Scratchy Voice Remedies

Scratchy voice is one such voice disorder where the normal voice of the patient changes to a rough scratchy sound. As a result, even the pitch of the voice gets altered and the patient finds it difficult to talk. When the problem of scratchy voice is acute, then the patient often gets cured within a few days and in chronic cases it continues for several months. Scratchy voice in children is a common phenomena. The main causes of scratchy voice in children are viral or bacterial infection, tonsillitis, excessive coughing due to some allergies, continuous crying for a long period of time etc. In adults, it can happen due to heavy smoking or excessive consumption of alcohol, exposure to harmful chemicals and overuse of voice like shouting, singing etc and even crying. Sometimes, acid reflux disease can lead to loss of voice as well. Along with the scratchy voice remedies, you have to take some precautionary measures so that the moisture of the mouth and the throat is properly maintained and the scratchy voice condition does not get aggravated further. For more information read on strep throat

How to Fix a Scratchy Voice?

There are many food materials found in the kitchen that can be used to treat scratchy voice. Following are some simple scratchy voice remedies that are useful in fixing up a scratchy voice.

Salt Water Gargles: Gargling with salt water gives a lot of relief to scratchy voice, provided you do it a number of times all through the day. To prepare the saline water, add half teaspoon of table salt into one cup of warm water. You can also put a few drops of lemon juice into the solution. However, make sure you do not add too much of the salt as it can make the condition worse. Gargle the water in the throat in a gentle manner or else it can lead to further irritation of the throat and the scratchy voice condition will deteriorate or persist for longer time.

Inhalation of Steam: Inhaling steam can give some quick relief to the scratchy voice, caused by laryngitis. For this, boil some water and pour it in a pan. Take a towel and put it around the face. Now, lean forward over the pan and take in the steam for about 10-15 minutes. The steam helps to soothe up the soreness of the throat and cure the scratchy voice. Repeat it several times a day to yield the best results. Make sure you keep your face at a safe distance from the pan. Or else, it will be difficult to breath comfortably and may cause burns on the face.

Ginger Tea: Ginger is excellent in reducing the inflammation inside the throat. You can prepare tea at home with fresh ginger roots. Soak a small piece of ginger root into the water for half an hour. Then prepare the tea with that water and add some honey to it. Drink the tea in small sips many times in a day and you will get a lot of help. You can make a tea using basil as well and get similar benefits.

Garlic Soup: Garlic is one such component found in the kitchen, that possesses strong antibiotic properties. This is due to the presence of allicin in garlic, which is highly effective against fighting viruses. Prepare a garlic soup for this purpose without any salt. You can use some herbs to season the soup.

To know more read on:

• Scratchy Throat Remedies
• Benefits of Garlic

How to Get Rid of a Scratchy Voice?

Scratchy voice badly strains your vocal chord. Therefore, give as much rest to your voice as possible, so that your voice gets enough scope for healing up. Speak very gently. Do not shout or speak loudly. Even whispering puts a lot of stress on the throat. Hence, avoid any kind of whispering. If you are in any such profession, which depends on the voice, then it is important to protect it from voice abuse. Scratchy voice in singers can doom their career. Therefore, they should undergo voice training to protect their voice from any damage.

Caffeine substances like tea, coffee and colas have a tendency to dehydrate the throat. So you should try to reduce the intake of any of such drinks. Smoking can dry up the mouth and hence it needs to be avoided at the time of scratchy voice. If you cannot stop smoking completely, then at least cut down on the number of cigarettes during scratchy voice. Even stay away from all those people who smoke. Similarly, drinking alcohol can dehydrate the mouth too. So, you should stop drinking also. Dust and other suspended particles in the air worsen the irritation in the throat. Hence, do not go to any such places where you will get dry and dusty environment.

If you observe that even after taking up the scratchy voice remedies mentioned here, there is no improvement in the condition, then you need to consult your doctor immediately. Most of the time, scratchy voice is treated by prescribed dose of antibiotics only. Sometimes, scratchy voice can also occur due to some serious health conditions like cancerous tumor in voice box or lungs of thyroid. In that case, doctors do the needful to treat the underlying cause.