I don’t know what is happening to me. Please Help!!

[Maryknight77]

At the beginning of this month I believe I strained or damaged my voice from long hours of singing. My throat felt fatigued and I had tension in my neck. Hoarse voice etc etc. I also ended up with a popping/thumping feeling in my throat that happened every time I swallowed except when I was eating or drinking. The best way I can describe the feeling is try and imagine the sensation and pressure of cracking the knuckle of your middle finger and imagining that exact feeling in your throat. It’s not painful but highly uncomfortable and annoying.

A few days later I felt sick. I wasn’t coughing or had any symptoms of being sick but my body felt as if I had the cold. I still had the popping in the throat and it felt as if someone was choking me. There was a lot of tension in my neck that also traveled down to the upper area of my chest and down my shoulders into my arms. I also started feeling pressure in my sinuses which I think made my neck feel worse. I felt sick for little over a week and towards the end I began to have dry coughs and clearing of the throat. I tried looking at my throat in the mirror and noticed something at the back of my throat that I’ve never seen before in my life. I looked it up and I guess that my epiglottis is also raised.

I still had neck tightness n the popping but I did regain my voice. I made the mistake of taking that as a sign that I was good to start singing again. Later on that night my voice was nearly gone/completely hoarse it even hurt to speak.

Its been a week now and I still haven’t gotten my voice back. Some days my throat feels like its gonna fall out of my mouth. Still dry coughing and clearing my throat. I noticed that since then, my voice is still significantly deeper than it really is. I still have the throat popping and neck tension that travels to my chest, shoulders and arms and also the sinus pressure. At times it feels like my ears are plugged as well. I also forgot to add that sometimes my throat feels like it’s about to close so I try to take deep and steady breathes. This only happens when I’m experiencing high tightness and tension. Usually I wouldn’t go to the internet for answers but I recently lost my insurance due to my workplace cutting benefits so I can’t afford to go to a doctor or the hospital.

I’m just looking for reassurance that this is normal and nothing to be worried about. Is it just a sinus infection? Laryngitis? Pharyngitis? Epiglottitis? Hyoid bone syndrome?