The bad guy in my story is addicted to female singers like crack-cocaine, and is about to leave his girlfriend to pursue another girl he thinks has a better singing voice. How could she lose her voice, maybe permanently, maybe temporarily, so as to make him leave her?

There are various things that could go wrong with her vocal chords, Kellie Pickler (Singer) deals with something like that, where she gets growths on her vocal chords (sorry I can't think of the actual term) and if they burst, they could permanently damage her vocal chords and she would never sing again and barely be able to talk.

I'm no expert, but I'd imagine that something like strep throat or laryngitis would make her temporarily lose her voice.

How about a bungled tracheoctomy because a harrassed doctor in a hurry severs the vocal chords...trermunal loss due to cancer of the throat...evil spell as in Phantom of the Opera...an unfortunate meeting with a Jack the Ripper wannabee which leaves a severed head rolling in a gutter...

Also.... l.ong term smoking, doing heavy drugs, injury...

A nose job. It's why Barbra Streisand never got one.

Mononucleosis (I don't know if I spelled it right, "mono" for short) causes a terrible sore throat for a long time. When I had it, I couldn't talk for a long time, let alone sing. You can go to WebMD to find out more. I'd give you a link, but I'm too lazy.

definitely the nose job (Connie Francis did get one and it ruined her voice).

also "belting" without knowing how or at too early an age--can cause permanent damage (polyps or nodules, and bowing)to vocal cords. You might want to go with the "bowing" because it causes that old-lady wobble to a voice, and to a true aficionado of voice would be painful to hear.

good luck.

I heard that if you don't do the exercises right or often enough, that you can loose your singing voice for a very long time. I think that's what happened to an old singing teacher of mine. She had to drink green tea for months. And larygitis might serverly hurt their voice as well. One of my teachers for school at it for months. She had to use a microphone for at least a year after that so the whole class could hear her.

Insisting on whispering when your have laryngitis. Developing nodules from not breathing properly. Those two are the biggest longer term problem.

I have a strange problem that no one's been able to solve. But I'll mysteriously lose my voice for about 2 hours and then it will return. There's no rhyme or reason. That could be scary to someone who's so interested in people's voices.

Tiffany

I don't know about completely losing one's voice, but I know that when I gave birth to my son, the strain on my vocal chords was such that I now have a permanent hoarseness to my voice, like I've just gotten over a cold. My son is going on seven years old, and my voice has not recovered. So my singing voice, which used to be crystal clear, now sounds like someone who just got over a cold and is trying to sing anyway (I don't care what people think, but I know that's what it sounds like). I didn't yell a lot when I was having him, but I must've grunted or groaned or growled or something enough to really put my vocal chords through it. So it might not be well known out there, but in some cases, giving birth can certainly change your voice.

RR

I've heard that long-term hard drinking might do it--possibly by causing mouth/throat cancer. Also, it's possible to get a canker sore on your tonsils. Happens to me sometimes, and hurts like a bastard.

And, not sure if this would help, but I've also heard that if you inhale anything heavier than air (nitrous oxide, for example, or maybe argon or xenon or something) it'll make your voice temporarily lower, just like helium will make it higher.