The doctor urged not to ignore prolonged hoarseness

Hoarseness of voice after a cold, prolonged conversation, or staying indoors with dry air is most often associated with benign causes. However, if hoarseness persists for more than three weeks, increases, or is accompanied by other alarming symptoms, this may indicate serious illnesses that require medical examination. Dmitry Bulanov, Director of the Department of Pathomorphology and Clinical Cytology at the LabQuest Laboratory, Candidate of Medical Sciences, told Izvestia on June 12.

"Hoarseness in itself is not a diagnosis, but only signals a malfunction of the vocal folds. The cause may be chronic laryngitis, the effects of vocal strain or reflux, or more serious conditions such as precancerous changes, laryngeal tumors, or impaired mobility of the vocal folds. What matters is not the fact of hoarseness itself, but its duration, dynamics and combination with other symptoms," Bulanov said.

The expert emphasized that early tumors of the vocal folds often manifest themselves for a long time exclusively by a change in voice, without pain, fever or general deterioration of well-being. Because of this, many patients attribute the problem to colds, fatigue, smoking, or dry air.

The reason for contacting a doctor may be not only pronounced hoarseness, but also persistent hoarseness, a weakening of the voice, a decrease in its endurance, a feeling of a foreign body in the throat, constant coughing, the inability to speak habitually loudly or a sudden change in timbre. Particular caution should be aroused when hoarseness is accompanied by pain when swallowing, pain in the ear for no apparent reason, enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, blood in sputum or saliva, shortness of breath, noisy breathing, or unexplained weight loss.

According to the doctor, if you have such symptoms, you should not self-medicate with sprays, lozenges or antibiotics. First of all, an examination of the larynx is necessary.

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Bulanov noted that the risk factors for head and neck tumors include smoking and alcohol abuse. However, the absence of bad habits does not exclude the possibility of serious illness.

"The danger lies in the fact that a person gets used to chronic hoarseness and ceases to perceive it as a symptom. As a result, a new voice change may go unnoticed," the specialist explained.

To determine the cause of prolonged hoarseness, it is important for doctors to assess the condition of the vocal folds. If the examination reveals suspicious changes in the mucous membrane, a biopsy may be required. Only a tissue examination can reliably confirm or exclude a malignant process.

The expert recalled that the larynx is responsible not only for voice formation, but also for breathing and protecting the respiratory tract during swallowing. Therefore, timely diagnosis is of fundamental importance.

"If hoarseness persists for more than three weeks, progresses or is accompanied by additional symptoms, it is necessary to consult a doctor. Most of the causes will turn out to be benign, but serious diseases cannot be reliably distinguished from harmless conditions without examination," Bulanov concluded.

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