The long term effects of COVID on the voice

This article is designed to provide helpful information on the lasting effects of covid on the voice. It covers topics such as laryngitis, dysphonia, and other potential problems that may arise from voice misuse. It also offers tips on how to stay healthy and avoid voice problems in the future.

It’s almost 3 years since the Covid-19 pandemic took the world by storm and changed our lives forever. For many, life has resumed to normal. We no longer need to wear masks, we can freely and openly move around and even big events like GITEX are back bigger than ever before. But for many others, the lasting effects of Covid are still very real.

If you were one of the unlucky ones to have suffered from Covid-19 you may not only have had to deal with the immediate systems, but in many cases, people are being affected with symptoms of Covid, weeks, months and even years after the initial virus attacked them. How someone reacts to Covid and the effects it has on them short or long term, doesn’t have any bearing on how fit or healthy they were before the virus struck. People from all age groups are still suffering from symptoms like extreme fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath, headaches, dizziness, just to name a few, and now voice hoarseness has also been added to the list as another long Covid symptom. It’s been labeled covid voice.

Our voice box or larynx is part of our respiratory system, The breath is the initiation for setting your vocal cords into vibration and then the sound travels into our respondent spaces which are in the chest, the throat, the pharynx and sinus cavities. Covid 19 affects tissues in our respiratory system. A change in your voice may not seem to be a big issue at the time, because it usually resolves itself fairly quickly. But if it persists, it can cause ongoing problems.

The irritations caused by other covid symptoms like a persistent cough, dryness in the mouth, itchy throat causes the vocal cords to become swollen and inflamed and this will affect the pitch, depth and tone of the voice. In severe cases, the voice can disappear completely. We call this laryngitis.

In normal circumstances, we bounce back from these infections fairly quickly and life resumes to normal. However, If you find your voice takes longer than normal to return, it’s important that you seek medical assistance from an Ear, Nose & Throat specialist who can view your vocal cords in action with a small camera and ascertain the true cause of your hoarse voice.

Communication is our everything and our voice the key to getting our message heard. The minute we take away this ability the body will start to try and compensate for our compromised sound, by trying to get the voice out in any way possible. This leads to misuse of the voice and incorrect production of sound and when this starts to happen, the vocal cords become even further burdened and damaged beyond the initial cause.

We see vocal swellings, nodules forming, dysphonia where the vocal cords are no longer vibrating in a normal state. Now we have a long term problem which can only be resolved by relearning how to speak in a healthy way so we take pressure off the vocal cords and allow them to heal. We also create awareness, so the problem does not reoccur in the future.

Sometimes the diagnosis can be more sinister. What we have seen is that the weakened immune system caused by Covid has brought many other illnesses to the forefront, where previously they had lain dormant because the immune system was able to fight it off.

So if you are in any way struggling with your production of sound, if it has changed in recent months, if your voice gets hoarse easily or you struggle with persistent coughs and throat clearing, I urge you to get your voice assessed by an ENT specialist who specialises in vocal disorders.

I’m not saying you have a problem, but if you do, you don’t want to let it go undiagnosed.

On a less sinister note, there are many practical things we can do to help with the recovery of our vocal cords or prevent a problem in the first place.

Drink plenty of water and not just when you think you are thirsty. The water will only hydrate your vocal cords several hours after you have consumed it.

Eat a healthy & nutritious diet to assist with an improved immune system.

Rest your voice, don’t strain the voice in the hope of getting something out – this will only put more pressure on the larynx and lead to further long term problems.

Focus on your vocal technique. Where does your voice come from, how effective is your breathing? Are you putting excess pressure on your cords?

Learn more about your voice and how to use it effectively and discover the full power and potential of this amazing instrument.

If you want to get a voice assessment and/or open up your voice to speak with more power, passion and persuasion, get in touch today.

I hope this has been of some help. Stay well and take care of your voice.