Laryngities from running

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yirara
yirara Posts: 9,420 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Oh great. So I've not run half seriously in years. I've also not experienced this in years either: laryngitis from running. Yeah, I breathe through my mouth as I can't even walk with breathing through my nose. Add a bit of terrain, here a tiny flight of stairs with 6 steps and a railway dam and things might go wrong from breathing just a bit harder. No idea why it happens, but I just feel rubbish. Of course I went to a covid test this morning just be be sure, but this is just such a familiar occurrence. Sight.

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  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
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    I had a similar problem swimming (where I inhale the air hovering right above a dry-promoting chlorine tank!)

    A voice coach suggested vocalizing a bit on the exhale to move the vocal chords and lubricate them instead of just letting them flap in the dry breeze. Try an low-pitched open-mouthed "uhhh" sound (not "aah" where your mouth is completely open-- more slack-jawed just so you can breathe comfortably. Or try either an open- or closed-mouth "hmmm" or "hnnn" sound.

    The volume and pitch should both be low: There's no need to be excessively loud, and try to avoid avoid your upper vocal range because that tends to tighten the chords and could make things worse.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,420 Member
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    rosebarnalice wrote: »
    I had a similar problem swimming (where I inhale the air hovering right above a dry-promoting chlorine tank!)

    A voice coach suggested vocalizing a bit on the exhale to move the vocal chords and lubricate them instead of just letting them flap in the dry breeze. Try an low-pitched open-mouthed "uhhh" sound (not "aah" where your mouth is completely open-- more slack-jawed just so you can breathe comfortably. Or try either an open- or closed-mouth "hmmm" or "hnnn" sound.

    The volume and pitch should both be low: There's no need to be excessively loud, and try to avoid avoid your upper vocal range because that tends to tighten the chords and could make things worse.

    Wow, excellent advice! Thanks a lot <3 I should probably also bring a little bit of water along. While it tends to be somewhat humid here it's clearly not a nice climate for my throat. I feel a lot better now, after a really rubbish day and a nap in the late afternoon. But would of course prefer if this didn't happen again anytime soon.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,210 Member
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    Do you happen to get acid reflux (GERD)? That can cause laryngitis from running.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    I sure thought the repercussion from yelling at all those cars would be something far worse.

    Can you breath in through nose and out through mouth, or still too stuffed up to get enough air?
    Bad allergy days I can't either, unless just purposely going slower for recovery run.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,420 Member
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    Cherimoose wrote: »
    Do you happen to get acid reflux (GERD)? That can cause laryngitis from running.

    yes, I was wondering about it. Didn't notice it, and I usually do by rather bad palpitations. I guess it was just dry air.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,420 Member
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    heybales wrote: »
    I sure thought the repercussion from yelling at all those cars would be something far worse.

    Can you breath in through nose and out through mouth, or still too stuffed up to get enough air?
    Bad allergy days I can't either, unless just purposely going slower for recovery run.

    No, unfortunately not. I can't even walk with breathing through nose. My nose has some seriously odd twists and turns and narrow spots (had to get covid tests to learn that) and there's just not enough air getting through. I usually inhale with a mix of nose and mouth, but the faster I run the more important mouth breathing becomes.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,210 Member
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    Have you tried Breathe Right nasal strips? Some people find them helpful to get more air in.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,420 Member
    edited June 2021
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    Cherimoose wrote: »
    Have you tried Breathe Right nasal strips? Some people find them helpful to get more air in.

    I don't see how this would work as the problem is not near the entrance, but deep within the nose. The nosal tonsils, whatever they're called are part of the problem. And just some asymmetry I can't do much about, including bone asymmetry.
  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 2,448 Member
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    Slippery elm bark is very soothing for the vocal chords. If you can find the cough drop Fisherman’s Friend that’s mostly slippery elm bark.
    Or try your local health food store. You might find it in a powder, or a tea.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,516 Member
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    heybales wrote: »
    I sure thought the repercussion from yelling at all those cars would be something far worse.

    Hahahaha! I’ve been doing a *kitten* load of that this past week or two. I guess it’s more people being out and about.

    And it’s always the cars with blacked out windows that blow through the pedestrian crosswalks around here, so I can never tell if there’s any reaction to my gesturing wildly and yelling”IT’S A PEDESTRIAN CROSSWALK , YOU IDIOT!!!”

    If I come down with laryngitis, that’ll be the sole reason.
  • SuzanneC1l9zz
    SuzanneC1l9zz Posts: 452 Member
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    Second vote for Fisherman's Friend, but fair warning: they taste disgusting!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,268 Member
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    SuzanneC1l9zz wrote: »
    Second vote for Fisherman's Friend, but fair warning: they taste disgusting!

    I love them. Would eat them as candy. (May be a minority report. 😉)
  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 2,448 Member
    edited June 2021
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    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    SuzanneC1l9zz wrote: »
    Second vote for Fisherman's Friend, but fair warning: they taste disgusting!

    I love them. Would eat them as candy. (May be a minority report. 😉)
    Same. I love them.
    And I use powdered slippery elm bark nightly to soothe gerd.

    If you wanna talk “disgusting but works great for laryngitis”?

    Buckley’s Original Mixture.
    It has to be the original. Where the dose is 1/4 teaspoon.
    It’s a Canadian thing…
  • SuzanneC1l9zz
    SuzanneC1l9zz Posts: 452 Member
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    Buckley's and Fisherman's Friend are about tied in my books.

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