Symptoms:
- Patient complains of hoarse voice with variations in pitch.
- Vocal fatigue.
- Chronic throat irritation.
- Dry hacking cough.
Signs:
- Vocal cord edges lose their pearly shine and appear red and congested with dilated blood vessels on the superior surface.
- Cord movements appear asynchronous and flabby on phonation.
- Thick mucus seen on the cords.
- In advanced untreated cases, mucosa exhibits polypoidal changes.
Treatment: Apart from treating the parent causative factor for Chronic Laryngitis the following management should be done:
- Stop smoking and alcohol.
- Plenty of fluids to keep the vocal cords moist and thin secretions.
- Voice rest.
- Speech therapy /Voice Therapy.
- Avoid whispering as it puts more strain on the vocal cords.
- Avoid decongestants, as they cause dryness in oral cavity and throat.
- Steam inhalation.
- Control of Laryngo-pharyngeal reflux by giving proton pump inhibitors.
- Expectorants to reduce cough.
- Well humidified atmosphere.
- If there is keratosis of vocal cord, microlaryngoscopy done and stripping of the vocal cords done by cold steel instruments, laser or radiofrequency.