r/mildlybrokenvoice

Hi everyone, I wanted to get your thoughts on something that I’ve been experiencing over the last 5 to 6 months with regards to my neck pain both sides of my throat and that is causing me to lose my voice after speaking for a little bit

I went to an ENT and he checked my voice box and said it’s fine and there was no problem with it. I have been going for massages for the last month to get the muscle strain released but that hasn’t helped much.

I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar and how did they get better? Any feedback or recommendations would help thank you.

Basically i went through trauma and it fucked up my voice so for the last 7 or so years (im 21 now) and it made it sound hoarse, weirdly pitched, weird-sounding in general and it tensed up my throat and other muscles as well

I genuinely just wasted my high school years because of this bullshit

Is there any singular person on this subreddit that has this problem and can tell me what they're doing about it or anything like dude i genuinely dont even know wtf to do or say, im so fcking pissed off because i missed out on a crucial part of my life and so many other opportunities, and not to mention how people genuinely think im doing this shit on purpose or something, i cant make a fcking friend bcs of this bullsht bro

I know it cant be solved in 1 night and that's fine, but im deadass so tired of this bullshit bro, somebody here gotta know at least something

And please dont just say "go to a professional doctor" okay, i don't live in a place where that sht is common or available for this type of situation and ive already been to pretty much everything anyways

Does anyone else with pot have a feeling constantly that their throat’s like swollen or close and shut but your oxygen is fine and you go to a doctor and they say it’s fine wondering if it has to do with the nervous system interacting with the neck muscles?

Hello everyone,
I apologize in advance for the long post, but I’m feeling really lost and depressed. I’m 27 years old, and this all started about two years ago. I was just bathing my dog, and all of a sudden, when I stood up, I felt like my throat was so tight I couldn't breathe. I panicked and started sweating profusely. I tried my inhaler (Symbicort) six times, but it didn’t help because I felt like I didn't even have the lung capacity to take the medicine in.
The feeling has been there ever since. It’s like my throat is locked. It gets so tight that it seriously affects my breathing—I get short of breath easily and often run out of breath just from talking. Certain positions, like lying down or bending over, make it feel like my throat is on the verge of collapsing.
I’ve been down this rabbit hole for two years now, and I’m hitting a wall. To give you an idea of what I’ve been through, here is what I’ve done:
2 ENTs: Ruled out VCD, though they mentioned MTD (Muscle Tension Dysphonia).
Imaging/Scopes: Endoscopy and Barium swallow study.
Respiratory tests: Nitric oxide test (showed mild inflammation, but the doctor didn’t think it would cause this level of tightness), PFT (normal), Chest X-ray, CT scan of lungs, and Echocardiogram.
Everything keeps leading back to square one. I’m lost for words as I type this. I feel incredibly lonely, and this has truly ruined my life; I just want to feel normal again. I have been seeing an SLP, but honestly, I don't feel like it’s doing me justice.
To explain the sensation a bit more: I can't take a deep breath without my throat feeling tight afterward, or like I have to cough. It even makes it hard to laugh because it triggers the tightness.
I have struggled with health anxiety in the past, and I know that hasn't helped the situation, but at this point, I am just so fed up. I’ve reached the limit of my patience with not having answers.
I just wanted to reach out and see if anyone can relate to this or has been through something similar. I sympathize with anyone else dealing with this kind of struggle. Thank you for listening.

My left vocal cord has been paralyzed for over 35 years and the right vocal cord is just tired. My voice is weak. I also have a hearing loss so communication when there is background noise is often impossible.

Is this considered a disability ? I say yes it is. I am otherwise medically disabled so I won’t be seeking anything changes but I have been curious about it.

I have right vocal cord paralysis that is the result of my surgeon accidentally slicing my RLN during a thyroidectomy about a month ago. I’m pretty devastated. Has anyone had any positive experiences with Eastern medicine (reiki, acupuncture, anything else) to heal the paralyzed cord? I’m in vocal therapy, and I’ve had the hyaluronic acid injection with some success, but despite the doctors’ skepticism, I really really want the nerve to come back to life! I’ll try anything to speak and sing like my old self. It seems like there has to be a way! Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

https://voca.ro/1e0cy6cZCQ40

What the title says. Everything else is back (chest voice, mix, etc) so could it be residual inflammation?

How do you tell if it’s asthma or VCD attack? I am so confused. What exercises do you like for VCD?

Hi, this is my first time posting here but I’m desperate and am not sure what else to do. I (22 AFAB) got sick about 15 days ago (I think) with what a doctor I saw IRL thinks is probably a viral infection. I took an at home test which came back negative for Covid and the flu. My doctor also tested for strep throat and that came back negative as well. It started as a sore throat and some pressure/congestion in my face. It felt like a cold. Now my problem is EVERY time I get sick (with anything. Covid, flu, cold, etc) it turns into a cough and I lose my voice. The cough lasts forever every time. About 5 days in I mostly stopped feeling sick and the cough started. I believe I’m on day 10 of the cough. It has essentially ripped through my throat. I started losing my voice 10 ish days ago and I have had basically no voice for 9 days. I am still coughing but not as bad as it was a few days ago. Sometimes I cough up phlegm though it is hard to spit it out, the other half nothing comes up. It’s also a barking cough every time. I try not to cough to the best of my ability but most of the time that’s impossible.

Here’s the real issue: I’m a singer/actor. In 5 days I open my first professional show in the Toronto Fringe Festival. I have a solo song. I have a long monologue and several scenes to speak lines in. There are no microphones and no understudies. I am freaking out because even though my cough has lessened my voice has not improved at ALL. I have mostly not talked for the last ten days, a few days I whispered for a bit or talked VERY briefly out of absolute necessity. Yes I know whispering is terrible for your voice and I shouldn’t be making any noise but I’ve still been in rehearsal and tech for my show and didn’t have time to type out what I needed to say and had to verbalized it.

I feel like I’ve tried everything. I’ve been taking cough syrup (robitussin at first, then switched to benylin on the advice of a doctor filling in for my family doctor) and I’ve been switching back and forth fourth between the complete? Cough one (the one with antihistamines), and the dry cough one. I’ve been consuming a lot of Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa as most singers I know swear by it. I’ve taken a few drops of oregano oil in the past few days as well. The doctor also prescribed me antibiotics on the off chance that it’s not a viral infection. I forgot to take the second or third last pill last night and now I can’t find the antibiotics but I will keep looking. The doctor also said it doesn’t sound like I have an infection or fluid in my lungs. I have a vocal nebulizer that uses a saline solution that I used yesterday once and I will use again today and as much as I can for the next few days/weeks. For a week or more I was drinking very hot water with a lot of honey until the doctor told me not to drink anything too hot or too hold now I’ve just been drinking water that’s room temp or just the temperature that it comes out of the tap (no temp control on our drinking tap it’s a bit cool though).

The cough won’t stop and knowing how this always goes for me it probably won’t completely stop for a while, maybe a week at the very minimum. I feel like until the cough stops my voice won’t even start to heal but again I’m freaking out because this is exactly what happens every time I get sick. It’s ruined shows or rehearsal periods for me in the past but none of them were professional shows and I was in the ensemble for most of them or able to sing my song and then get off stage and stop talking. But I tried singing my song for this show and some of the notes won’t even come out. No sound just air. Not to mention that my entire monologue is an angry rant that I’m supposed to be basically yelling for. I am so desperate to heal but I feel like everyone’s giving me the same advice and none of it is working.

I will now provide all of the medical info I can think of (that’s even remotely relevant)

I am 22, AFAB, 5 foot 1 inches tall and roughly 175 pounds. I don’t smoke, drink alcohol, or take any non prescriptions or over the counter drugs.
I have exercise induced asthma that I developed as a teenager and I take a zenhale puffer with an aero chamber two puffs in the morning and two at night.
I take Teva Buprorpion 150mg every day when I wake up.
I take 5 mg of DAYVIGO lemborexant tablets every night before I go to sleep.
I take 200mg of Magnesium Bisglycinate twice a day.
I cough all year round, sometimes a barking cough, and I have since September of 2024 when I got sick a few times in quick succession. My doctor was convinced it was due to post nasal drip and made me take a nasal spray for 3 months and it did nothing for my cough so I’ve given up on that because it doesn’t affect my voice or anything during the rest of the year.
I think I should mention I regularly take a lot of Tylenol and sometimes Advil. I have a lot of chronic pain. I get headaches a lot and dull pains in my limbs that doesn’t go away without pain killers very often, sometimes daily. (I’m about to get bloodwork done that my doctor recommended so we can fix that issue)
I also have chronic foot pain but I don’t know if that’s relevant, I don’t take anything for that because no painkillers have even made a dent in that pain.
I also have a problem where sometimes when I sing (even in a very comfortable range for me) and it makes my throat sore, I had that checked out by an ENT specialist who works with singers and she said my vocal cords look great and healthy.

Ok that’s everything I could think of. I know it’s a very long post but the community guidelines said to be as detailed as possible and again I am so desperate to get my voice back. Thanks in advance for your help!!

I've been belting daily for the past 3 weeks. Recently, my falsetto has started to sound broken. I struggle to have a clean onset in falsetto. It starts off as this super breathy voice before it settles into falsetto. It gets worse after clearing my throat. I can still use my chest and mixed voice, but they sometimes crack if I let up even a little on breath support. I don't know if this is vocal overuse or late-stage puberty, as I'm 16. Here's a recording. https://voca.ro/1a7LHgvDXCGO