How to treat laryngitis in adults? Not everyone knows the answer to this question. In this regard, we decided to devote the presented article to this topic.
General information
Before you figure out how to treat laryngitis in adults, you should understand what this disease is all about. As you know, this disease is characterized by chronic or acute inflammation of the larynx. During laryngitis, both the entire mucosa of the named organ and its individual parts (for example, the mucosa of the vocal folds, the epiglottis, or the walls of the subglottic cavity) can enter into the pathological process.
Laryngitis in adults: symptoms of the disease
After the onset of the disease (after 7-11 days), laryngitis is usually called acute. In the event that the symptoms persist for a longer time, then we can safely talk about a chronic process. In this situation, the main signs of the disease, or rather their intensity, subside slightly, and the patient becomes better. But this does not mean that treatment of such a serious disease as laryngitis in adults should be stopped. Symptoms of thisailments are manifested as follows:
- there is a burning sensation, tickling, perspiration, dryness and a feeling of a foreign body in the throat;
- pain while swallowing;
- first a superficial and dry cough, then a wet cough;
- fairly fatigued;
- appearance of hoarseness and hoarseness of voice (sometimes to complete absence of sonority);
- increase in body temperature to subfebrile values (up to 38°С);
- general weakness and headache.
It should be especially noted that the symptoms of chronic laryngitis in adults and children are almost the same. But in a young child there is a high probability of developing stenosing acute laryngotracheitis or the so-called false croup. With such a deviation, the mucous membrane of the pharynx swells, and spasms of smooth muscles appear. During this process, children may experience suffocation, and a little later, oxygen starvation of the most important organs, including the brain.
Causes of occurrence
Laryngitis in adults, the symptoms of which have been described above, in most cases does not develop as an independent disease, but in parallel with inflammation of other parts of the respiratory tract (for example, nose, trachea, throat, lungs and bronchi). The cause of such deviations may be acute respiratory infections (parainfluenza, influenza, adenovirus infection, etc.). It is also worth noting that the larynx begins to be involved in pathologicalprocess and in diseases such as measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, syphilis and tuberculosis.
Rarely, acute laryngitis in adults can be caused by a bacterial infection, namely staphylococcal and streptococcal. As a rule, this occurs against the background of secondary infection of the pharyngeal mucosa, if the immune system is weakened due to SARS or other chronic infections.
Among other things, the causes of acute and chronic laryngitis can be:
- particles of steam, dust and gases that are contained in the air;
- thermal effect on the mucous membrane of the larynx (for example, when eating hot or cold food or drink);
- any external allergens (for example, plant, chemical, food, etc.);
- excessive load on the vocal apparatus (for singers, speakers, etc.);
- cigarette smoking.
Diagnosis of disease
Before treating laryngitis in adults, you should definitely consult a doctor. After all, only a doctor can suspect the presence of this disease after the patient's complaints, an objective examination of the respiratory tract and anamnesis data.
As you know, with laryngitis, which is of an infectious nature, a general blood test can show an increased level of ESR and leukocytes. As for the allergic disease, the number of eosinophils significantly increases with it.
In the event that the doctor doubts and cannot make the correct diagnosis, then the patient is prescribedadditional studies, including laryngoscopy. This procedure is an examination of the mucous membrane of the larynx using equipment such as an endoscope. If necessary, during such an examination, pieces of altered tissues can be taken from the patient for further analysis.
Acute laryngitis in adults: treatment of the disease
Treatment of an acute illness should be carried out on an outpatient basis only by a general practitioner or a narrow specialist such as an ENT doctor.
In the case of laryngitis, which is of an infectious nature, the patient is assigned to bed rest. In addition, the most important factor that affects the speed of recovery is the observance of complete vocal rest. So, the patient is not recommended to talk even in a whisper.
Before the restoration of the mucous membrane of the larynx, the doctor must prescribe a strict diet, during which only sparing food should be consumed. However, it should not be too cold or hot. In addition, attention should be paid to drinking plenty of water (warm milk with lime honey, alkaline mineral water without gas).
Drug therapy
How to treat laryngitis in adults? This is the question that patients who are faced with such an unpleasant disease ask their doctors. As you know, people suffering from acute laryngitis can be assigned:
- local preparations in the form of sprouts, lozenges that contain anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial substances (for example, Camphomen, Tera-flu,"Ingalipt", "Isla", "Neo-Angin", "Strepsils", etc.);
- expectorants based on ivy, plantain or marshmallow ("Muk altin", "Gedelix", "Alteika", "Prospan", "Eucabal" or "Gerbion");
- antihistamines ("Loratadine" or "Cetirizine");
- an aerosol containing an antibiotic (if a bacterial disease is suspected);
- installation procedures (i.e. infusion of drugs into the larynx with a laryngeal syringe);
- physiotherapy (electrophoresis with novocaine, UHF);
- antibiotics (prescribed only when the bacterial nature of the pathogen is known).
How is chronic laryngitis treated?
Treatment of chronic laryngitis in adults should be aimed at treating infections that contributed to this disease. The rest of the procedure is the same as in the acute form. However, it is worth noting that if recovery from acute laryngitis occurs after about 7-11 days, then with a chronic illness you will hardly achieve such a quick effect. In this case, all the efforts of the doctor should be aimed at minimizing the symptoms that cause inconvenience to the patient.
Non-drug treatment
At the first signs of this disease, the patient is advised to follow the following rules:
- quit smoking for the duration of the illness;
- do not come into contact with tobacco smoke even passively;
- don't be outside in rainy, cold or foggy weatherweather;
- maintain an adequate microclimate in the room;
- frequently ventilate the room in which the patient stays;
- carry out thermal local procedures (for example, apply a half-alcohol compress on the neck and carry out inhalation activities);
- use mustard plasters, which should be applied to the chest or calf muscles;
- take hot foot baths.
