Post-surgical laryngitis is inflammation of the larynx, not from infectious organisms, but from irritation caused by a surgical procedure. By analogy, think of the redness around a knuckle that has an abrasion but is not infected. Post-surgical laryngitis is typically transient and lasts only a few days following surgery. A typical time of recovery after nodule surgery is about four days, which explains why the suggested time of complete silence after surgery is four days, with gradually increasing amounts of voice use beginning on postoperative day four or five.