Anyone Else Have Chronic Hoarseness and Vocal Pain Despite Normal Laryngoscopies?
It all started about six years ago. I was recovering from a bad cold and had a very raspy voice. One day, I noticed that whenever I tried to speak in a higher pitch, it felt like I had a wound in my throat. I went to an ENT, and after performing a laryngoscopy, they diagnosed me with a contact granuloma—a benign inflammatory lesion on the back of the vocal cords, typically caused by vocal strain or acid reflux (GERD/LPR).
The doctor told me to take over-the-counter acid reflux medication, such as Pepcid AC and Prilosec, and said that the granuloma should disappear within a few weeks.
Over the next several months, I returned for multiple follow-up scopes. Eventually, the contact granuloma was completely gone.
The problem was that my voice never returned to normal.
I constantly found myself clearing my throat, and speaking became increasingly difficult. At the time, I worked as a salesman, so I relied on my voice all day long. After struggling for a few more weeks, I decided to quit my job and rest my voice completely for a few days.
Ironically, after those few days of silence, my voice became even worse. The hoarseness was extreme—I could barely make a sound. I went back to the ENT, but aside from some mild redness on my vocal cords, they couldn't find anything abnormal.
Despite that, every time I talked for more than five minutes, I would develop pain in my vocal cords, throat, and neck muscles. It became unbearable.
One of the doctors suggested that I might have Muscle Tension Dysphonia (MTD).
Based on that diagnosis, my insurance referred me to voice therapy. I was given vocal exercises, which I practiced every day. The severe hoarseness improved somewhat, but my voice never returned to what it was before.
Before all of this happened, I could sing. Today, I can only reach about half of my previous vocal range, and after just a couple of minutes of singing, the pain comes back.
That was five years ago.
Since then, my voice has never fully recovered. I have good days and bad days, but if I spend time in a loud environment where I have to raise my voice, I know I'll pay for it the next day with significant hoarseness and pain.
Over the past five years, I've seen countless specialists. I've tried acupuncture, homeopathic medicine, seen gastroenterologists, had chest imaging, neck MRIs, and more than 20 laryngoscopies. Every single time, I hear the same thing:
"We don't really see anything. There's just a little redness."
Thinking reflux might still be the cause, I completely changed my lifestyle. I eat healthy, don't drink alcohol, don't smoke, and exercise regularly. I've spent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on supplements that claim to help with acid reflux or silent reflux.
Nothing has made a meaningful difference.
I honestly can't even remember what my normal voice felt like anymore. Depending on how much talking I do at work, by around 5 p.m., almost every day my voice becomes hoarse.
I want to clarify that this isn't the kind of hoarseness you get with laryngitis after a cold.
It's a raspy, strained voice that gets progressively worse the more I talk, accompanied by pain around my neck, throat, and what feels like my vocal cords.
At this point, I feel hopeless.
I'm wondering if anyone here has gone through something similar, or if someone has managed to recover from this. After six years of searching for answers, I'm running out of ideas.
I don't even care about singing anymore.
I just want to be able to have a one- or two-hour conversation without paying for it with pain and a barely functional voice the next day.
Thank you.