Involuntary spasms of the laryngeal muscles characterize spasmodic dysphonia. The sound that comes out is broken, strident, strangled and impacts a few words up to the entire speech.
Symptoms generally begin in the 30-50 age period mostly affecting women.
Spasmodic dysphonia can present itself in 3 forms:
Adductor: sudden involuntary spasms stiffen and close the vocal cords, interfering with the mucosal wave and sound production. Stress can worsen spasms that do not occur when whispering, laughing, singing, or speaking on inhalation or out loud.
Abdottoria: less common than the previous one, it is characterized by involuntary spasms that trigger the opening of the vocal cords, thus preventing vocal production and making the sounds produced weak, silent, whispered. Again the problem does not occur with laughing and singing.
Mixed: it is the rarest and manifests itself with symptoms belonging to the two previous categories.
Little is known about this type of dysphonia. At the moment it is believed that the problem has central derivation, at the level of the basal ganglia, i.e. at the level of the area that coordinates muscle movement. The onset can occur following flu or a cold, following an injury to the vocal cord, after excessive vocal effort and following stress.
The endoscopic examination highlights the dysfunctional conditions. Underlying neurological conditions may also be present.
The therapy is Botox and the goal of the treatment is to reduce the symptoms of the disorder. Speech therapy is essential to modify some incorrect expressive engrams. Manual intervention can reduce the tension state of some laryngeal, perilaryngeal and upper triangle tissues that accompany the disorder.
Valentina Carlile - Osteopath expert in Osteopathy applied to voice and speech disorders since 2002. For information and reservations visit the page Contacts