Q: Why does your voice get deeper when you have a cold?
A: "With a cold, several parts of the upper respiratory tract become swollen, including the vocal cords," said Michael G. Stewart, otorhinolaryngologist in chief at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The vocal cords are thin membranes that vibrate on top of a tiny area between two tissue layers, he explained, "and any tiny swelling of the cord itself or the underlying tissue space causes the voice to sound deeper or huskier because the frequency of vibration is slowed."
Technically, this is laryngitis, or laryngeal inflammation with swelling of the vocal cords, even if the voice is not actually lost, Stewart said.
"In more severe cases, if the swelling is bad enough," he said, "the vocal cords can no longer vibrate, which causes the person to be unable to speak except in a whisper, which is the way ‘laryngitis' is depicted in movies and TV."
Whispering causes more swelling, and should be avoided when you have laryngitis, Stewart said. Excessive coughing makes the vocal cords bang together forcefully, which also causes swelling and is the reason your voice gets husky after a lot of coughing, he said.
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