Get rid of vocal cord nodules

How long does it take for vocal nodules to go away?

The vocal nodules may or may not go away. According to a research entitled: treatment of Vocal Nodules by Mary Panbacker, published in the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology of August 1999, vocal nodules' frequency and re-occurrence depends on the following factors:

• Your age during the time that you decided to seek medical advice and treatment
• The length of time the nodules have been ignored without medical intervention
• Difficulty in speaking scale
• Your choice of treatment, whether voice therapy or surgery

With proper compliance to medical recommendations, your doctor is in a better position to approximate the duration and prognosis of treatment.

This depends on the size of the nodules. If yours is small, it will take you weeks or a month or two. You need to rest your voice completely, get enough sleep, refrain from drinking cold drinks, and stop smoking. If your vocal cord nodules are huge, your doctor will need to remove them. Check with your doctor to confirm the size and treatment.

How to hide symptoms of vocal nodules?

Unfortunately,there is no way to hide or mask the overt symptoms of vocal cord nodules basically because it's there. The best way to prevent or treat any form of disease is by seeking medical help and not by ignoring, hiding, or pretending that you don't have it. However, there are effective ways to minimize or reduce the symptoms of having vocal cord nodules such as the following:

• Treating the possible trigger factors of the symptoms. If you have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) which might worsen the condition of your vocal cord nodules and associated symptoms such as hoarseness of voice, pain,and inflammation on the vocal cords; then getting medical treatment for each of these specific conditions should bring about improvement of symptoms.
• Voice Therapy. The most obvious symptom of having vocal cord nodules is sudden change in voice quality or vocal range. Voice misuse or abuse is coined to be the primary culprit for hoarseness of voice which can be remedied by voice therapy or rehabilitation. This includes refraining from too much talking as it can be hard on the voice nodules. This is said to diminish swelling and irritation on the vocal cords.
• Behavioral Therapy. Counseling or coaching is also recommended for patients with vocal cord nodules as some symptoms could be aggravated by stress and other psychological factors. This also motivates an individual to work on his strengths and rise above challenges associated with suffering from vocal cord nodules.

Honestly, you will have a hard time hiding it as you will need to control the "irks" or pain face and it is impossible to hide it from the doctor. I suggest you treat your vocal nodules instead and see a doctor to help you out. It may further damage your voice.

Can I drink water to reduce vocal nodule pain?

The answer is yes, drinking water effectively reduces vocal nodule pain. The rationale behind it is that vocal nodule pain is usually caused by dry and inflamed vocal cords and drinking lots of water (water therapy) greatly helps soothe the inflamed vocal cords and helps hydrate the body promoting and maintaining moisture in the vocal cords. Properly hydrating yourself by drinking lots of water will efficiently helps in lubricating the mucus membrane in the vocal cords reducing pain. The fluids you need to avoid are beverages containing caffeine such as carbonated drinks, tea, coffee because caffeine has a diuretic effect which dehydrate the body making your condition worse. In general, water therapy effectively helps in reducing vocal cord nodule pain by making the mucus membrane hydrated and maintains the moisture soothing the inflamed vocal cords.

Steps to take to see if you have vocal nodules?

Vocal cord nodules are small benign growths in the vocal cords primarily caused by voice abuse. The steps to take to check if you have vocal cord nodules are as follows:

• Observe for the signs and symptoms of vocal nodules. These includes hoarseness of voice, inability to sing softly, pain or throat discomfort, vocal fatigue and decreased voice range (not easily hits high notes).

• Another self-check is to simply sing "Happy Birthday" as quietly and softly as you can. If you did not easily hit all the notes as quietly as you can, it is a sign of vocal cord nodule or any other vocal problems.

• Visiting a otolaryngologist. The most reliable step in checking if you have a vocal cords nodule is to visit a otolaryngologist. The otolaryngologist is a medical professional doctor who specializes in surgical and medical management of patients with diseases of the ear, nose and throat (ENT) or known as ENT Physicians. The otolaryngologist will thoroughly examine your throat and insert a device called laryngoscopy to have a good view on your vocal cords. This medical procedure will confirm if you have vocal cord nodules or none.

How to sing around nodules?

It is very uncomfortable to sing with nodules. You could try not to sing too loud or you can try doing a falsetto instead of getting the power from your stomach. However, doing this will not get rid of the nodules. You will have to check with a doctor to determine if they have to remove it or you can let it heal by itself at home.

If nodules get removed, will it grow back and what is the procedure to remove it surgically?

I'm going for a removal 240117 and was not explained of what the procedure would be. I have had extreme hoarseness, dry mouth, and headaches, then I went to see a doctor few times till I got referred to an ETN specialist and then they discovered that I have nodule on my vocals and it got big in time. They think the cause is my acid reflux and abuse of voice as I speak very loud. I have tried: Eating better, drinking more water and avoiding caffeine. I think it was caused by: My acid reflux as it is very bad, also shouting a lot and doing telecommunication as a daily job.

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How long will it take for my hoarseness of voice to cured?

I am 18 years old now. I have been rapping on my own for 1 year and I guess I destroyed my voice because of it. Now my voice is too much hoarse because when I used to rap I din not know anything about voice , I always strained my voice too much during rapping. I willingly put pressure to make my rapping look good. I rap for hours till yesterday when I found that my voice is (or has been) so hoarse than other people. Now when even I have to speak I have to put pressure on vocal cords to make a clear voice , when I try to speak without pressure or low , there is no voice at all. Also I had been a mouth breather since childhood until I turned 16 , my throat must have suffered terribly due to getting dry all the time my mouth breathing. When I rap , and run out of breath , I used to put as much pressure as possible to check how much I can rap in one breath , I did it many times. I want to be a singer (not rapper specifically) , and I love singing , I can not imagine my life without it. I recently started to take lessons for singing but in class I am the worst singer because my voice is too hoarse (may be a bit less than a donkey) . I am a normal boy , no serious diseases , everyone around me still thinks that my voice is fine because they see it normally but I see it as I have to sing , and I know that because of mouth breathing , rapping and taking singing classes (without any knowledge of voice) trying high notes , I just completely destroyed it. I am depressed. Speaking low is like I am whispering (no voice , only air). So to make low voice I have to put more pressure , this means there is so much leak of air . And I am guessing that because of all the pressure and strain on vocal cords , there must be vocal nodules grown on my vocal cords. May be vocal polyp I guess. I am so depressed , will my hoarseness ever get cured? Will it be possible by voice therapy only (without surgery) , is it possible without surgery to get hoarseness away only with therapy? PLEASE provide me some details about how bad my voice might have gone. Please help.. I have tried: Nothing yet as I paid attention to it just yesterday , I stopped rapping

.. I think it was caused by: Rapping , Mouth breathing , excessive pressure during rapping when I run out of breath , 3 months ago I had a serious cough and then tonsil , I was having some blood with my nose mucus from my through due to cough and tonsil. My routine has been bad as often I don't get to drink water for 4-6 hours straight everyday. Never paid attention to it before , obviously misused it.

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I am a high school teacher and a part time singer?

I have been diagnosed with small nodules. Wondering How can I begin to reduce inflammation and nodule size without being completely silent as these jobs are my income. Warm Regards. I have tried: Rest, quiet when my throat feels strained (hard to do as I teach during the day and am often correcting or silencing students)

I will be purchasing a personal throat steamer today and increasing my water intake; minimizing caffeine. I will be taking all of next year off teaching and I have already gone part time in my teaching career. I think it was caused by: Singing and teaching with minimal rest in between. Singing high notes incorrectly due to song requests being out of my comfort zone ( I try to alter song key where ever possible)

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