Vocal Nodules

What symptoms do vocal cord nodules cause?

Vocal cord nodules cause symptoms of a husky voice and problems with projection of the voice. The symptoms include:

• Roughness to the voice
• Reduced endurance of the voice (“my voice becomes husky quite easily”)
• Increased effort associated with talking
• Difficulty singing high notes
• Chronic hoarseness

Sometimes patients with vocal cord nodules may have a normal speaking voice but the hoarseness only becomes apparent when they raise their voice. In other patients the voice is always husky.

The only way to truly diagnose vocal cord nodules is to see your ENT Surgeon and have a nasoendoscopy, which allows for a direct examination of the vocal cords. Following this diagnosis patients can then proceed to treatment.

Written by Dr Dan Robinson and Dr John O’Neill