drying up of your throat. Finally, do try to avoid smoking and being around people who do so for this could only irritate your vocal cords.