Can someone please tell me how long does it take to get rid of laryngitis, I am taking antibiotics for it?
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Give it about a week. Your sexy voice will go away!
Well, the antibiotics are only a help if the cause is a bacterial infection. If it's viral, it will only prevent something taking advantage of the situation while your body is busy fighting the virus. That said, the best remedy for the swollen and irritated vocal chords is rest. Drink loads of fluids, cold things are best. The vocal chords get inflammed, and that's what causes the voice loss. Think of them as swollen, if that helps. Swollen things do best with cold things, ice cold if you can handle it. Frozen ice lollys, that sort of thing. The liquid also helps with the dryness. Hard candies and throat lozenges can help when you don't want to drink something. The idea is to keep things bathed in a liquid of some kind. If you can run a cool mist vaporizor in the room, that helps as well- just adding moisture to the air you are breathing. Stick with soft foods,like jellos and puddings. Since you are taking antibiotics, you will also want to be eating a live culture yogurt at least once a day to help keep up the gut bacteria or you can end up with diarrhea from the antibiotic. You can freeze the yogurt as well. With a bit of luck and rest, your voice should be back in a few days time. Just beware, the more often you try to see if it's back, the longer it will take to do it.
Antibiotics won't make laryngitis get better. Laryngitis is almost never caused by bacteria unless it's a complication of a tracheostomy or from having a breathing tube in your throat for some time.
Laryngitis is usually caused by cold and flu viruses, or by other irritants such as acid coming up from your stomach.
It will take a week or two to get better. Rest your vocal chords and breathing moist air can help relieve symptoms. Try putting a towel over your head and breathing in the vapor from a bowl of hot water with a few drops of eucalyptus oil in it. Honey and hot lemon drinks can help sooth a sore throat, but they won't get down to the vocal chords.
Laryngitis is almost always caused by a virus rather than by a bacteria. However, if your laryngitis (inflammation the larynx, or voice box) is being treated with antibiotics prescribed by a physician, then your infection is bacterial.
The symptom of "not having a voice" is caused by the swelling that occurs with infection. As the infection reduces with antibiotic treatment, the inflammation will decrease and you will get your voice back. This may take 24-48 hours, but it will happen. If your laryngitis is viral, however, it may take up to a week.
Gargling with warm salt water may temporarily help. Cold compresses to your throat may temporarily help. The only sure cure, however, is time.
If you must be able to talk, i.e., for your job, you may want to ask your physician for short-term steroids to reduce the swelling. I have had to do this. It's up to him/her, however, to make that decision!
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