Twitter
Advertisement

Voicing concerns over vocal chord hemorrhage

Recently, Shakira postponed her European tour after suffering a vocal cord hemorrhage. we asked experts to Know more about this condition

Latest News
article-main
Shakira
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

She has a voice to die for and Shakira is hands down, one of the most prolificsingers of our times. Recently, the Columbian songstress  postponed dates of her European tour until 2018. “The doctors, upon examination, detected that I had suffered a haemorrhage on my right vocal cord. I then went on vocal rest as recommended by the specialists in an attempt to recover in time for my first show in Cologne. Unfortunately, the haemorrhage doesn’t appear to have reabsorbed and my nightmare continues. At the moment I find myself in a difficult battle as I try to fully recover,” she stated. We asked experts about this condition...

What is it?

“Vocal cord haemorrhage is collection of blood within the layers of vocal folds. When there is voice abuse, the vocal folds dash against each other with force and the resultant trauma ruptures small capillaries in the vocal folds,” says Dr Dyanesh Narurkar, ENT specialist, Zen Multispeciality Hospital. And what does voice abuse entail? “Voice abuse constitutes suddenly raising the pitch of the voice, strongly impacting the vocal cords. It is misuse in the form of overuse,” he explains. As for Shakira, he says that she probably didn’t take complete voice rest for two weeks. 

Dr KP Morwani, Director and HOD of ENT Department, Hiranandani Hospital and Vashi — A Fortis Network Hospital, says, “Vocal cord haemorrhage is secondary to ‘voice abuse.’ Like screaming or shouting for a prolonged period, and it happens more often when you’re having pre-existing upper respiratory tract infection and gastro-oesophageal reflux (when the acid in the stomach regurgitate towards the throat).” With regards to Shakira, he opines that she must have over practiced for her upcoming show. The second cause could be the anxiety associated with this event.

Others too, are prone to it 

In our country, there are many people and children, who tend to suffer vocal cord haemorrhage due to lack of proper training from a proper trainer or guru. Also, it’s not just singers, even voice over artists, actors, teachers, hawkers and sportsmen are prone to vocal cord haemorrhage, informs Dr Narurkar. He recounts the case of one of his patients, who was a teacher and was diagnosed early with endoscopy. She followed up regularly, took complete voice rest for two weeks. Her voice recovered completely and she was given speech therapy to prevent recurrence.

Dr Morwani says that it can happen to a person of any age group and any individual. For example, a singer, teacher, preacher, politician, businessman or sports person, who are misusing their voice in the form of shouting or talking excessively. He recently met a patient, a 50-year-old businessman suffering from vocal cord haemorrhage. He used to be on the phone at least 10-12 hours each day during work hours and would shout and scream over the phone.

Treatment

Early diagnosis with endoscopy and/or video stroboscopy is important. “Early diagnosis done with an endoscopy is necessary. 

A primary doctor gives steroids which can cause harm. Therefore, going to an ENT specialist and getting an endoscopy is important. Complete voice rest for two weeks, along with speech therapy and no steroids is recommended. In rare cases, if a clot is formed, surgery is required, that being microlaryngoscopy with laser ablation of irregular blood vessel,” says Dr Narurkar.

Treatment depends upon the size of the vocal cord hemorrhage. Dr Morwani explains, sometimes the haemorrhage spreads along the surface of the vocal cord, at times, it also represents as a haemorrhagic polyp (a polyp is an abnormal growth of tissue projecting from a mucous membrane). Treatments available are voice rest, speech therapy. A small haemorrhagic polyp and haemorrhage on the vocal cord would subside with these. If the size of the polyp is large, then it has to be removed. 

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement