Even in our Internet world, our ability to communicate still includes using our voices. For most people our voices are our jobs. This is most obvious with singers and public speakers. So what happens if the voice or speech quality suffers? Loss of income, of course. So this is serious stuff.

The most common vocal problem is hoarseness. Hoarseness can be a temporary response to a temporary trauma or a symptom of serious diseases. Many people can walk into a room full of smokers and suffer a few hours of hoarseness. As a matter of fact, this happens so often that many people consider hoarseness a normal condition. It reminds me of a line the late comedian Buddy Hackett was famous for.