Laryngitis: Symptoms, Causes & Treatment

Laryngitis is inflammation or irritation of the larynx (voice box) and the vocal cords inside it. The vocal cords vibrate to produce sound, so when they become inflamed and swollen the way they vibrate changes, leading to a change in the voice, hoarseness, or its loss. It is among the most common causes of hoarseness, and is divided into two types: acute (short-term) and chronic (lasting more than weeks).

The most common causes of acute laryngitis are viral infection (such as that accompanying colds) and voice strain by shouting, talking, or singing loudly for a long time. Its symptoms include: hoarseness, roughness, or loss of the voice, a feeling of dryness, tickling, or pain in the throat, a frequent need to clear the throat, a dry cough, and sometimes accompanying cold symptoms. Chronic laryngitis may result from persistent causes such as: smoking, gastroesophageal reflux (stomach acid rising to the throat), repeated voice strain, chronic exposure to irritants or chemicals, and allergy.

Most acute laryngitis cases are mild and recover on their own within days to a week or a little more, and need no treatment other than supportive care. What most helps healing: resting the voice as much as possible (avoiding talking a lot, shouting, and also whispering), drinking plenty of fluids, humidifying room air, avoiding smoking and irritants, and relieving throat pain with simple painkillers. Since most of it is viral, antibiotics do not help treat it. Chronic inflammation requires treating the underlying cause (such as quitting smoking, treating reflux, or modifying voice use). It is very important to see a doctor if hoarseness lasts more than two weeks without improvement, because chronic hoarseness may be a sign of another condition requiring evaluation, especially in smokers. Urgent care should also be sought for severe difficulty breathing or swallowing, especially in children.

• Hoarseness, roughness, or loss of the voice.
• Dryness, tickling, or pain in the throat and a need to clear it.
• A dry cough and sometimes accompanying cold symptoms.

• Acute: viral infection and voice strain (the most common).
• Chronic: smoking, gastroesophageal reflux, repeated voice strain, irritants, allergy.

• Diagnosis is often clinical from symptoms and examination.
• Assessing chronic causes (smoking, reflux) with persistent hoarseness.
• Laryngeal examination with an endoscope for hoarseness lasting more than two weeks.

Acute inflammation (recovers on its own)

• Resting the voice (avoiding talking a lot, shouting, and whispering).
• Drinking plenty of fluids and humidifying room air.
• Avoiding smoking and irritants, and simple painkillers.

Chronic inflammation

• Treating the underlying cause (quitting smoking, treating reflux, modifying voice use).

Antibiotics do not help in viral inflammation. This content is educational and does not replace medical advice.

• Chronic hoarseness when the cause is untreated.
• Persistent hoarseness may be a sign of another condition requiring evaluation.
• Difficulty breathing in children in some types of laryngitis.

• Avoiding voice strain and prolonged shouting, and resting the voice when needed.
• Quitting smoking, avoiding irritants, and treating reflux.
• Drinking fluids and humidifying the air, and preventing viral infections.