Inflamed Voice Box

Laryngitis is the term used for the inflammation of the larynx i.e. the voice box.

Causes

The reasons could be some viral infection or overuse of your voice. This is a temporary infection and can also be caused rarely by bacteria, some infections such as tuberculosis etc. If the infection remains for several days consult the doctor it could be also due to some tumors. Mainly people who smoke are greater risk of having tumors.

Symptoms of Laryngitis

There could be some symptoms that point towards the infection. Some of them could be hoarseness of the voice, cough, fever, urge of cleaning your throat after short intervals, difficulty in swallowing and congestion. It can also cause temporary loss of speech.

If this occurs in children they also have difficulty in breathing as the inflammation of the larynx make the wind pipe thin which causes breathing problem.

Managing laryngitis

Diagnosis of laryngitis is done clinically by various tests and physical examination. If the infection is diagnosed then some antibiotic treatment would be started.

There are some steps that should be taken if undergoing treatment. Avoid talking in people with loud voice. Also whispering puts more stress on the vocal cord than shouting so avoid this also. Drink warm liquids and also take steam this would give great relief. Smokers must not smoke during the course of medicine.

Do gargles in the morning with some hot water with salt and some vinegar in it. Don’t eat anything at least two hours before going to sleep this would relax your throat and you would sleep easily. Staying in humid atmosphere also helps a lot. Garlic and ginger are also said to be useful in this situation. So eat them in any kind. You can also have tea made by putting ginger in it.