We all know the things that deal a blow to our voices. Anything
that injures the throat physically, like a hit or a physical
constriction, will leave us croaking. Same with infections, or
excessive use of the voice, or sometimes just plain stress.
We've all experienced the strange semi-choking sensation of not
being able to make a sound. For some few, roughly four out of
every hundred thousand, that first spasmodic chocking of the
vocal cords never goes away. These people are generally aged
thirty to fifty, and have no family history of voice disorders,
but their vocal cords physically never recover, continually
going into spasm, sometimes after every sentence, and sometimes
after every other word. This is spasmodic dysphonia. Dysphonia
is a deliberate variation on the word dystonia, which doctors
use to describe loss of muscle control. The muscles that people
with spasmodic dysphonia lose control over are the ones in the
throat that control the vocal cords. They continually spasm,
either pushing the cords —