Symptoms of laryngitis
introduction
Laryngitis is a disease of the lining of the larynx. It can show different symptoms. The symptoms depend on various factors. For example, age and cause play a role. The symptoms differ for example in the acute versus the chronic form.
Laryngitis can be caused by viral and less often bacterial infections, mechanical irritation, allergies and inhalation of toxic substances such as cigarette smoke. Symptoms of laryngitis can also develop as part of measles, mumps, and chickenpox. The development of laryngitis is often related to other inflammations of the upper airways. The paranasal sinuses are often affected.
Symptoms
Typical symptoms of laryngitis are:
- Disturbances of the vocal sound such as:
- hoarseness
- alternately husky voice
- decreased voice resilience
- Voice becomes deeper
- Voicelessness
- Coughing force
- Foreign body sensation in the throat
- difficulties swallowing
- Pain in the larynx and throat
- Dry tickly cough
- barking cough
- Difficulty breathing
- Breath sounds
- Exhaustion
- fever
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Vocal cord nodules / scream nodules
In the context of a laryngitis, a restricted ability to vibrate one of the vocal folds can lead to hoarseness. In extreme cases, a laryngitis can cause temporary voicelessness, known as aphonia. A hoarseness that lasts more than 3 weeks must be clarified by a doctor.
to cough
A side effect of laryngitis can be a cough. It is an expression of the irritation of the larynx. In acute and chronic laryngitis, a dry, irritable cough without sputum usually occurs. The cough in the so-called pseudo croup, a form of laryngitis in children, can be distinguished from this. The cough is also dry in this context, but typically sounds barking.
Coughing force
Coughing and coughing occur accompanying functional voice disorders. These can be related to laryngitis. The compulsion to clear the throat usually arises in connection with a feeling of a foreign body in the throat, which can arise from the swollen larynx or vocal fold nodules.
fever
Because laryngitis is an inflammatory process, some people get a fever. Children in particular tend to do this, as this is the body's own ability to kill pathogens. A medical examination is recommended. If the fever has developed quickly and is very high, there is a suspicion that there is inflammation of the epiglottis. This special form of laryngitis is known as epiglottitis. Since this is mostly caused by bacteria, antibiotic treatment is usually recommended.
Sore throat
Laryngitis is often accompanied by local pain. These can radiate into the entire neck. With laryngitis, a lot happens in the body at the cellular level. A number of mechanisms are triggered and "messenger substances" are activated and released. This eventually creates a sore throat. The severity and extent of the sore throat are very individual.
Pain when swallowing
With laryngitis, the larynx lining is swollen and thickened in various ways. This can make swallowing painful if you have a laryngitis. Since the larynx is moved with every swallow, the swollen lining of the larynx is strongly irritated.
This can be particularly evident when eating. In some cases even swallowing the saliva is uncomfortable to very painful.
Swollen lymph nodes on the neck
When the larynx is inflamed, the lymph nodes in the neck are often swollen.
The swelling can be painless or painful. In the context of a laryngitis, this is a sign that the immune system is working.
Different symptoms in adults and children
Since the child's larynx is anatomically different from the adult larynx, a different area of the larynx is often affected. Accordingly, the complaints are also different.
In children, the mucous membrane often becomes inflamed in the area below the larynx. It is swollen accordingly and the epiglottis is usually bright red and thickened. One speaks of a so-called subglottic laryngitis, which is also known as pseudo croup.
Characteristic of this laryngitis that occurs in childhood is hoarseness and a dry, barking cough. When coughing, you can hear abnormal breathing noises caused by the narrowing of the airways. This is called stridor in technical jargon. This is differentiated according to whether it occurs when you inhale or exhale. Breathing sounds that occur during exhalation as part of a child's larynx infection indicate that the vocal folds are also involved.
The breathing difficulties and shortness of breath can vary in severity. Depending on the severity of the disease, the child's lips and fingers may turn blue, known as cyanosis.
As a rule, laryngitis in adulthood does not cause a barking, but only a dry, tickly cough. In addition, laryngitis only causes breathing difficulties and breathing noises in adults in exceptional cases and as part of complications.
Vocal cord nodules
The vocal cord nodules usually show up in the area from the anterior to the middle third of the vocal cord. This area is often the most stressed. At first, the vocal cord nodules are visible to the doctor as soft, later as firmer enlargements of the mucous membrane on the vocal cords. They always occur on both sides. In children one speaks of so-called "scream nodules". In both adults and children, the cause is voice overuse. (Young) women are often affected.
In children, the vocal cord nodules are often associated with hearing impairment or benign tumors. They show up in the form of a dark voice. In adults, the vocal nodules usually lead to hoarseness. The treatment of the voice nodules in adults includes speech therapy and microsurgical removal of the nodules. In children, the screaming nodules are usually treated conservatively with supportive voice therapy from a speech therapist for children.
Symptoms of laryngitis due to gastric acid reflux
A backflow of acidic stomach contents back into the esophagus is called gastro-oesophageal reflux. This is caused by an insufficiency of the stomach entrance or the esophageal sphincter muscle. The acidic gastric juice can initially lead to acute inflammatory processes in the esophagus and larynx.
The laryngitis that can be triggered by this is known as "posterior laryngitis" or in technical jargon as laryngitis posterior. If the reflux is persistent or recurring, the stomach acid may cause injury, scarring, and ulceration in the esophagus.
The symptoms show up in heartburn, difficulty swallowing and burning pain. The lining of the larynx is swollen and red. The reflux disease and the resulting laryngitis should definitely be examined by a doctor.
Endoscopic examinations and pH measurements are usually used for diagnosis and follow-up purposes. The symptoms are often caused by large meals, caffeine, alcohol, exertion and stress. Therefore, the symptoms usually improve with a change in eating and lifestyle habits. In addition, certain drugs that protect the stomach, so-called proton pump inhibitors, can support the healing process.
