Acute and Chronic Laryngitis
If your throat is raw and your voice hoarse or worse, gone, you could have laryngitis. While this illness is pretty common, it doesn’t make it any less uncomfortable or unpleasant. Luckily, medical professionals can help you. They can diagnose any issues and prescribe you the best treatment that best suits your illness, symptoms, and lifestyle. You don’t have to suffer through a bout of laryngitis.
Causes and Treatments of Laryngitis
There are two types of laryngitis: acute and chronic. Acute laryngitis is the most common and is a temporary ailment that easily clears once the cause is treated. Common causes of acute laryngitis are a viral infection, vocal strain, or a bacterial infection. Chronic laryngitis is less common but usually more worrisome, usually lasting longer than three weeks, and caused by an overexposure to irritants like inhaled chemicals, smoking, or the habitual overuse of your voice.
Treating laryngitis is usually easy to do and can help speed recovery. Your medical professional can prescribe antibiotics or corticosteroids to help give you relief. You can also try these remedies to help:
- Breathing moist air through steaming or a humidifier
- Resting your voice
- Drinking plenty of fluids, especially water
- Keeping your throat moist with lozenges and gum
- Gargling salt water
- Avoiding decongestants which can dry out your throat
- Avoiding whispering, which can strain your voice more than talking normally
- Avoiding clearing your throat
Here at FastMed, our team strives to provide quality medical care with compassion so that you get care from someone who cares. We offer our patients the option of a ZipPass that allows you to check-in online and could make your wait time shorter.
At FastMed our exceptional and compassionate healthcare providers and staff commit to always be: caring, respecting, accepting, valuing, encouraging, and understanding. We understand how uncomfortable laryngitis can be, so that’s why our staff is always professional and sensitive to your needs and comfort. If you have any questions, please visit our FAQ page or contact us today.