KTBS anchor/health reporter Linnea Allen
Linnea Allen undergoes a laryngoscopy, which included a small tube with a camera that's run down one of her nostrils to view her vocal chords that are seen on the big screen.
KTBS anchor/health reporter Linnea Allen
SHREVEPORT, La. — Talking and having conversation is a normal, easy task for most people. But for people with voice disorders, everyday speaking can be a struggle.
KTBS 3 Health Reporter Linnea Allen shares information about two specific voice disorders and her year-and-a-half long struggle with trying to overcome them.
Even as the health reporter, I didn’t know anything about disorders of the voice. Until I was struck with them. Now, in hopes that it may help someone else, I’m sharing my story with you, and what I’ve learned in the year-and-a-half of trying to overcome them.
Voice disorders typically occur when the vocal cords, and/or muscles in the throat stop working properly.
One such condition is spasmodic dysphonia.
“Spasmodic dysphonia is a neurologic voice disorder,” said Dr. Lesley Childs, a laryngologist and medical director for the Clinical Center for Voice Care at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. “It involves, basically, how the brain communicates with the voice box and affects conversational speech.”
It causes spasms in the vocal cords, making the cords either open or close when they are not supposed to. It’s diagnosed in two ways. The first is through a trained ear.
“We’re listening to their voice. We’re listening for those specific spasms,” said Childs. “That gives us a clue that there might be a neurologic disorder at play.”
Linnea Allen undergoes a laryngoscopy, which included a small tube with a camera that's run down one of her nostrils to view her vocal chords that are seen on the big screen.
Doctors also do what’s called a laryngoscopy to view the vocal cords. A small tube with a camera is run down one of the nostrils and down the back of the throat so the doctor can see the vocal cords and surrounding tissue while the patient is vocalizing.
Other speech disorders are more functional, rather than neurological. One such speech disorder is called muscle tension dysphonia. It’s a functional condition that affects the muscles of the larynx.
“Muscle tension dysphonia makes voicing feel effortful, and like it’s exhausting to try and communicate,” Childs said. “And they feel tension in their neck muscles and strain in their neck muscles.”
In muscle tension dysphonia, the muscles of the larynx overwork or start working incorrectly. It can feel like being strangled from the inside. It’s hard to breathe and to speak. Sometimes, it accompanies spasmodic dysphonia.
“So, sometimes there can be a muscle tension component, especially in those folks who have needed to adapt because they’re professional voice users, or they’re singers or something like that. And they’re needing to kind of push through vocally,” Childs explained.
Muscle tension dysphonia is treated and can be cured through speech therapy.
Amy Harris, a speech-language pathologist at UT Southwestern Voice Center, said, “It’s like neuromuscular re-education. So it’s by emphasizing breath support, and getting the muscles in the throat to relax, with the vocal folds vibrating correctly or optimally.”
Unlike muscle tension dysphonia, spasmodic dysphonia is not curable. But it can be treated.
“The gold standard of treatment is laryngeal Botox,” explained Childs. “So, botulinum toxin injections into the larynx, whether it be into the true vocal cords or what are called the false vocal cords, which are the tissues just north of the vocal cords.”
It is followed by speech therapy.
“The voice therapist also kind of manages the symptoms, how they progress, and how the body responds to the Botox,” said Harris.
Childs is the third doctor I’ve seen and the first to offer treatment. She says mine is a complicated case, likely a combination of both spasmodic dysphonia and muscle tension dysphonia.
“You are kind of this perfect illustration of a perfect storm,” Childs told me.
On July 6, I’ll receive a full dose of Botox injections into my larynx. My team - Harris and Childs— and I are hopeful for a good outcome.
“Prognosis is excellent,” Childs said.
There’s a reason I’m sharing this story with you now. After the injections into my larynx, I will be without a voice for up to 4 weeks, followed by speech therapy.
So, I will be taking a leave of absence for six weeks beginning Tuesday. I am hopeful I’ll be back in the middle of August. In the meantime, I would gratefully appreciate your prayers, and I thank you for your patience and understanding.
This story just scratches the surface of voice disorders. For more information and resources, visit www.dysphonia.org.
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