Chronic Throat Clearing-a no-no!!

I felt like a movie star years ago, walking into the Sean Parker Voice Institute in New York City. The halls were lined with signed photographs from famous actors and singers. Not being able to carry a tune made me feel out of place, but, hey, I was there to find out why I was often hoarse. 

While I was sitting on the exam table, talking to the doctor, I cleared my throat. “Don’t do that!” she said.  “Clearing your throat is harsh on your vocal cords and can cause inflammation.  Instead take a sip of water. And, if you don’t have water available, try to suppress the urge.”

I’ve done pretty well over time and I must say I clear my throat very infrequently now. Recently, reading an Instagram post by Dr. Inna Husain, an ENT, I see she also says throat clearing is a no-no. In addition to taking a sip of water she suggests if we don’t have water available to do a hard swallow.

She explains that clearing our throat can traumatize our vocal cords and create a hypersensitivity and mucus.

Dr. Husain suggests using .9 % saline to moisten our vocal cords. And, of course, many of us are already nebulizing for our bronchiectasis and I imagine nebbing salty saline could actually irritate our cords!!! 😱😱😱 

Perhaps we could ask our medical team if it makes sense when we find ourselves clearing our throat a lot, to moisten our cords by nebulizing with .9 isotonic solution.

Also, I suggest becoming more aware of when we clear our throat and to try to suppress the urge. Come up with a few ways of dealing with it, such as sucking a non-mentholated candy, taking a few puffs on Aerobika or drinking water.

#throatclearing #chronicthroatclearing #mucus #phlegm #coughing #bronchiectasis #nebulizing