Hi all 4weeks after tt voice still hoarse and low, is this normal

[Tatty10]

[galathea]

Hi,

It can take a long time, my friend Tess had almost no voice for about a year.... It seems to be luck of the draw.

[shambles]

Yes in short! My voice was hoarse for about 3 months.

If you are concerned, asked the surgeon/endo to refer you to ENT and check the vocal cords. Its a real simply test with a camera

[helen0812]

I had txt January 12 and my voice has never recovered and I can no longer sing as I have no range. I was terribly upset at the time so please prepare yourself that this may happen - some people think its rather sexy !

[Tatty10]

Thanks for all the replies, didnt expect my voice to take this much time to recover, cant sing either or shout or scream it feels really strange.

Linda

[AshbyTwin2 in reply to Tatty10]

Morning,

It took my voice approximately 10-12 weeks before I felt 'normal' but still couldn't sing properly (not that I could beforehand anyway) or shout. Shouting took around 16 weeks and singing about 7 months as its your breathing coping with the voice box damage.

I was told to expect 12 months. It's been 10 months and all is back to normal and feeling fine x

[RehmanG in reply to AshbyTwin2]

Could you please suggest if you did something special for healing Fast as i spend 2 months and its still same very hoarse and sometime feel very tiered if speeken.

[Jackie]

Hi If the thyroid disease is autoimmune, this is quite likely, You may, if it does not clear up need an ultra sound. I have been hypo ( hashi) a long time. Now, no one can hear me speak, I have nodules and enlargement. It is frustrating as I am fairly deaf too, I also find it impossible to swallow many things. I am unable to have surgery.

Best wishes,

Jackie

[debjs]

Hi, following my TT I had no voice at all for about 6 weeks then slow and gradual improvement. I was told by the ENT surgeon I saw who is an expert on vocal chords (he treats opera singers) and the excellent speech therapist I saw that weakness/hoarseness is due to bruising of the laryngeal nerves and can take several weeks or months to recover and that there is a 2 year recovery period before they would consider any damage permanent. 4 weeks is very early and from my experience they usually wait a few weeks to see how things go but if it persists you should be referred to an ENT specialist and speech therapist who can monitor recovery and assist with speech exercises.

[Hidden]

I'm a singer. My vocal chords felt 'flabby' for around 6 months after I had my goitre blasted with radio-iodine. Nor did I have any stamina in the voice. That was about 5 years ago. Voice came back rather well in the end - but I was very anxious for some months. Now I'm noticing the same strain and weakness recurring to a degree. Although that may be because I had to miss my last concert and haven't had any singing to do over the summer: a voice quickly gets 'rusty'. I think gently exercising any voice will help keep it in good fettle - even if you only want it for talking with! Good luck. I hope yours returns.

[vajra]

My recollection from my own TT is that there are laryngeal nerves that can be bruised or damaged on occasion. It's along with disruption of the function of the parathyroids one of the more significant complications that can arise. See about half way down: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thyro...

While complications after a TT are supposed to be rare in these days of surgeons becoming more specialised (suggesting that the incidence should be very low - about 1% according to the above), it does seem that it often settles down after some time.

ian

[Ros123]

I am now 3 years post TT. My voice is lower than it was and it is a strain to talk and my voice goes almost completely if I have been talking a lot. I still can't shout and can't sing - which I miss - not that I could sing well and I have no doubt that no one else misses it! I attended an ENT specialist who checked with a camera my vocal chords and said they seemed okay. She then sent me to Speech Therapist who said there was not much she could do (which at the time I was to my surprise very upset about). She did tell me not to constantly clear my throat, to warn relatives and friends that I couldn't repeat what I said as it caused strain on my voice. Really not exactly helpful, I had expected some kind of exercises to strengthen my voice. As I have already said I was warned about vocal damage but didn't realise I would be quite emotional about it. I did get some improvement since then and hopefully I am the exception to the rule.

Rosslyn

[salty6]

Hi I am 9 months post TT and my voice is still low I have to sing an octave lower than anyone else, but it is improving slightly, I practice when I walk the dogs and there is no one else around, slowly I am able to reach one note higher before it cracks. As I am 69 my surgeon did not think it was very important to get therapy so I am on my own with this but I keep it up. I find that it is best to try to speak and sing in a softer tone, then it seems to sound better - to me at least. Keep positive and be gentle with your vocal cords. x

[Tatty10 in reply to salty6]

Hi salty6, the most upsetting thing for me is sometimes i sound aggresive when i speak, and people can take it the wrong way, i have had breathing exercises from the speach therapist but i think its going to take a while.

regards Linda x