Hoarseness, breathiness, scratchy/rough voice, the "lump in your throat" sensation, shooting pains from ear to ear, the need to breathe in deeper than usual ... these are all symptoms that a nodule can cause. A nodule is basically a small growth and looks like a bump on your vocal folds. This growth occurs from vocal abuse, misuse, and overuse. A healthy, normal vocal chord often has smooth, white mucosal surfaces and has no irregular objects on your vibrating borders. But when you abuse your vocal chords by putting force and tension upon them, the vibrations go into an "overload" and can cause too much friction on them. Eventually a type of bruise forms called a hematoma and a layer of fibrous tissues form into a soft or hard bump, AKA a nodule. Usually two nodules would form on each side of a vocal fold where the friction was...