How can acid reflux affect my voice?

Acid reflux can work from below, in the stomach, and above, from the foods you are eating, which can be very damaging to your voice. Otolaryngologist Jonathan Aviv, MD, explains how acid reflux can irritate the voice.

Transcript

00:00

Sodas have the acidity of the battery acid in your car. People don't realize it.

00:06

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00:12

Acid reflux works in two ways-- from below and from above.

00:18

Certain foods that are not necessarily acidic by themselves, like onion and garlic.

00:25

What they do is loosen the muscle that separates the esophagus, which is the food pipe connecting the throat to the stomach

00:34

and that muscle that separates the stomach from the esophagus gets loosened with onion and garlic.

00:41

So you can have a meal. If it's with onion and garlic, that muscle loosens up. Material in the stomach can go up this way.

00:49

Another way you can injure the vocal chords from acid reflux is acidic foods by themselves.

00:56

Think of alcohol, or vinegar, or soda. Most sodas have the acidity of the battery acid in your car.

01:04

People don't realize it. And when they acidic food comes down, it can actually stimulate receptors in the throat--

01:12

protein receptors, enzymes-- that will break down tissue. So you have injury coming two ways.

01:19

One from below, from the stomach. The other from above, from the actual acidity of the foods