Guest Blogs

LARYNGITIS: A TEACHER'S TAKE

Overview:

Laryngitis is one of the most common conditions identified in the larynx. Laryngitis, as its name implies, is an inflammation of the larynx. Symptoms of laryngitis can include some or all of the following:

• Hoarseness
• Weak voice or voice loss
• Tickling sensation and rawness of your throat
• Sore throat
• Dry throat
• Dry cough

It comes in both acute and chronic forms. Acute laryngitis has an abrupt onset and is usually self-limited. The causes of acute laryngitis include vocal misuse, exposure to noxious agents, or infectious agents leading to upper respiratory tract infections. These infectious agents are most often viral, however they can also be bacterial in nature. Chronic laryngitis takes longer to develop and involves a longer duration of symptoms. Chronic laryngitis may be caused by environmental factors such as cigarette smoke, polluted air, irritation from asthma inhalers, reflux disease, or vocal misuse. Vocal misuse causes the vocal folds to come together with excessive force, and this friction causes swelling.

Although acute laryngitis is usually not a result of vocal abuse, vocal abuse is often a result of acute laryngitis because the underlying infection or inflammation results in a hoarse voice. Typically, the patient exacerbates this by misusing their voice in an attempt to maintain premorbid phonating ability.

The following are recommended home remedies for the symptoms associated with laryngitis:

• Inhaling humidified air promotes moisture of the upper airway, helping to clear secretions and exudate, e.g., from a cool mist humidifier
• Complete voice rest is suggested, although this recommendation is nearly impossible to follow. If the patient must speak, soft sighing phonation is best. Avoidance of whispering is best, as whispering promotes hyper-functioning of the larynx.
• Inhaling steam, e.g., from a hot bath or shower

Laryngitis in Schools:

An ATL survey, conducted in March, 2008, surveyed 490 teachers working in maintained and independent schools in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Overall 60% of the respondents had experienced voice problems, with 68%of teachers working in maintained schools experiencing voice problems compared to 57% in independent schools.

However, 42% of the teachers who had experienced voice problems shared that their school had offered "little or no support" when problems occurred. 20% said that their school had shown them no support, and an additional 22% had found their school to be quite unsupportive.

A Teacher's Take:

Caren Sowa is a first grade teacher at Carver Elementary School in Carver Massachusetts. Here is a guest blog with her perspective on the condition:

Every December, like clockwork, I find myself with an upper respiratory infection. Within days, I am battling laryngitis as well, with a sore throat and an increasingly hoarse voice. Eventually my voice will turn from hoarse to completely gone. As a first grade teacher of 25+ loud, enthusiastic, and energetic students, this is always an issue as I use my voice for hours each day.

My school was built in the 1950s, when "pod-style" schools were popular. Without permanent walls, classrooms could be combined and co-taught as necessary. While that style of teaching may have been effective at the time, we are no longer collaborating and co-teaching. The once-flexible design is now a hinderance as we are constantly battling background noise from neighboring classrooms and the noise from children and staff in the hallways. I have done my best to insulate my classroom with rugs, curtains, and tall bookshelves where a wall does not exist. However, the heightened sound level affects my speaking style every moment I am teaching.

Our school curriculum uses center-based activities for many of our subjects. My already-noisy classroom turns into an even louder environment at this time, as my students collaborate with their classmates at several different stations around the classroom. When it is time to alert them to switch, I am using my voice to project over this noise. This is just one example of the strain I put my voice through. While I have been told by my physician that my laryngitis is caused by my upper respiratory infections and not the vocal strain, I am also aware that how I use my voice while I have laryngitis does not make matters better. 

For the first couple of times I had laryngitis, I did my best to battle it, and used my loudest, whisper of a voice possible. Eventually I adopted a few tricks that may be helpful to other teachers (or those of other occupations who rely on their voice). Here are a few of them:

• Use bells, timers, or other mechanisms to get your students' attention
• Keep hydrated- I make sure to drink extra water at this time, but also prefer tea
• Use a humidifier at home- I have one in my home office and bedroom, and have started using them as soon as the weather gets cold and dry
• Come up with clever, reward based systems to get your students to help you- I usually promote a helper at the end of each day (based on behavior or other factors) who will help me the following day. I will sometimes give this student directions to dictate to the class. (It can also be a fun way to incorporate reading if you are a first grade teacher... try writing out simple directions on a small dry erase board for them to read to the class!)
• Keep classroom noise as low as possible so that you do not have to strain your voice even more to talk

My best piece of advice is to take some time to recover and get well. The vocal rest will aid in your throat's recover, and the time off will help with the underlying ailment that caused the laryngitis in the first place. My second piece of advice is to advantage of your resources right in your building, and talk to your speech and language pathologist. They are trained to deal with voice problems such as this and can give you more great advice on how to implement strategies to deal with your laryngitis when it arises. They may also help with vocal preservation, or learning to use your voice appropriately to prevent general vocal abuse.