About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic staff
Your vocal cords are two flexible bands of muscle tissue that sit at the entrance to the windpipe (trachea). When you speak, the bands come together and vibrate to make sound. The rest of the time, the vocal cords are relaxed in an open position, so you can breathe.
In most cases of vocal cord paralysis, only one vocal cord is paralyzed. If both of your vocal cords are affected, you may have vocal difficulties, as well as significant problems with breathing and swallowing.
Signs and symptoms of vocal cord paralysis may include:
- A breathy quality to the voice
- Hoarseness
- Noisy breathing
- Loss of vocal pitch
- Choking or coughing while swallowing food, drink or saliva
- The need to take frequent breaths while speaking
- Inability to speak loudly
- Loss of your gag reflex
- Ineffective coughing
When to see a doctor
If you have unexplained, persistent hoarseness for more than three or four weeks, or if you notice any unexplained voice changes or discomfort, contact your doctor.
- Vocal cord paralysis. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/vocalparal.htm. Accessed Jan. 22, 2010.
- Vocal cord paralysis. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec08/ch092/ch092g.html. Accessed Jan. 22, 2010.
- Fact sheet: Vocal cord paralysis. American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery. http://www.entnet.org/HealthInformation/vocalChordParalysis.cfm. Accessed Jan. 24, 2010.
- Wareing M, et al. Vocal cord paralysis. In: Lalwani AK. Current Diagnosis and Treatment in Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery. 2nd ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Medical; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2827843. Accessed Jan. 21, 2010.
- Lustig LR, et al. Ear, nose, and throat disorders. In: McPhee SJ, et al. Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment 2010. 49th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Medical; 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2356. Accessed Jan. 21, 2010.
- Deckert J, et al. Vocal cord dysfunction. American Family Physician. 2010;81:156.
- Rubin RT, et al. Vocal fold paresis and paralysis. Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America. 2007;40:1109.
- Maragos NE (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Jan. 26, 2010.
Find Mayo Clinic on