Topic: Vocal Damage and Loss of Falsetto
I'm a 19 year-old male. My vocal register lays somewhere between baritone and tenor 1. I've sung since I was very young, trained classically as a member of the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus and spent much of middle and high school doing musical theater and acting as a front man in a progressive rock band with pop punk influences. I attend The Academy of Contemporary Music in Oklahoma City and am working towards an associate's degree in vocal performance. I've had a smoking habit for just over a year.
I have a question regarding the condition of my voice as of recently.
A little over a week ago, I came down with some seemingly typical winter time allergies. I suffered from a sore throat, congestion and drainage, sinus pressure, and cough. In years past, I've had similar symptoms around this time of year that just clear up over a matter of days and didn't think too much of it. A few school friends were working on a production student's final of recording and mixing a pop-punk/hardcore song and were needing screams to be added to it. Against my better judgment, I volunteered myself. The recording process went fine for a while, but my voice was almost entirely shot by the end of that night.
The next day I had next to no speaking voice and went on vocal rest for a while. My speaking voice has since cleared up aside from being a bit scratchy. I still have some drainage, congestion, and cough, but it has all cleared up for the most part.
However....
I've discovered very recently that while my full voice and lower registers are for the most part in tact (though somewhat coarse sounding at the moment), I have lost the ability to sing in my head voice. The only sound I can make when attempting to sing falsetto is what almost sounds like air having trouble passing with tones squeaking in and out.
This is unlike anything I've ever experienced and I am now incredibly concerned that I've permanently damaged my vocal chords. Music means more to me than anything in this life and I'm not sure what I might have done...
Any thoughts?
Thanks so Much.

