Voice gone: This is what you can do now

If you lose your voice, it is often due to a cold or flu. However, hoarseness can also have other causes. Here you can find out what these are and what helps if your voice fails you.

A hoarse or lost voice causes considerable inconvenience in everyday life. Whether it is caused by a cold, overuse of the vocal cords or other causes – an impaired voice can cause pain and may even make it difficult for you to do your job. Fortunately, there are some measures you can take if you have lost your voice.

Voice gone: This helps

Do you wake up in the morning and find that you are completely hoarse or that your voice has completely disappeared? According to voice therapist Susanne Voigt-Zimmermann, the following tips will help in this case:

• Protect your voice by speaking as little as possible. If you have a job that requires a lot of talking (for example, as a teacher or call center agent), you should stay at home for a few days until the hoarseness subsides.

• Keep your throat moist. To do this, you should drink a lot and ensure that the room is humid. In winter in particular, the dry air from heating often makes the indoor climate very dry. To increase the humidity, you can, for example, place bowls of water on radiators or let your laundry dry in the living room or bedroom.

• Drink lukewarm herbal teas to calm your irritated voice. The AOK recommends ginger, sage or ribwort plantain.
• Cough drops can also be helpful if you lose your voice.
• Avoid smoking and alcohol.

• Avoid clearing your throat and whispering. These practices put a particular strain on your voice, according to the AOK.

Voice gone: What are the causes?

The fact that you have lost your voice is not an illness in itself, but it can be a symptom of an illness. For example, loss of voice is particularly common with colds. However, hoarseness can also have other causes:

• Certain professions place particularly heavy demands on the voice. This applies to teachers and singers. Regularly speaking or singing loudly can put so much strain on the vocal cords that hoarseness develops or the voice disappears completely, according to the AOK.
• Smokers also often suffer from hoarseness. They often develop what is known as Reinke’s edema, in which the vocal cords thicken due to water retention.
• Serious injuries or inflammation can also paralyze the vocal cords. Then the voice disappears completely.
• Laryngeal cancer can also be responsible for paralysis of the vocal cords.
• However, the fact that you lose your voice can also have psychological causes, according to the AOK. Short-term or long-term hoarseness can also be caused by anxiety, sadness, depression or excitement.

As a rule, hoarseness is often harmless and goes away on its own after a few days or weeks. However, if the hoarseness persists for more than three weeks, you should seek medical advice, according to Voigt-Zimmermann.

Read more on Techzle\.com:

• How to train your voice – and which foods damage it
• 9 foods that protect against colds and flu
• 8 mistakes you shouldn’t make when you have a cold

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