ENT conditions (Mr Gaurav Kumar)

  Why Is My Child’s Voice Always Hoarse or Croaky? When Should Their Voice Be Checked? Your child comes home from school sounding croaky. Perhaps they spent luncht ime shouting across the playground. Perhaps they were at football practice. Or perhaps you have started to realise something different: “Their voice seems hoarse almost all the time.” Parents describe this in different ways. “My child sounds husky.” “Her voice is always raspy.” “He loses his voice after football.” “She sounds as though she constantly has a cold.” Most episodes of childhood hoarseness are temporary and not a sign of serious disease. But when a child’s voice repeatedly becomes hoarse, tires easily, or simply never seems to return to normal, it is reasonable to ask why. How does a child’s voice work? The  larynx , commonly called the voice box, sits in the neck . Within it are two vocal folds. When your child breathes, the vocal folds remain open so air can pass towards the lungs. When your child talks...

  Why Is My Child’s Voice Always Hoarse or Croaky? A Parent’s Guide Some children seem to have a naturally husky voice. Others sound perfectly normal in the morning but become increasingly croaky by the end of the school day. Parents may notice that their child: sounds permanently hoarse, loses their voice after parties or football, struggles to be heard in class, or has sounded raspy for months even though they are otherwise completely well. A short-lived hoarse voice during a cold is extremely common. But persistent or repeatedly recurring hoarseness deserves a little more thought. The medical term for an abnormal voice is dysphonia . In children, the cause is frequently benign and related to how the voice is being used. Current NELFT child voice information states that hoarseness in children is commonly related to voice use rather than serious disease, with shouting, prolonged loud talking, crying and infections among the recognised contributors. However, persisten...

  Why Does My Child Cough or Choke When Eating or Drinking? A Parent’s Guide to Swallowing Problems Most children cough occasionally while eating. They may laugh with food in their mouth, drink too quickly or take an unexpectedly large bite. A single brief cough followed by completely normal eating is usually very different from a child who regularly coughs, chokes or sounds wet after meals . When the pattern keeps recurring, parents often ask: “Is my child just eating too fast, or is there a problem with swallowing?” The medical term for swallowing difficulty is dysphagia . NHS describes dysphagia as difficulty swallowing and lists coughing or choking during eating or drinking, a feeling that food is stuck, food or milk coming back through the nose and a wet or gurgly voice after eating or drinking among important symptoms. In children, swallowing involves much more than simply moving food from the mouth to the stomach. The lips, tongue, jaw, throat, voice box and breathing...