Anyone have a hoarse, weak voice after thyroid lobectomy?

Hi nbj,
The laryngeal nerve might have just gotten stretched during surgery, which can cause the voice to be affected. Maybe you can ask the doctor for the referral to ENT sooner than 6 months, if issues continue, so you can reduce your stress. Three weeks post surgery is not very long; it takes a while for voice to be strong and not cause pain when doing a lot of speaking. Vocal rest and drinking a lot of fluids really helps! You also might need to be mindful of your position when you are speaking… you want to take in enough air to sustain the voice when speaking.
If voice does not appear to be improving, or you find speaking difficult, you might want to ask doctor to refer you to a Speech and Language Pathologist ( SLP) who specializes in voice concerns. An SLP will assess how you are breathing while speaking to ensure you have breathe support for your voice. They can also give you exercises to help improve the voice quality.
Three weeks is not very long to expect your voice to be healed, so try not to worry. Good luck!

Be patient - it just takes time.

I don't have a thyroid. I had surgery on April 26 th. My voice is coming along. I still can't talk load. Back of my throat gets dry. Exply when I first get up. If I talk alot my neck and throat hurts.

Hi, The groomer for my cat had this. She did not think it would get better. I saw her approx 7 months later and she was completely back to her regular voice. I think some things needed to heal. Best to to you.

I had my thyroid removed after 3 bouts of Graves’ disease over 30 years and I became allergic to one medication and the other knocked out my immune system so my white cells were gone. I was worried about the nerve for my voice but was happy I could speak ok after but it did take time as my throat was so sore I could not swallow tablets unless crushed for weeks after. It takes time to heal and there is some good advice given by others. Take care and be patient but seek advice in a month to relieve any stress . My surgeon also told me about help with voice if I needed it but give it time. Let us know how things are going in a months time please. Best wishes and rest your voice .

I also have Grave Disease with a in conclusive nodule. Had surgery to remove half my thyroid also 30 years ago. I was hoarse afterwards, but within 3 months I was back to normal. The key is to rest your vocal cords and drink plenty of fluids. Don’t talk unless you have to. I pinned a note to my shirt saying “I can’t talk above a whisper because of surgery “.
I walked around with a pad and pencil and wrote down what I wanted to say. I did whisper alot though. Good Luck.

My post should be a comment and not a reply. Sorry

I had me surgery 7 weeks ago, my nerve was also irritated/damaged, my thyroid was stuck to it. At my second post op visit they stuck a scope down my nose to look at my vocal cords. My right one was paralyzed. I went back to work after 2 weeks but it was very hard and the more I talked the less of s voice I had. Last week I had it injected with Prolaryn gel and it is much better but still not normal. I was also talking to a ENT the other day and he said he gives all of his patients with nerve damage a medication that triples the chance of healing. Just search nimodipine and vocal cord injury to read more. I’m going to my Dr today for my injections follow up and I’m going to ask for it. He said that it’s taken 3 times a day for like 3 months. Why do you need a referral for an ENT? My surgery was done by an ENT, if one is required just ask your primary Dr for one. I wouldn’t wait, it’s so hard and frustrating when nobody can hear you. I’m also going to ask for a speech therapy referral today. I found one exercise online that works well to help me cough better but there are things that I need to change how I do and train myself to talk different. Good luck, I know how you feel and it sucks!

I had thyroid surgery and yes, it takes a while to lose the hoarseness and cough so hang in there. I also had GERD so that prolonged it.

I had total thyroidectomy April 20th & my voice is still hoarse & throat hurts. I have a bump at base of neck in front that is hard & stays sore. My PT works on it weekly to get it to go down. With ice packs it helps. But I haven't been to an ENT yet, which I think I need to see one due to the voice issue. Good luck to you.