I recovered from Covid-19 for more than a month, so far still hoarse, taking medicine with syrup, honey daily and sucking medicine but my condition has not improved. Is this a persistent Covid-19 symptom and how to cure hoarseness? (Phuong Quynh, HCMC)
Reply:
Most likely you are experiencing hoarseness after Covid-19 or prolonged Covid-19 syndrome.
Prolonged Covid syndrome is recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a condition after being cured of Covid-19 but symptoms continue to last up to 3-6 months, even 9 months. How long it lasts and whether symptoms are severe or mild will vary from person to person. There are many lasting Covid-19 symptoms recorded, the most common are shortness of breath, brain fog, fatigue. Other less common symptoms include chest pain, depression, muscle pain, loss of smell, loss of taste, difficulty speaking, hoarseness or loss of voice.
Hoarseness, loss of voice after Covid can come from many reasons that are not really clear. However, a prolonged cough during Covid-19 due to a respiratory infection is often noted as the main cause of hoarseness and loss of voice after Covid-19. The vocal cords located in the larynx come in contact with each other to produce voice.
When nCoV attacks and causes respiratory infections, it will cause the patient to cough non-stop. Coughing requires the vocal cords to work together to force air out to clear mucus from the lungs and larynx. This causes the vocal cords to pulsate, leading to swelling, inflammation, and becoming less flexible. As a result, the patient develops hoarseness, voice changes, or loss of voice.
In addition, gastroesophageal reflux disease that becomes more severe after nCoV infection can also be the cause of a lot of coughing and lead to hoarseness and loss of voice after Covid.
Recently, the Department of Otolaryngology, Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City also received many cases of hoarseness and loss of voice to visit. Exploiting the medical history recorded many patients who had just experienced a Covid-19 infection not long ago. Through modern diagnostic tools, the patient was detected early on the vocal cord lesions, accurately diagnosed the cause of hoarseness, measured vocal disorders, voice disorders and diagnosed swallowing disorders in the lower throat. – esophageal mouth.
To improve the symptoms of hoarseness, voice change, loss of voice due to prolonged Covid-19 syndrome, you can drink a lot of water, take a sauna, take medicine in place, practice breathing, limit talking a lot, speak loudly. , shouting, do not drink alcohol. If hoarseness is caused by gastroesophageal reflux disease, dietary changes will be helpful in improving symptoms. In addition, lying with the head elevated is also recommended to prevent the reflux of gastric acid into the throat during sleep, causing coughing leading to hoarseness.
Drinking honey or taking over-the-counter syrups can help with hoarseness. However, if you have applied and your symptoms have not improved, you should not worry too much, because the post-Covid-19 syndrome can last 3-6 months. It is important that you see an ENT specialist at least once, so that a laryngoscopy can rule out other causes.
If hoarseness affects psychology or hoarseness accompanied by difficulty swallowing, or choking when eating, you should see an ENT specialist. Your doctor may recommend performing laryngoscopy to find out the cause of hoarseness and have targeted and effective treatment.
Additionally, hoarseness can be a sign of laryngeal cancer. If hoarseness symptoms persist after recovering from Covid-19 for more than 3-4 weeks, you should go to the hospital to be examined, to rule out the risk of laryngeal cancer and have appropriate treatment.
Specialist Doctor 2 Tran Thi Thuy Hang
Head of Department of Otolaryngology, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City
at Blogtuan.info – Source: vnexpress.net – Read the original article here
