A sore throat can be a sign of tonsillitis. Photo: Illustrative.
The otolaryngologist Carlos Jorge Ocampos stated that hoarseness or throat clearing of more than two weeks should prompt a consultation.
Prof Dr. Carlos Jorge Ocamposotolaryngologist, head and neck surgeon, urged the population that if they notice changes in their voice that persist for more than two weeks, they should come for a consultation, since there are pathologies that can evolve to more serious from a simple dysphonia. He added that the normal voice can be recovered, but above all, complications can be prevented.
Said the voice is too important a characteristic of every person and he gave as an example a person with a visual disability, who only by listening to the voice of someone he knows knows how to identify who it is. “If that important characteristic is lost, it’s like we lose our identity.”
On the other hand, other pathologies can also appear from something as simple as hoarseness or recurrent throat clearing. In this sense, he pointed out that with over time it can become a neoplastic pathologya cancer, if an adequate treatment is not installed.
The voice is formed by the vibration of the vocal cords located in the larynx due to the passage of air coming from the rib cage, but there is also an influence of what is called sounding board of which the mouth, throat and nostrils are part. There can be many causes that cause the alteration of the voice, so one must be alert to changes in the tone and strength of the voice.
“Any change in the tone of the voice that we are used to hearing and that lasts for more than two weeks has to attract attention, because it implies that some kind of change is taking place in the structures that make up the voice,” he said.
One of the most frequent causes are minimal structural changes in the vocal cords, which may be due to the appearance of small polyps or cysts. Likewise, it can be by pictures of laryngopharyngeal reflux or esophageal reflux irritating the vocal cordsthus causing a chemical laryngitis and in this way produce an inflammation of the area and therefore the voice changes.
In addition, there are pathologies that start with viral pictures such as a viral or bacterial laryngitis. Even the pictures of allergic patients who have recurrent runny nose that later goes to the throat, produce irritation of the vocal cords and it causes inflammation that sometimes becomes chronic; cases that must be treated or could cause permanent changes in the voice, he warned.
Read more: Four fingers of a baby will be amputated: parents denounce medical negligence
attentions
The FCM-UNA Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Service has an exclusive area dedicated to voice disorders. The patient must be scheduled for a primary consultation for the evaluation and treatment of the inflammatory and infectious symptoms, if applicable. If the voice change lasts more than two weeks without improvement, the patient is given studies to visualize the vocal cords.
diagnostic methods
One of the studies is laryngofibroscopy, for which they have rigid and flexible equipment, to see if there is any type of structural alteration within the vocal cord. “Many times no changes seen, no cysts, no tumors, no polyps, but physiologically there may be a poor physiology of the movement of the vocal cords. And we also have specific equipment called video stroboscopy that shows in a much more timely manner if there are changes in the physiology of the voice”, explained the head of the Laryngology Room.
Most of the pathologies that produce minimal structural changes in the vocal cords are those that require clinical treatment, that is, with medication and change of habits. He added that the treatment must be accompanied by a specialist in speech therapy, with whom they perform vocal retraining.
If these alterations do not improve, are evaluated again and if they detect polyps or cysts Microsurgery of the larynx is performed to correct the problem. He affirmed that within the human team they have professionals trained abroad in the subspecialty of laryngology, in terms of clinical and surgical treatment, in addition to the training of residents, they also have the subspecialty in head and neck for the care of this type of pathologies.
