Throat Care

It is important to ensure that your throat remains as healthy as possible when managing symptoms of Inducible Laryngeal Obstruction (ILO).

Throat care can help to:

Prevent irritation
Reduce inflammation
Improve vocal cord function
Minimise triggers
Support breathing techniques
Improve recovery

You can improve throat care by considering the following aspects.

Hydration

Stay well hydrated to keep the tissue in your mouth and throat moist and healthy. You can do this by:

Ensuring that you have enough water to drink, particularly when speaking for long periods and throughout the day.Try to keep a water bottle with you at all times.
Aiming to drink a minimum of 3 pints /1.5 litres of fluid which does not contain caffeine or alcohol per day.
Trying steam inhalation if you have a dry throat or your saliva feels thick. See our leaflet on steam inhalation on our webpage.
Reducing excessive intake of coffee, tea, caffeinated fizzy drinks; replace with water (hot or cold), juice or decaffeinated versions, as caffeine and alcohol can be drying agents.

Controlling your environment

Hot, dry atmospheres and central heating are environmental conditions that tend to dry out the tissues in the throat. Consider the following suggestions:

Humidify the environment around you; place bowls of water on or near a radiator, have house plants in water, or hang a damp towel over the radiator.

Ventilate rooms when possible
Sip water regularly
Consider steam inhalation

Irritants can cause the tissue of the vocal tract to become dry or inflamed. Irritants can include dust, chalk, fumes, felt-tip pen fumes, some solvent-based glues, chlorine. To reduce irritation attempt to:

Avoid dusty environments. If you can’t, wear a dust mask.
Avoid fume-filled atmospheres (e.g. spaces where a lot of aerosols are used).
Make sure your environment is properly cleaned and well ventilated.
Drink water regularly throughout the day.
Avoid tobacco and other drugs

These have a profound effect on the vocal tract, drying and irritating the tissues. This may cause redness and generalised irritation to the nose and throat. Please consider:

Stopping smoking - if you have difficulty ask your GP to refer you to a smoking cessation clinic. Avoiding smoky atmospheres.

Medication

Some drugs can dry out the lining of your throat. These tend to include anti-depressants, Hyoscine, atropine and blood pressure medication.
Check the side effects listed in your medication packet and discuss any queries with your GP.
Do not stop taking medication without medical advice.

Asthma inhalers

Dry powder from your inhaler can irritate the lining of your mouth and throat.
Use a spacer, as appropriate.
After inhaler use, gargle or rinse your mouth with water.

Throat clearing and coughing

Throat clearing and coughing can irritate the lining of your throat, exacerbate irritation and cause more production of thick secretions or phlegm.
If you regularly throat clear or cough without producing phlegm, this may be a habit rather than a necessity. Breaking this habit is very important to reduce irritation.

Try to replace a throat-clear/cough with one of the following:

Take a sip of water
Suck a sugar free sweet
Do an effortful swallow
Do a gentle throat-clear followed by an effortful swallow
A yawn followed by a swallow
Bear in mind that regular throat clearing can be a symptom of reflux – are you managing your reflux well

Acid Reflux

When acid from your stomach travels up to the voice box it can irritate your throat. If you have been diagnosed with reflux it is essential that you take your medication exactly as prescribed without missing any days. Order a new prescription from your GP before you run out of tablets and medicine so that no days are missed.

You should also follow (as closely as possible) the lifestyle recommendations on the reflux advice sheet which is available on our webpage.
Further voice information and advice can be found on our webpage below.

Vocal Care information

Speech and Language Therapy

Date of issue: May 2025

Aim

Rescue breathing is aimed to help you breathe more easily by encouraging the upper airway to relax, opening the vocal cords and improving flow of air through the larynx

Exercises can be helpful by:

preventing symptoms from happening
making your symptoms less frequent or severe
shortening the episodes

Carry out these exercises if you experience the following:

coughing, or throat clearing
the urge to cough
tightness in your throat that makes it difficult to breathe

Practise these exercises daily if you have been advised to do so by ENT, Respiratory Medicine or a Speech and Language Therapist.

Practise tips:

Carry out daily, little and often, even when you have no symptoms. This will help you to remember this technique so that it can be used more easily, when you are experiencing symptoms.
With practise, you will be able to perform rescue breaths in various positions, not just while sitting.
You can also practise adjusting the speed, so that you are familiar with this during symptoms:
• Start with fast sniffs and blows
• Gradually slow down the pace as your breathing settles.

Daily exercise:

Stay calm
Position yourself comfortably
Carry out a short sharp sniff in through the nose
Gently blow out the air on 2 short gentle puffs, with rounded lips (like blowing bubbles or blowing out a candle). Aim to make your second puff slightly longer.
Pause. Then repeat this 5 times.

Practise little and often throughout the day.

Carry out emergency rescue breathing techniques if you identify:

Early warning signs that an episode of Inducible Laryngeal Obstruction (ILO) is starting, i.e. feeling of irritation or tightness in your throat, sensation of your throat closing up, difficulties breathing or feeling short of breath, hoarseness or changes in your voice, coughing or throat clearing.
When you are experiencing an episode of ILO.

Accessible formats

If you require this information in a community language or alternative format such as Braille, audio, large print, BSL, or Easy Read, please contact the Equality and Human Rights Team at: email: fife.EqualityandHumanRights@nhs.scot or phone 01592 729130. For people with a hearing or verbal impairment you can also contact the team through the NHS Fife SMS text service number on 07805800005.

Hydration

Controlling your environment

Medication

Asthma inhalers

Throat clearing and coughing

Acid Reflux

Aim

Accessible formats

NHS Fife

Contact

Social

Terms