# What is the physiology behind losing your voice?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-physiology-behind-losing-your-voice/209504>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 25, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-physiology-behind-losing-your-voice/209504 "2003-10-25T16:22:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Kid\_Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kid\_Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_Gilligan)\
**Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-physiology-behind-losing-your-voice/209504/1 "2003-10-25T16:22:48Z")

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I volunteered at a charity Halloween haunted house last night. Scaring the wits out of a bunch of bratty teenagers was a blast, but now I sound like Louis Armstrong.

My wife and I were wondering what condition my vocal chords are in that causes me to be unable to speak clearly.

Did excessive stretching cause them to become inelastic? That would explain why I can only make low pitch noises.  
That said, is there anything that will speed the recovery process?