Two years ago he developed a hoarse voice. His ENT physician told him that he had vocal nodules and sent him to speech therapy. When I met him, here were his vocal cords. My experience is that a hemorrhagic vocal cord polyp usually is the result of a vocal accident. I don't find that hemorrhagic polyps respond to therapy.
This is a hemorrhagic vocal cord polyp that came on after a cold and a severe cough in a person who is already very talkative with a bit of a raspy voice. She completely lost her voice for several days before it came back as a very rough voice. This first photo is taken with a Pentax chip endoscope at standard definition.
He woke up one day with a sudden change in his voice sounding like he had re-entered puberty. His voice continued to crack and break up. I noted a right hemorrhagic vocal cord polyp on the endoscopic examination. Three months later his voice had improved on its own.
This patient noted discomfort with singing. The vocal cord swellings which are also known as nodules require that he hold the vocal cords slightly apart. This allows air leak, impairs his upper vocal range and creates a muscle tension with the resulting discomfort during singing.
These are vocal nodules in a twentysomething vocal overdoer. She works in the food service industry and frequently sings on the job. The images are taken with a KayPentax 70° rigid endoscope at high definition.
