system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How do you lose your voice?

I never understood how you could blow out your vocal box, how does that work?
gpt
Basically, the vocal cords work when air is forced through them because of diaphragmatic pressure, causing the cords to vibrate against one another in a similar way to when you pinch the end of a balloon to make it squeak.

When your vocal cords swell up due to illness or injury, this vibration can’t happen as freely because swelling also causes them to firm up. With reduced flexibility, the vibration can’t happen as freely, and as a result air simply escapes without producing much in the way of sound.