How to treat laryngitis in adults? The answer to this question is far from everyone knows. In this regard, we decided to devote this article to this topic. 
General information
Before figuring out how to treat laryngitis in adults, you should understand what this disease is all about. As you know, this disease is characterized by chronic or acute inflammation of the larynx. During laryngitis, the entire mucous membrane of the named organ, as well as its individual parts (for example, the mucosa of the vocal folds, epiglottis, or walls of the sub-vocal cavity) can enter the pathological process.
Adult laryngitis: symptoms of the disease
After the onset of the disease (after 7-11 days), laryngitis is usually called acute. In the event that the symptoms persist for a longer time, then we can safely talk about the chronic process. In this situation, the main signs of the disease, or rather their intensity, subside a little, and the patient becomes easier. But this does not mean that treatment of such a serious disease as adult laryngitis should be stopped. Symptoms of this ailment are manifested as follows: 
- there is a burning sensation, tickling, perspiration, dryness and a feeling of a foreign body in the throat;
- soreness during swallowing;
- first superficial and dry, and then wet cough;
- quite quick fatigue;
- the appearance of hoarseness and hoarseness of the voice (sometimes to a complete lack of sonority);
- increase in body temperature to subfebrile values ââ(up to 38 ° C);
- general weakness and headache.
It should be noted that the symptoms of chronic laryngitis in adults and children are almost the same. But a young child is more likely to develop stenosing acute laryngotracheitis or the so-called false croup. With this deviation, the mucous membrane of the pharynx swells, and spasms of smooth muscles appear. During this process, choking may occur in children, and a little later, oxygen starvation of the most important organs, including the brain.
Causes of occurrence
Adult laryngitis, the symptoms of which were described above, in most cases develops not as an independent disease, but in parallel with the inflamed processes of other parts of the respiratory tract (for example, nose, trachea, throat, lungs and bronchi). The cause of such deviations can be acute respiratory infections (parainfluenza, influenza, adenovirus infection, etc.). It is also worth noting that the larynx begins to be involved in the pathological process in diseases such as measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, syphilis and tuberculosis.
Quite rarely, acute laryngitis in adults can be caused by a bacterial infection, namely staphylococcus and streptococcal. As a rule, this occurs against the background of secondary infection of the pharyngeal mucosa, if the immune system weakens due to acute respiratory viral infections or other chronic infections.
In addition, the causes of acute and chronic laryngitis can be:
- particles of steam, dust and gases that are contained in the air;
- thermal effects on the mucous membrane of the larynx (for example, when eating hot or cold food or drink);
- any external allergens (for example, plant, chemical, food, etc.);
- excessive load on the vocal apparatus (for singers, speakers, etc.);
- smoking cigarettes.
Diagnosis of the disease
Before treating laryngitis in adults, you should definitely consult a doctor. After all, only a doctor will be able to suspect the presence of this disease after complaints of the patient, an objective examination of the respiratory tract and anamnesis.
As you know, with laryngitis, which is of an infectious nature, a general blood test can show an elevated level of ESR and white blood cells. As for an allergic disease, the number of eosinophils increases significantly with it.
In the event that the doctor doubts and cannot make the correct diagnosis, then the patient is assigned additional studies, including laryngoscopy. This procedure is an examination of the laryngeal mucosa using equipment such as an endoscope. If necessary, during a similar examination, pieces of altered tissues can be taken from the patient for further analysis.
Acute laryngitis in adults: treatment of the disease
Treatment of an acute disease should be carried out on an outpatient basis only by a therapist or such a narrow specialist as an ENT doctor.
In the case of laryngitis, which is of an infectious nature, the patient is prescribed bed rest. In addition, the most important factor that affects the speed of recovery is the observance of full vocal rest. So, the patient is not recommended to talk even in a whisper.
Before restoring the laryngeal mucosa, the doctor must prescribe a strict diet, during which only sparing food should be consumed. However, it should not be too cold or hot. In addition, attention must be paid to heavy drinking (warm milk with linden honey, alkaline mineral water without gas).
Drug therapy
How to treat laryngitis in adults? This is the question that patients who have encountered such an unpleasant disease ask their doctors. As you know, people suffering from acute laryngitis can be assigned:
- local preparations in the form of sprays, lozenges that contain anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial substances (for example, Camphomen, Tera-flu, Ingalipt, Isla, Neo-Angin, Strepsils, etc. );
- expectorants based on ivy, plantain or marshmallow (Mukaltin, Gedeliks, Alteyka, Prospan, Eucabal or Herbion);
- antihistamines (Loratadine or Cetirizine);
- an aerosol containing an antibiotic (if a disease of a bacterial nature is suspected);
- installation procedures (i.e. infusion of drugs into the larynx by means of a laryngeal syringe);
- physiotherapy (electrophoresis using novocaine, UHF);
- antibiotic agents (prescribed only when the bacterial nature of the pathogen is known).
How is chronic laryngitis treated?
Treatment of chronic laryngitis in adults should be directed to the treatment of infections that contributed to this disease. The rest of the procedure is the same as in the acute form. However, it is worth noting that if recovery from acute laryngitis occurs in about 7-11 days, then with a chronic illness you can hardly achieve such a quick effect. In this case, all the forces of the doctor should be aimed at minimizing the symptoms that cause inconvenience to the patient.
Non-drug treatment
At the first signs of this disease, the patient is recommended to observe the following rules:
- quit smoking for the entire period of the disease;
- Do not contact with tobacco smoke, even passively;
- Do not be outdoors in rainy, cold or foggy weather;
- maintain an adequate microclimate in the room;
- often ventilate the room in which the patient is;
- carry out local thermal procedures (for example, apply a half-alcohol compress on the neck and carry out inhalation measures);
- use mustard plasters, which should be applied to the chest or calf muscles;
- take hot foot baths.