I can't get rid of the swelling around my vocal cords
For 7 years I've fought a throat clearing/cough that has affected my family,social, and career life. It started with a very congested cold and raising my voice at a quite stressful time of my life. The swelling and coughing started and almost never went away. I had upper endoscopy which was normal except for my arytenoid cartilage, swollen and inflammed. My allergies never bothered my this much and even with meds, proton pump inhibitors and an attempt to eliminate caffeine, fatty foods, acidic foods, the symptoms persisted. Keeping quiet was worse and speaking helped me stop clearing the thoat. For about 6 months at one period, the swelling went away and I got over the habit. I was happy until my next cold, when the post nasal drip reexacerbated the original irritation and got me clearing again. I feel like I HAVE to clear, because it seems there is something there, but I know it is just the swelling, and not so much mucus. Plus I sleep like a baby without ANY reflux symtoms. So I have a pretty bad habit, and speech therapy was never effective. "Drink water at all times and hum instead of clear," I was told. That seemed too hard, since I can't hum ALL the time. So I am going to a behavioralist hoping for some help. I can't help but feel a little pessimistic since my relatives tell me to just relax. I do! But I have to be unconscious to be THAT relaxed.
