Vocal cord damage

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efreysson

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One of my MC's has a horribly scratchy, raspy voice, like he just ate a bucket full of broken glass and washed it down with gasoline. It occurred to me to make it the result of damage to his throat. I heard about a condition called vocal nodules that can occur when people damage their vocal cords with continuous yelling, causing permanent changes in their voices. That's really all I remember about it, though. Could someone tell me more about this condition? Would he be able to speak at a normal pitch, and would talking actually be painful?

And if I'm wrong about this, is there some other type of injury that can cause a person to have a raw, gruesome voice?
 

PattiTheWicked

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I used to work with a guy that had a raw, scratchy voice. He sounded like the Kurgan in the movie Highlander.

When he was twelve, he had been shot in the face, and the docs basically rebuilt everything between his nose and his neck.
 

Tish Davidson

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In people with throat cancer, removing the tumor and surrounding tissue often damages the vocal cords resulting in the voice you have described.
 

Izunya

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I believe alcohol can damage vocal chords, too.

Incidentally, I looked up Tom Waits on wikipedia but it doesn't say why he sounds like that. I think that's the sort of voice you're talking about, though, and someone else may be able to find out more.

(For those of you who don't know from Tom Waits---ever watched Shrek 2? There's a point where the king walks into a seedy bar, and the pirate on the piano starts snarling this tango. That's Tom Waits. He's mostly a singer, but he gets a lot of random movie cameos.)

Izunya
 

kristie911

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My grandpa was in a horrible accident (his county snowplow was hit by a train) that ultimately left his vocal cords paralyzed (or partially paralyzed). He was very hard to understand. It was a strain for him to talk and his voice was definitely raspy.
 

JoNightshade

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(For those of you who don't know from Tom Waits---ever watched Shrek 2? There's a point where the king walks into a seedy bar, and the pirate on the piano starts snarling this tango. That's Tom Waits. He's mostly a singer, but he gets a lot of random movie cameos.)

Oh, I love that song!!! I have the soundtrack. Thanks for pointing this out. :)
 

althrasher

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I think what you're talking about are nodes on the vocal cords, which aren't exactly permenant if you take care of them. By going back and using proper vocal care, you can shrink them down until they aren't there anymore.
Or you can have surgery. And then have a doctor botch the surgery, like what happened to Juile Andrews.
I know Satchmo's voice was the way it was because he smoked a whole lotta pot. He also got constipated from it, which is why he was spokesman for a laxative company.
Fun things to know...
 
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