Voice is an important way for human beings to communicate. Having a beautiful voice can add to your personal charm and enable you to relate better to others, thus helping you to have good relationships and social adjustment. According to statistics, about 1/4 of people experience voice problems at different times in their lives, which is medically known as “voice disorders”. How do you know what causes voice disorders when they occur? Here are some of the common diseases that cause voice disorders. First, the causes of voice disorders in children and adults are very different in terms of age of onset. Let’s start with the common causes of hoarseness in children. Among them, vocal cord nodules are the most common, accounting for about 70% of hoarseness in children. Vocal fold nodules are symmetrical protrusions of the mucous membrane at the front of the vocal folds and are a benign condition. There are several factors why children suffer from vocal fold nodules: 1. Children’s vocal folds are not fully developed and histologically different from adults, making them less capable of repairing vocal injuries such as shouting. 2, Children like to shout, cry, and cannot control the volume, and these undesirable vocal behaviors damage the vocal cords. 3, Other causes of hoarseness in children include laryngeal papilloma, a benign tumor caused by human papilloma virus infection, which is prone to recurrence in childhood. In addition, congenital disorders such as congenital laryngeal webbing and vocal fold grooves can also cause hoarseness in children. For adults, the causes of hoarseness are even more varied. We can analyze them from the following aspects. 1, onset time The onset time is short, in a few days or weeks, with a recent history of upper respiratory tract infection, most commonly acute laryngitis, hoarseness varies in severity, the lighter the hoarseness, vocal effort, the heavier even loss of voice. The vocal folds are congested and edematous, and sometimes the vocal folds are covered with white pseudomembrane. Acute laryngitis can recover quickly after anti-inflammatory, nebulized inhalation, vocal rest and medication, and the voice can return to normal. During this period, it is important to avoid excessive use of voice, shouting, singing, etc. If the onset of the disease is a few days or weeks old and there is a history of violent vocal use, such as arguing or shouting, and there may be submucosal hemorrhage in the vocal cords, the treatment and precautions for this condition are similar to those for acute laryngitis, but antibacterial drugs are not required. The duration of onset is from several months to several years and includes a wider range of diseases. Inflammatory diseases such as chronic laryngitis, reflux laryngitis; benign proliferative diseases of the vocal folds such as vocal fold nodules, vocal fold polyps, vocal fold Reinke’s edema; benign tumors of the vocal folds such as hemangiomas and smooth muscle tumors; precancerous lesions of the vocal folds such as mucosal leukoplakia of the vocal folds, laryngeal papilloma, atypical hyperplasia of the vocal folds, cancer of the vocal folds, etc. Therefore, if hoarseness persists for 2 weeks and still does not improve, go to the hospital in time to find out the cause. 2.The degree of hoarseness If the voice is good and bad, the voice becomes worse when you use the voice a lot, drink alcohol, or are tired, and gets better after rest, the voice is easily fatigued and the voice range becomes narrow, especially for those who have a long history of using the voice. It is more likely to have chronic laryngitis, vocal cord nodules, vocal cord polyps, and vocal cord hypertrophy. If hoarseness is progressively aggravated and there are symptoms such as laryngeal pain, coughing up blood, difficulty in breathing and difficulty in swallowing, laryngeal tuberculosis and benign and malignant tumors of the larynx should be considered. 3.Life habits and ways Voice function is closely related to life habits and ways. Good life habits and voice habits are good for keeping the voice in good condition. On the contrary, some bad habits have adverse effects on the voice and even the health of the whole body. For example, if there is a long-term history of smoking (more than 20 years), a large amount of smoking per day (more than 1 pack), voice disorders manifested as a reduction in tone, some women close to the male tone, the tone is low and not bright, the voice is rough, can not send high notes, is the typical performance of vocal cord Reinke edema. reinke edema is a chronic, progressive edema that occurs in the vocal cord Reinke gap and It is a chronic, progressive edema and polypoid lesion that occurs in the Reinke space of the vocal folds. It presents as a diffuse edema of the vocal folds that is soft and translucent. It is now recognized that vocal fold Reinke’s edema is associated with smoking, and almost all patients with Reinke’s edema that we see in the clinic have a history of heavy smoking. Because of the unique vocal characteristics of Reinke’s edema, it causes problems for patients’ verbal communication, and working life, and we can improve the vocal quality through surgery. Smoking is also a clear causative factor for respiratory tract tumors, and the incidence of laryngeal cancer is directly proportional to the amount of cigarettes smoked per day and the total duration of smoking. Alcohol consumption is also a risk factor for laryngeal cancer, and heavy smokers and alcohol drinkers will have a significantly increased risk of developing laryngeal cancer, and the two have a synergistic effect. Therefore, for the sake of your health, we advise you not to smoke, especially to prevent teenagers from becoming new smokers. Those who already smoke should resolutely quit. For long-term smokers, if hoarseness occurs and progressively worsens, you must go to the hospital for early diagnosis and treatment. The cure rate of early laryngeal cancer is significantly higher than that of the middle and late stage. Therefore, early diagnosis and early treatment are very important. 4. Occupation and personality and voice disorders Voice disorders have occupational aggregation, that is, the incidence of voice disorders in certain occupations is higher than the general population. Traditional occupational voice users include announcers, telephone operators, teachers, and singing actors. In addition, salespeople, bus conductors, restaurant waiters, and mediators are also at high risk due to the high level of voice use. Vocal hoarseness in professional voice users is mainly caused by benign diseases such as vocal fold nodules, vocal fold polyps, vocal fold hypertrophy, vocal fold inflammation, or functional vocal disorders. Vocal fold polyps should be treated surgically, vocal fold nodules can be operated if conservative treatment is ineffective, vocal fold inflammation and vocal fold hypertrophy do not require surgery. Personality also has a significant impact on the voice. People who are aggressive, irritable, impulsive, excited by small things, or talk too much and can’t stop talking are the ones who are prone to voice disorders. 5. History of previous diseases and treatment history A history of previous tracheal intubation and hoarseness that occurs right after extubation may be due to dislocation of the cricoarytenoid joint, which is common in patients who have undergone major laparotomy such as hepatobiliary surgery, or who require long-term intubation for treatment, and the treatment is to perform joint repositioning under local or general anesthesia. In addition, prolonged tracheal intubation can lead to the formation of arytenoid cartilage granuloma, which manifests as a granulomatous swelling in the posterior vocal fold at the vocal prominence and is easily recurred by excision. In the case of hoarseness after previous thyroid surgery, thoracic surgery, and cervical neurogenic tumor resection, there is a high probability of vocal cord paralysis due to laryngeal nerve injury. Low thyroid function can also lead to vocal fold edema, which results in lower pitch, darker tone and vocal fatigue. 6, psychological factors related to voice disorders The voice can exude a person’s emotions and feelings, and can reflect the individual’s physiological and psychological condition. As the pace of life accelerates and psychological pressure increases, voice disorders based on psychological factors should also be taken seriously. Clinically, there are mainly spasmodic dysphonia, adolescent dysphonia, and psychogenic vocal disorders. In short, voice disorders are a large group of diseases, which may be both laryngeal diseases and manifestations of systemic diseases in the larynx. As the “second face of human beings”, voice should be taken care of and protected, so that a beautiful and loud voice can accompany us throughout our life and add glory to our life.