Stopping and Effects on Vocal cords, Voice, etc - Smoking Cessation Message Board

Phoebe · 09-17-2004, 09:49 AM

I quit smoking 4 months ago now and wondered if any of you have noticed any changes in your voice or throat after stopping. I think I have noticed a change in my voice range higher than it was among other effects. To me I sound a litle different. I smoked for abt 28 years so I may only know my voice with the effects of smoking. I will be interested in hearing what you who have quit have experienced in this area. I hope I haven't done harm to my throat. Phoebe

Tobias · 09-17-2004, 04:29 PM

Phoebe:
I'll bet that stopping the cigarettes has actually helped your throat. I haven't smoked for over 2 1/2 yrs. As a smoker (38 yrs), I had to keep a glass of water or tea at my side whenever I lectured to soothe rawness after I had talked for awhile. I also would frequently cough or have phlegm in my throat that I'd constantly clear and my voice would get tight. I don't really know if the timber of my voice has changed. No one has ever remarked about it and I don't notice a change in myself. But now I can talk on and on and not have to constantly lubricate the pipes.

Also, although I was never a really good singer, in the later years of smoking, I really couldn't sing at all. Now I can and do sing along with the car radio! No coughing, and my range has increased and the tightness is gone.

Deda · 09-17-2004, 11:32 PM

Pheobe--

I'm like Tobias, in that I feel my throat is no longer irritated from the smoking, and the drying effect it had on it. I too used to get a mucousy throat, and my voice would get hoarse at times. It was really annoying at night, and when I would talk on the phone I often lost my voice! Now my voice is always clear, and I also have noticed I can sing stronger, and carry a note a lot longer than before!
Congratulations on your 4 month long quit, that's fantastic!

Deda

Falynsmommy · 09-21-2004, 05:52 PM

Well after reading everyone's replies, I'm even more worried about my problem.

I stopped smoking on April 30th this year, and my health has increasingly gotten better, except for my throat. I smoked for 13 years, 2 and a half packs a day. I love to sing and now every time I try, it's like a bad tightening feeling in the back of my throat. It's almost like someone is choking off my voice. This doesn't happen when I'm talking, only singing.

Does anyone have any ideas what this could be? I pray that I have not done lasting damage to my vocal cords, or that there is nothing really wrong.

Phoebe · 09-21-2004, 11:56 PM

That's what I am experiencing too except it is also occasionally when I talk. That's really what prompted me to write this post. I smoked many years longer than you did and am concerned that I have done severe damage to my throat as in a possible nodule on my vocal cords etc. I also think that not taking a deep enough breath when speaking may be part of the problem. Makes me think possible emphysema. Phoebe