Pediatric vocal cord nodules, which usually do not require surgery

  Vocal fold nodules occur in children, also known as shouting nodules, and are often triggered by diseases such as acute laryngitis with hoarseness and coughing as the main manifestations.  Some children are especially prone to vocal fold nodules when they play and shout with their friends without any concern after catching a cold. They are more common in boys than in girls and have a tendency to subside on their own by adolescence.  The main symptom of vocal cord nodules in the early stage is vocal fatigue and intermittent hoarseness. As the disease progresses, the hoarseness gradually worsens, changing from sandy to mute, from intermittent to persistent, and slowly appearing even in lower pitched tones.  At this time, most parents will take their children to the hospital to see a doctor. An experienced doctor can make a preliminary diagnosis after talking to the child for a few minutes, and if further laryngoscopy is performed, an obvious nodule in the anterior middle of the medial edge of the vocal folds can be found; the nodule is generally symmetrical on both sides, but there are also those who are larger on one side and smaller on the opposite side or only unilateral.  Some parents are very nervous when they hear that their children have “lumps” on their vocal cords, and ask without thinking whether they can be surgically removed. In fact, early vocal fold nodules, after proper vocal fold rest, can often become smaller or disappear. Even if the larger nodules do not disappear, the sound can improve after proper vocal rest.  Vocal cord nodules in children generally do not require surgery and can disappear naturally by adolescence.  For early vocal cord nodules, on the basis of vocal cord rest, treatment can be supplemented with Chinese medicine, such as Huang’s Sound Pill, Golden Voice Open Tone Pill, Golden Voice Dispersing Knot Pill and so on.  If the vocal cord rests for 2 to 3 weeks and the nodules are still not significantly smaller, other treatment measures should be taken, because long-term inactivity of the vocal cord muscle is not good for vocalization.  Of course, if the vocal fold surface “lump” is large, it is not necessarily a vocal fold nodule, such as laryngeal papilloma, which may have breathing difficulties and other manifestations, and should be operated as soon as possible.  As we know, every child has a good voice in infancy and has the most natural and scientific vocal method, and there is no problem with long time vocalization, but as they grow up, some children have hoarse and unpleasant vocalizations, and some children feel fatigue and dryness in their voice and pain in their larynx for a long time, which are actually caused by incorrect vocalization.  After a period of time (about 3 months) of vocal training completed with guidance from a speech disorders specialist, vocal fold nodules can usually disappear on their own.  Vocal training is mainly to change the wrong pronunciation habits. In addition, spicy and stimulating foods should be avoided.  Treatment is based on vocal training and voice hygiene.