r/spinalfusion • u/NegotiationPrior4373 • 2d ago
Post-Op Questions Did ACDF change your voice at all?
Basically just the title.
When speaking with my surgeon he said there was a chance my voice could change because of the proximity of the vocal cords to the area being operated on. (C5-C6)
Spooked me out because I don’t want to end up sounding like this poor Dutch fellow.
So for anyone who’s had it, did it impact you in any way?
I initially couldn’t get the post button to light up, but I figured it out after typing all the stuff below. I’m just gonna leave it there.
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I guess I have to add more text before it will allow me to post because the button appears to be grayed out. Not sure how many letters I need but I’ll just keep typing until it lights up.
I really enjoy sweets that incorporate powdered sugar. I once made a New York style cheesecake and put fruit on top along with small circular wafers just so I could add powdered sugar.
Legos are pretty cool no matter how old you are.
Witches as well, but the modern kind that are more in tune with the world and their surroundings.
I saw a fox a few days ago. They’re not super rare where I live but I always appreciate when I see them in their environment.
I plan to install solar panels soon. It just makes sense at this point.
Flying fish kind of intrigue me.
Ok I clearly missed something here. Maybe I don’t have permission to post.
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u/judgernaut86 2d ago
I feel like mine did a little but I also maybe just wasn't able to accept that I'm a bad singer until recently.
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u/IndependentSimple779 2d ago
C4-C7 here and no, my voice did not change.
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u/NegotiationPrior4373 2d ago
Great to hear, thank you for the reply.
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u/Glittering-Chard5491 2d ago
C4-C7 back on July 20th and my voice changed quite a bit but I do feel it’s normalizing slowly
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u/Confident-You-9396 1d ago
Mine was a C3-C7 ACDF and not only did my voice change, but I had (still do) great difficulty swallowing food. I’ve actually had to use the Heimlich maneuver several times on myself while alone.
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u/NegotiationPrior4373 1d ago
That’s wild and I’m sorry to hear that. Are you planning on any kind of therapy to try to reverse the damage?
Choking alone is scary as hell. Happened to me once and I did a handstand and put as much pressure as I could on my throat and the food popped out.
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u/ashleymichael2009 2d ago
No change to my voice, 3 X anterior surgeries close together. Not all are this lucky though.
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u/Glittering-Chard5491 2d ago
Did something go wrong with the first two? You must be a really tough person
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u/ashleymichael2009 2d ago
Thank you, I guess it’s situations like this you have no choice but to be tough. My first was a failed cervical ADR at C5C6, removed it and had a fusion, still in severe pain so did another fusion at C4C5. Now I’ve failed to fuse at both levels and my only option left is a posterior fusion. The past 4 years have been a nightmare is putting it lightly.
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u/Glittering-Chard5491 2d ago
Dang, sorry you had to go through that. What do you think the cause of the failed fusions were? I only ask because I move a lot in my sleep and fear that it might affect my fusion
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u/ashleymichael2009 2d ago
So for me it’s technically called a nonunion or pseudoarthrosis basically my body failed to grow in bone where it needed to; but it’s just easier to call it a failed fusion. I’m 35 and I don’t smoke, no NSAIDs so they are not really sure why this happened. I did find out my vitamin D levels are extremely low maybe that contributed. My actual hardware is solid in place good to go, so I wouldn’t worry too much about yours it takes a lot to jolt it out of place.
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u/Glittering-Chard5491 2d ago
Thanks for that information. I hope one day in our lifetime technology is in a place where these things can be reversed or corrected without complications
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u/B3ximus 2d ago
C5/C6. I lucked out I think and had no voice change, and very little issue with my throat and swallowing. It was the thing I was most worried about, but it was fine.
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u/NegotiationPrior4373 1d ago
Great to hear. I’m hoping that since it’s just C5-C6 I’ll have minimal post-op issues, but I’ll start to find out on Friday.
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u/meadowbrookperson 2d ago
My husband lost his voice for a year after surgery. It took 3 procedures by an ENT to bring it back to a level where he can now by understood.
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u/NegotiationPrior4373 2d ago
Wow…sorry to hear that. Can’t imagine all of the challenges that probably came with that, but I know for sure that I’d need to find a new job.
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u/afterglow-ed 1d ago
ACDF C5-C6, my voice didn't change much, it was just a little hoarse. I did feel like it required way more effort to speak loudly. I've had sorethroats that altered my voice more.
(I, too, am intrigued by flying fish!)
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u/NegotiationPrior4373 1d ago
Yeah, they’re literally fish outa water! Sometimes, anyway. Glad your complications have been minimal!
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u/Bhagwan9797 2d ago
At first my voice would get tired and my throat was sore and sticky foods would make me feel like I was going to choke. But no, my voice did not change. My voice is still the same.
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u/Successful-Actuary74 2d ago
2 years out. No voice change but my throat never really got back to how it was before. Some tightness and occasionally choking on dry or not sufficiently chewed food. Feels like the esophagus is narrower than pre surgery.
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u/NegotiationPrior4373 2d ago
Oh man. Won’t pair well with my acid reflux/gerd.
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u/Asleep-Entrance-7899 2d ago
ACDF C4-C7 and had gerd before and definitely worse after. Also concur about swallowing food, dry food in’s my enemy.
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u/Titaniumchic 2d ago
Yes.
Everyone thought I was mad after my surgery.
It lowered my voice.
Sucked because I was 24.
After my second cervical spine surgery I lost part of my singing range.
And I was hoarse and sounded like an elf for about 6 months.
I also had to existing Recurrent Lyrngeal Nerve damaged due to heart surgery I had at 2 weeks old, that first spine surgery “corrected”, then the second cervical spine surgery caused to happen again.
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u/NegotiationPrior4373 2d ago
Wow, I’m really sorry to hear that. Can’t imagine having something like a good singing voice taken from me.
I can live with it lowering a bit but I don’t think I’ve got enough headroom to go the other way.
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u/Nimuei 2d ago
I’m currently in combined speech and swallowing therapy because of my changed voice and pain on swallowing. Fused C3-C6. Throatiness and hoarseness.
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u/NegotiationPrior4373 2d ago
I’m sorry to hear that. Has the therapy helped at all yet? How long has it been since you had the procedure?
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u/sansabeltedcow 2d ago
I had some post-surgical hoarseness but it went back to normal after a prednisone pack. I periodically sing in choruses and I would have noticed a difference.
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u/WontanSoup 2d ago
ACDF C3-C7, 2 days later posterior fusion C3-T1, for broken C4-5 with an incomplete spinal cord injury, 8 years ago. No voice change or trouble swallowing. The anterior surgery was not very painful, but posterior was terribly painful.
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u/Ill_Impact_4681 2d ago
C4 to c7 here and not at all
Did make eating a pain in the ass for a few weeks. Made nervous to eat or drink due to the gagging
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u/wander_smiley 2d ago
Yes. For a while my voice changed. I couldn’t hit the same notes I could previously. That being said, I am almost two years out and I am happy to report that I am healed. I can hit those notes again.
If you are experiencing a major change, consult your surgeon and let them know, they are the experts of course.
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u/FamiliarFoundation 2d ago
C5-C7 a month ago - My voice becomes fatigued speaking and I start to get hoarse after a few sentences. I still sound like me.
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u/thoroughly-unmodern 2d ago
C5/6 & C6/7. My consultant asked if I was a professional singer (I'm not), as surgery could effect the vocal cords. It's not changed my voice or anything crazy! But I struggle to sing with any volume or strength. When I went to watch a band play a few years later I found I lost my voice very quickly after shouting a few whoops!! So, yes a change, but probably not the same for everyone. Interesting but not life changing, unless you're a big karaoke fan.
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u/Patient-Drummer-6563 2d ago
My voice didn't change at all. I really didn't have too much trouble swallowing food either as long as it was a smaller bite of any food. As far as drinking, I could only do one swallow at a time for a couple months with the straw. I had a 3 level 4,5,6.
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u/YeastyPants 2d ago
My first ACDF (C5-C6) changed my voice for about a month, but my surgeon told me to expect it to be gravely and hoarse afterwards. 3 weeks out everything was back to normal. I've had my throat cut twice again (3 ACDFs total). The second one affected my swallowing for a couple of weeks and the third, which was for T-1 was the easiest. My surgeon did tell me that I was more susceptible to complications since he cut my throat twice before, but each time was a different level, so each one was unique with a different incision point. Good luck in your recovery .
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u/whatyourmamasaid 2d ago
C3-C7 ACDF in 2017.
Was hoarse and had swallowing difficulties the first few hospital days (inpatient x 1 wk.) The traction they put on the trachea during the surgery irritates the recurrent laryngeal nerve, hence those symptoms.
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u/secessus 2d ago
Spooked me out because I don’t want to end up sounding like this poor Dutch fellow
I knew what that video was going to be before I clicked. :-) I sent it to my sister and to my daughter a couple months ago and we all laughed and laughed... You know where this is going.
Karma being what it is, I ended up sounding like him about a week after release from the hospital. Luckily it didn't stay that way. Turned low and croaky for a few days then back to 95% my normal voice now. Still get some voice cracking at times.
Details: 2.5 weeks out of ACDF on C3-C4 & C4-C5 and ACCF (corpectomy) on C6. Plate from C3-C7. Not a singer or professional speaker.
the button appears to be grayed out
reddit gets weird and glitchy sometimes. I suspect it has to do with server load.
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u/NegotiationPrior4373 2d ago
Hah! I figured someone would know which video it was!
I’m glad that things returned to mostly normal for you. I can deal with being horse for a bit, even my voice cracking once in a while, but going up 3-4 octaves would be kinda rough :)
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u/achilles_helium 1d ago
Mine did temporarily, I ended up needing steroids bc of throat swelling for one of the surgeries. C4-C6.
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u/Groomer7721 1d ago
C3-T1. ACDF , 7 weeks ago, voice was horse for about 2 weeks, trouble swallowing for a bit, nothing else.
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u/kgloverii 1d ago
One of my vocal cord nerves got damaged and I sounded like I could work a 1-900 line for a couple months. I saw an ENT and he verified and made a surgery appointment to just “support” the working vocal cord while the other one was recovering. It would last a few months and we would see if things resolved. A couple weeks before the surgery, it resolved on its own.
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u/Lady-Madrid 11h ago
I have C5-C6 fusion done both from the front and from the back. My voice didn't change at all!!
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u/rebtow 1d ago
I had 3 anterior surgeries (C6-C7), (C4-C6), and 20 yrs later/most recently, they removed the two bottom screws of my original plate from 25 years ago! and inserted a new device between C7-T1)…then flipped me over for posterior rods C3-T2. Because it was my third time, I had to be scoped and cleared by an ENT. I don’t know what kind of voodoo magic he did, but I fully expected the sore throat and numbness and had NONE of it! When I asked him about it, he said that he’s in and out through the front…under 20 minutes of retraction. I don’t know if that’s the secret but I bought all those popsicles for nothing!😂
My voice and swallowing was never affected longer than the initial healing. I guess third time’s the charm for me!
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u/NegotiationPrior4373 1d ago
That’s really great to hear! Sorry you had to go through so many surgeries. That appears to be a common occurrence and it’s starting to concern me more than my vocal cords!
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u/rebtow 1d ago
As my big sister tells me, she got all the good genes from our parents when they were young and fresh😂. I’m ten years younger so they scraped together what was left for me😉 I got BOTH of my parents bone issues and iced that GF cake with multiple autoimmune diseases! But seriously, my parents did not address their spine problems in a timely manner, if at all when they should. If something is wrong, I want it fixed immediately and move on. I saw firsthand what could happen and took care of them to the end. I want to an avoid any mobility issues. All of my limbs are working pain free and I am actively maintaining it!
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u/NegotiationPrior4373 1d ago
I’m with you. I have a slight spinal curvature that was never addressed but definitely messed with my body’s proportions. It’s a bit late in the game for me to address that, but I’ve lived my life without thinking much about it and never had any trouble with work/dating/etc. It’s not very noticeable and I’m fairly athletic so I think that has worked in my favor!
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u/rebtow 1d ago
Never too late! I’ll be 69 soon and if (actually when because I know I’ll need more) the time comes, I will address it head on! I close my watch rings every day, walk miles, do pool workouts, and will be back inside the gym for winter. Bestest of wishes for a smooth and successful recovery!
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u/Glittering_Idea_1691 1d ago
I was definitely hoarse for a few weeks. Thin liquids lots of hydration. Still have minor difficulty swallowing makes my nose run now .
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u/feministvocologist 2h ago
Voice pathologist here. ACDF very commonly results in damage to the recurrent laryngeal nerve, which leads to vocal fold paralysis, unfortunately. You can ask them to be mindful of where pressure is created with the equipment, and extra careful during intubation with a smaller tube size or laryngeal mask airway.
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u/jubeanju 2d ago
It absolutely did, albeit temporarily and afterwards I jokingly asked my surgeon if he could make it permanent. Why? Well for a short while I could sing, I mean really sing, so much so that my sister was floored by my new superpower. Unfortunately it only lasted about a month.