It is not uncommon for a child to suffer from a chronic hoarse voice due to vocal cord swelling or nodules. There is no illness present. The child feels fine. Their voice just sounds raspy! Usually after a couple weeks or even months of a raspy voice that is not getting any better, an ENT visit determines the hoarse voice is due to vocal cord nodules or vocal cord swelling. This determination is made with a fiberoptic endoscope as shown in the video below.
Treatment is usually voice therapy performed by a speech language pathologist (SLP) who received additional training in vocal disorders... The problem is that it is not easy to find a voice therapist who deals with kids. AND... even if a pediatric voice therapist is found, it may be months before an appointment is available.
To help with this unfortunate situation, I along with a pediatric voice therapist, Danielle Campbell, created the above video which is meant to provide "first steps" on things a parent can do with their child while waiting for an appointment with a voice therapist, or to reinforce what has been learned during therapy sessions. This video is not meant to completely replace one-on-one treatment sessions.
You can search for the closest pediatric voice therapist via this link.
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