Time Off Work and Help at Home
Voice surgery is unusual among operations in that you may feel well enough to work within days and still not be allowed to talk. How long you need off depends far less on how you feel than on how much your job uses your voice.
The same goes for help at home. You will probably not need someone to lift things or change dressings. You will need someone to speak for you, handle the small daily conversations you cannot have, and notice if something is wrong. That is a different kind of help, and the people who offer it often do not know what to do until you tell them.
This guide covers time off for different kinds of work, what to tell an employer, and a short guide for whoever is helping you through the first weeks. Your surgeon's protocol sets the actual dates.
On this page
How much time off
The silent week sets the floor. After a glottoplasty, complete voice rest for around a week is typical, followed by weeks of rationed speech, starting with a few minutes a day and building up. Other operations have their own protocols. These are rough ranges to plan around, from the procedure pages on this site:
- Desk work that does not need your voice: about one to two weeks after a glottoplasty or laser procedure, two weeks after cricothyroid approximation, two to three weeks after feminization laryngoplasty, and often less than a week after a tracheal shave on its own.
- Jobs with some talking, such as office work with meetings: longer, because rationed speech does not cover a day of calls. Many people go back on reduced duties, with email instead of meetings, for several weeks.
- Voice-heavy jobs, such as teaching, call centres, sales, care work or the stage: often a month or more before the voice can manage a full working day, and sometimes much longer. Ask your surgeon and therapist for a realistic date, not the earliest one.
The voice also tires quickly for months. Being allowed to talk again is not the same as being able to talk all day, and pushing a new voice through long days too early is one of the ways results suffer.
Telling your employer
You do not have to say what the surgery was. "Throat surgery, then a period of strict voice rest" is accurate and usually enough. A note from your surgeon or doctor covering the time off, and stating that you cannot use your voice, helps if your employer asks for one.
The more useful conversation is about the return. Ask for a phased return if your job uses your voice: email and messaging instead of calls, no presentations or meetings for a few weeks, and quiet breaks through the day. A therapist's letter setting out how much voice use is safe at each stage can make that easier to agree.
If you work for yourself, plan the gap in income and in client contact. Clients who know you are away for two weeks are rarely a problem. Clients who expect a phone call in the middle of your silent week are.
When you book the date
Ask your surgeon or therapist for a short written note of how much speaking is safe at each stage of the first two months. Hand it to your manager before you go, so the phased return is agreed before you need it.
A guide for whoever is helping
If someone is staying with you, or checking in on you, this section is for them. You might send it to them.
Speak for them, not over them. Your job is to handle the conversations they cannot have: the pharmacy, the delivery driver, the hotel desk, the phone. Let them write or type what they want said and say it for them. It is easy to start answering for someone, and it is frustrating to be on the other end of.
Ask yes-or-no questions. "Do you want tea?" can be answered with a nod. "What would you like?" means reaching for the notepad. Over a week it makes a real difference.
Help them not to talk. The reflexes catch everyone out: thank you, hello, laughing, calling the dog. A gentle reminder is fine. So is turning down the comedy.
Watch for warning signs. Contact the surgeon's team, or emergency services if it is serious, if they have trouble breathing, noisy breathing, bleeding from the mouth, swelling in the neck that is getting worse, a fever, or a cough they cannot stop. Training after surgery lists the signs surgeons ask patients to report.
Keep them company. A week of not speaking is lonelier than it sounds. Sitting together, watching something, going for a walk or texting from the next room all help.
If you live alone
Plenty of people get through voice rest on their own, especially after a day-case operation. It takes a little more planning.
Get the first night covered. Most surgeons want someone with you for the first night after a general anaesthetic, and a hospital or hotel near the clinic can be a sensible alternative if no one can stay.
After that, set up everything so you do not need to speak. Food deliveries booked in advance, prescriptions collected before surgery, a friend on standby to make calls for you by text, and a plan for what to do if you need help urgently. Text relay or emergency text services exist in many countries; find out whether yours has one, and register before you need it if registration is required.
And arrange company. Friends who drop in, even briefly, make the silence much easier to keep.
Children, pets and the rest of the house
Small children are the hardest part of voice rest for many parents, because they ask questions all day and do not accept a notepad as an answer. If you can arrange for someone else to do most of the childcare for the silent week, do. If you cannot, explain beforehand in words they understand, and agree a few signals for yes, no and wait.
Pets are easier than people expect, though calling a dog back on a walk is a reflex worth planning around. A whistle or a lead is simpler than resisting the urge to shout.
Everyone else in the house needs to know the rules too, including that whispering counts as talking. A note on the fridge saying how long the silence lasts and what is allowed when saves a lot of misunderstandings.
Frequently asked questions
How long should I take off work after voice surgery?
About one to three weeks for work that does not need your voice, and often a month or more for a voice-heavy job. See how much time off.
Do I have to tell my employer it was voice surgery?
No. "Throat surgery and a period of voice rest" is usually enough, with a note from your surgeon or doctor. See telling your employer.
Can I recover from voice surgery alone?
Many people do, with someone for the first night and a plan for calls and deliveries. See if you live alone.
What signs should my helper watch for?
Trouble breathing, bleeding, worsening neck swelling, fever or a cough that will not stop. See a guide for whoever is helping.