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Laryngitis
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Laryngitis is inflammation of the larynx, your voice box. Here, inflammation means the larynx gets swollen and irritated. The larynx sits at the top of the trachea, the tube that carries air down to the lungs, and when it's inflamed, hoarseness or loss of voice usually comes along with it.
To understand hoarseness, it helps to know how your voice is made. Air coming from the lungs passes through the larynx, and that's where the vocal cords are: two bands of muscle that vibrate. Think of a stretched rubber band: pull it, let go, and it vibrates. With the vocal cords, it's the air that sets them vibrating, and that vibration is your voice. When the vocal cords become inflamed or infected, they swell, and that can make your voice hoarse.
The most common form of laryngitis is an infection caused by a virus. And here's the reassuring part: when laryngitis isn't caused by a serious condition, it often gets better on its own.
In brief
Laryngitis is inflammation (swelling and irritation) of the larynx, or voice box, which sits at the top of the trachea. It most often causes hoarseness or loss of voice.
Voice is the sound of air passing from the lungs through the larynx, where the vocal cords, two bands of muscle, vibrate. When the cords become inflamed or infected, they swell, and that can cause hoarseness.
The most common form is a viral infection. Laryngitis that is not caused by a serious condition often gets better on its own.
Sources (3)
- MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine (NIH)Laryngitis: MedlinePlus Medical EncyclopediaPublished
- MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine (NIH), with a summary from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication DisordersVoice Disorders: MedlinePlusPublished
- MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine (NIH)Hoarseness: MedlinePlus Medical EncyclopediaPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
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