Laryngitis and Vocal Hygiene By: Taryn Lacour & Jaime Williford What is Laryngitis? • Laryngitis is an inflammation of the larynx due to overuse, irritation, or infection. • Chronic or Acute v Signs and Symptoms • Laryngitis signs and symptoms can include: • Hoarseness • Weak voice or voice loss • Tickling sensation and rawness of your throat • Sore throat • Dry throat • Dry cough Assessment • Hoarseness! • Ways to diagnose: • Laryngoscopy • • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JDUhLCuNkc Biopsy Treatment/Intervention • Acute • Chronic • Common medications used: • Antibiotics • Corticosteroids Treatment/Intervention - At home remedies for Acute Laryngitis • • • • • • Breathe moist air Rest your voice as much as possible Drink plenty of fluids Moisten your throat Avoid decongestants Avoid whispering. Prevention To prevent dryness or irritation to your vocal cords: • Don't smoke, and avoid secondhand smoke • Limit alcohol and caffeine • Drink plenty of water • Avoid eating spicy foods • Include whole grains, fruits and vegetables in your diet • Avoid clearing your throat • Avoid upper respiratory infections During Intervention we must: • Education • Improve Vocal Hygiene • Avoid behaviors negatively affecting voice (smoking, excess caffeine, etc) ● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6chOpmAYO74 What is Vocal Hygiene: and why is it important? ● Vocal hygiene is a term used to describe habits, which support a healthy and strong voice throughout your life. ● “healthy voice program” ● professional voice user ● daily voice user What is GOOD and what is BAD Do's • Drink water instead of coughing/clearing th• roat • • Good posture • • Good breath support • Relaxed neck and jaw • • Take breaks during long periods of speech • • Vocal warmups before singing/periods of s • peech • • Use microphones when speaking publicly • • Learn to recognize possible voice disorders • /problems • • Get frequent voice checkups • • Abdominal breathing • Sleep with a humidifier or vaporizer running Don'ts Chemical irritants Caffeine Excessive smoking/secondhand smok e Excessive yelling/ speaking Consuming too much alcohol Speaking/singing out of vocal range Coughing/clearing your throat Cough and Flu medication Talking while exercising Highly acidic/fatty foods Speaking over background noises • pre-test and post-test of SLP grad students after they provided 2 hours of therapy. • s/z ratio and maximum phonation time • decrease in overall ‘phonatory ability’ • decreased efficiency in subglottic pressure, airflow resistance and vocal fold closure THIS APPLIES TO YOU TOO! References • https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/laryngitis/diagnosistreatment/drc-20374267 • Teng Teng, Laura Chua. “Ear, Nose & Throat.” Vocal Health: Do's and Don'ts, www.healthxchange.sg/head-neck/ear-nose-throat/vocal-healthdos-donts. • Dr KK Karade ENT Head Neck Thyroid Cancer Center. YouTube, YouTube, 25 May 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JDUhLCuNkc. • Ratcliffe, Philippa. “Vocal Hygiene for Chronic Laryngitis.” YouTube, The BMJ, 10 Oct. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=6chOpmAYO74. • Couch, Stephanie, et al. “Vocal Effectiveness of Speech-Language Pathology Students: Before and after Voice Use during Service Delivery.” South African Journal of Communication Disorders, vol. 62, no. 1, 2015, doi:10.4102/sajcd.v62i1.95.
