West Lafayette, IN (WFN) -- The world is becoming a much noisier place, but if you raise your voice to compensate, you may end up losing it.

That's according to voice therapy expert Barbara Solomon, who runs the Speech-Language Clinic at Purdue University in Indiana.

She says the drone from traffic, sirens and large crowds is making many people yell and scream more than they have to.

The truth is, it's not necessary to raise your voice to be heard and the strain you put your vocal chords through while shouting could cost you your voice in the end.

One particularly serious problem is the use of cell phones. Solomon says many folks think they need to speak much louder than they have to on a cell and end up feeling hoarse.

Continued cell phone shouting could leave you with nodules -- blisters on the vocal chords that, if chronic, can only be removed with surgery.

Solomon's advice: Pipe down and your voice will thank you.

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