What Causes Hoarseness Of The Voice And Severe Cough?

Posted on Tue, 11 Oct 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 11 Oct 2016 Answered on

Tue, 15 Nov 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : I have lost my voice and have a cough that seems to start from high up in my chest. The mucus is loose. Should I take aspirin or something like that to reduce inflammation in my larynx?
Any other recommendations to kick this fast?

Answered by Dr. Satvinder Bakshi (28 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Aspirin will not help you

Detailed Answer:
hello

The loss in voice is due to inflammation/edema of the larynx/voice box and will come back to normal once the inflammation subsides.

The best thing would be to take absolute voice rest and not to utter even a single word. I would also recommend that you take steam inhalation 2-3 times a day and avoid spicy and oily foods.

I would normally start my patients on tablet pantoprazole 40mg to help control the acidity and acid reflux and a short course of steroids like deflazacort 6mg twice a day for 5 days.

Please discuss this with your doctor. Aspirin is a good drug but will not reduce the inflammation in the larynx and may worsen acidity, thereby causing more harm hence i would not recommend its use.

Take care

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D

Follow up: Dr. Satvinder Bakshi (59 minutes later)

Thanks for the reply. Looks like the treatments you recommend are for acid reflux. I assumed the larynx inflammation was caused by allergy or cold virus that resulted in lots of mucus drainage. Is the treatment aimed at reducing "controllable" acidity to lessen the impact of the allergy/cold?

Answered by Dr. Satvinder Bakshi (6 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Controlling acid reflux will help the larynx

Detailed Answer:
Hello

Your are absolutely correct in assuming the cause for voice loss being a viral infection. However there is a lot of scientific evidence to prove that acid reflux worsens this condition and leads to delayed recovery and therefore I start all my patients on acid reflux medications empirically.

Along with this a short course of steroids and steam inhalation will definitely help you.

Hope I have answered your query satisfactorily

Take care

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D