SITUATION: During a radio interview, British pop star Adele “heard a pop” and noticed a drop in vocal pitch in the bass frequency, followed by a sudden and complete loss of voice. It stressed his vocal cords and ruptured a blood vessel causing a hemorrhage of the vocal lining, called a hemorrhagic polyp. The advantage in his singing style is the probable contribution to the polyp, along with a combination of smoking (WebMD). In October 2011 Adele underwent surgery to treat vocal cord polyp with hemorrhage (Fauquier ENT). For this study I will use his case to study the effects of laryngeal growth on the voice. WHAT IS A VOCAL CORD POLYP AND A HEMORRHAGE? Vocal cord polyps are a benign (noncancerous) growth on one or both vocal cords and a common disorder of the larynx. Polyps look like a lump or bump (ASHA) on the junction of the anterior and middle thirds of the vocal folds where the lesions are elevated, appearing red, white, or translucent (Hideki et al., 2012). They appear similar to a blister (ASHA). Refer to Figure 1. Figure 1: Image of a vocal polyp seen by the speech pathologist or ENT doctor through video endoscopy. True, persistent, unilateral, mediomusculomembranous vocal fold lesions with typical hemorrhagic, fibrotic, or translucent characteristics (Hideki et al., 2012). HOW DO POLYPS DEVELOP?I. Voice abuse or misuse: Repeated or long-term vocal abuse or misuse of the vocal cords through activities such as singing, teaching, yelling, and speaking loudly (ASHA). A rupture occurs in the vessels of the superficial layer of the lamina propria resulting in a hematoma (swelling of coagulated blood within the tissue). Edema and infiltration of inflammatory cells in the center of the paper. Multilayered ultrastructure of the vocal folds maintaining a functional and anatomical state that closely mirrors the normal glottis (Geyer et al., 2010). o Preservation of both the healthy mucosa and the middle and deep layers of the lamina propria is important for the restoration of the voice (Geyer et al., 2010) WHAT TREATMENT RECOMMENDATION WOULD YOU GIVE TO A FELLOW STUDENT WHO HAS A VOCAL FOLD POLYP? The recommendation I would give to a friend would be specific to their needs. If a fellow student of mine discovered he had a vocal polyp after a night of screaming while watching The Backstreet Boy concert, I would recommend voice therapy. My guess is that the vocal cord polyp would be small and have a high chance of shrinking or going into remission. Voice therapy requires more time and rigorous care, but is not invasive. I would also imagine it is less expensive than surgery.