Dry Vocal Chords, Bad Habits - Does this sound permanent or serious?!


Question: My regular dr. told me I have bad nasal allergies and my nasal passages leak into my throat while i sleep. I've been having dry vocal chords for about a month and a half now (started a new job 3 months ago where I do cold calls so I make about 50 ph. calls a day). I wasn't aware that caffeine is bad for your voice, so I've been drinking lots of tea (i like my tea strong, so about two bags per cup) and coffee while i'm on the phone. Unfortunately, I also smoke and drink. It seems that when I stop talking so much it tends to feel better until I go out kereoking (sp?) or sing in my car, and then they start to feel tight again. It usually tends to be the left side that i sleep on that feels off. I really think it's the tea thats the problem, because that seems to be when I start to feel dried out. Does this sound like something that will heal if I cut out the bad habits, or should I see a ENT (considering how expensive this might be, i'd like to avoid it if not necessary.)


Answers: My regular dr. told me I have bad nasal allergies and my nasal passages leak into my throat while i sleep. I've been having dry vocal chords for about a month and a half now (started a new job 3 months ago where I do cold calls so I make about 50 ph. calls a day). I wasn't aware that caffeine is bad for your voice, so I've been drinking lots of tea (i like my tea strong, so about two bags per cup) and coffee while i'm on the phone. Unfortunately, I also smoke and drink. It seems that when I stop talking so much it tends to feel better until I go out kereoking (sp?) or sing in my car, and then they start to feel tight again. It usually tends to be the left side that i sleep on that feels off. I really think it's the tea thats the problem, because that seems to be when I start to feel dried out. Does this sound like something that will heal if I cut out the bad habits, or should I see a ENT (considering how expensive this might be, i'd like to avoid it if not necessary.)

Hard as it is, try to quit smoking. That's the number one problem, even though the first few days you might cough a bit more. Next would be the coffee and tea, not so much because they dry your vocal chords out immediately but because they're diuretics so you get generally dehydrated.

You could try drinking more water and having some cough lozenges around for when you're doing your job. You could also gargle with salt water several times a day. I did this when I had a very talky job and it helped a lot.

I had bad allergies a few weeks ago and my throat was really dry. I drank orange juice constantly and it helped my throat the most. It's worth a try to cut out your habits and if those don't help go back to your doctor.





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