Laryngitis treatment

How you manage laryngitis depends on the severity of your case. You should contact your provider or seek emergency medical treatment right away if you are having difficulty breathing.

Chronic laryngitis treatments aim to treat the underlying causes of the condition, such as heartburn, smoking, or excessive alcohol use.

Some medications that may be used to treat laryngitis include:

• Antibiotics: While antibiotics won't help with viral cases of laryngitis, your provider may recommend an antibiotic if you have a bacterial infection.

  Keep in mind that the treatment of acute laryngitis with antibiotics is widely debated. In some studies, no benefits have been found in treating acute laryngitis with antibiotics.

• Corticosteroids: Corticosteroids can help lower inflammation in your vocal cords. However, this treatment is only used if your need to treat laryngitis is urgent, such as before an oral performance.

• Oral analgesics: Symptomatic pain treatment with oral analgesics like acetaminophen (generic Tylenol) or an NSAID like ibuprofen (generic Motrin) is often recommended.

Laryngitis medicine

Most cases of acute laryngitis get better on their own within a week or so. Self-care measures also can help improve symptoms. Other management options include vocal hygiene and antibiotics.

If you have laryngitis, you can use self-care methods to lower the strain on your voice. These techniques, sometimes referred to as vocal hygiene²², include:

• Rest your voice as much as possible. Try to rest your voice until you find it comfortable to hum. Depending on the condition of your vocal cords, you might rest your voice for two days or as long as a week. Avoid talking or singing for too long or talking in noisy places. If you need to speak before large groups, amplify your voice through a microphone or megaphone.
• Practice good breathing techniques.²³ Supporting your voice with deep breaths from your chest can take the strain off of your throat.
• Drink plenty of fluids (at least 250 mL per hour) to prevent dehydration (avoid alcohol and caffeine). Hydration is particularly important if you snore or breathe through your mouth while sleeping.
• Moisten your throat Try sucking on lozenges, gargling with salt water, or chewing sugar-free gum.
• Breathe moist air A humidifier can keep the air throughout your home or office moist. You can also inhale moist air through a bowl of hot water or a hot shower.
• Avoid decongestants These medications can dry up the mucus in the back of your throat.
• Avoid whispering²⁴. For some people, whispering can put more strain on the vocal cords than normal speech.