1. Use Home Treatments for Viral Cases
Since the majority of laryngitis infections are viral in nature, there's not much you can do other than stay comfortable and use supportive care to treat your symptoms. It will take about 1 week for your viral laryngitis symptoms to subside, but there are several simple things you can do to ease your suffering in the meantime.
First, stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water or fruit juice. Limit your alcohol and caffeine intake, or avoid these substances altogether. Avoid talking, as this will strain your inflamed and infected vocal cords, and try not to clear your throat.
You may find that inhaling moist air helps to ease your condition. Take a hot shower and let the steam vapors penetrate your airways, or keep a bowl of hot water nearby and inhale the steam directly. Finally, sucking on throat lozenges or gargling with salt water may help to reduce your symptoms.
2. Reduce Inflammation With Corticosteroids
If you positively must use your voice for some reason and need a quick fix to bring down the swelling, ask your doctor about a corticosteroid treatment. These drugs can rapidly reduce the inflammation of your vocal cords and can also be used if your toddler contracted laryngitis as a complication of croup.
3. Is GERD the Cause of Your Case of Laryngitis?
If you have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), you might get laryngitis as the result of stomach acid traveling up your esophagus and into your throat. To ease your symptoms, you'll have to control your acid reflux with medications designed to keep stomach acids where they belong.
These are available both over the counter and in prescription form. You'll need the latter if your GERD causes chronic laryngitis, though you should discuss all symptoms and complications with your doctor to decide the best course of long-term treatment.
4. Treat Bacterial Cases With Antibiotics
If you have contracted a rare case of bacterial laryngitis, your doctor will put you on antibiotics to kill the bacteria that are infecting your vocal cords. This should clear up the infection and reduce your symptoms quite rapidly, though you must continue to take the medicine exactly as prescribed by your doctor for as long as you're told to do so. Bacterial infections can easily recur if you stop taking your medicine too soon, so keep it up even if you're feeling better.
