Symptom 3: Voice Changes: When Your Tone Tells a Tale
Our next stop on this symptoms journey brings us to voice changes. Like the persistent cough and sore throat, these alterations in voice might initially seem trivial, but they can speak volumes about the state of your throat health.
For starters, what do we mean by voice changes? It can be anything from a shift in pitch or tone to a loss in volume, or even a sudden hoarseness or breathiness that wasn’t present before. Singers or speakers might notice these changes most as they heavily rely on their vocal abilities, but it’s a symptom that shouldn’t be ignored by anyone.
Now, you might be thinking, “My voice often changes when I have a cold or flu, isn’t that normal?” Absolutely, temporary voice changes due to common illnesses or even after cheering for your favorite sports team aren’t uncommon. However, when these changes persist longer than two weeks, it becomes a potential red flag.
Throat cancer can affect the vocal cords directly, causing noticeable alterations in voice. It can also cause a feeling of a lump in the throat, which may influence the voice indirectly by causing an individual to use their throat muscles differently when they talk. (3)
