If you are a female between the ages of 20 and 50 your voice may change and you not even be aware of it till others bring it to your attention. There can be several different causes of this symptom. One of the causes could be vocal cord polyps. This can be cause by noncancerous growths on the vocal cords.
These polyps can grow on the vocal cords and make it appear that the vocal cords have swelled and you can feel like you have a thick ball of mucus caught in your throat all the time. You may have difficulty swallowing and you may have them on both of your vocal cords.
There are many causes of these vocal cord polyps. One of the main causes is smoking. If you are a long term smoker you may be a good candidate for one of these. Other causes are allergies GERD, or acid reflux, yelling, such as if you are a coach or a cheerleader and you have abused your voice by yelling for many years. If you are drinking a lot of caffeine and alcohol you can experience this because this will dry out the throat from the ingredients of these items.
The symptoms can be gradual so that you may never even know that you are having any problems with your vocal cords. Your voice may become harsh and you have a raspy voice or it sounds rough or scratchy. Of course you may notice that lump in your throat feeling but again it may be so gradual that you just over look it and think of it as normal aging.
The only way to be sure of what is going on with your throat is to go to the doctor. They have several ways to look down your throat and see your vocal cords. You can do this most of the time in the office. They will numb your nasal passages and insert a tube through your nose with a small camera attached to see your vocal cords. Many times you can see this yourself of the screen. While this test isn’t extremely painful it is uncomfortable.
There are some treatments one would be to control your acid reflux if you have it, and to rest your voice for a few weeks. If either of these works then surgery may be your next option.
Of course the first thing that you will have to do if you are a smoker is to quit smoking. While you may not have cancer right away, your vocal cords have changed, the cells have changed and that makes you a perfect candidate for cancer if you continue smoking.
Polyps on the vocal cords may be extremely painful but it is uncomfortable. It’s annoying when people tell you all the time that they hope you feel better because you have a constant hoarseness in your voice, or you can no longer talk for long period of time because your voice gives out. Smoking isn’t worth all this trouble.
