Discover Top Posts Tagged with #vocal cord dysfunction

Hot tip for anyone with vocal cord dysfunction with an exercise trigger: find a gym with a jacob's ladder.

I swear, of all the forms of cardio I've done to deliberately put myself in a triggering situation and train my vocal folds to relax, this one worked the quickest and the best. I have my theories as to why it worked so well, but I'm not a medical professional, and I couldn't find any studies online about it.

But regardless, I've been dealing with VCD for almost 30 years, have done voice therapy twice to get it under control, and YEARS post-therapy, the jacob's ladder (combined with my regular strength training and cardio regimen) is literally The Thing that tipped the scales for me. Yesterday, I did my ultimate trigger (running) and ran for 6 miles with no walk break, increasing the pace every mile, and not a single falter from my throat. This shit worked. I need a study about this.

#vocal cord dysfunction #medical #health #VCD #inducible laryngeal obstruction #ILO #vocal health #cardio workout #cardiovascular health

People often ask, "On a scale from 0 to 10, how bad is the pain? 0 is no pain, 10 is the worst pain you've ever felt."

But when you have chronic pain, your "0", your base line, it's usually around 3 or 4. Personally, my base line is 5.

The thing with numbers is everyone has a diffent thought process on how they decide what number they are, because everyone has experienced diffrent levels of pain, so I made this scale to show people how mine works.

If 10 is the worst pain I've ever felt, well then, it will change every time I feel new pains that are the worst, so I put a set in place description for each number instead. If I'm at a 10, I'm in the emergency room.

I don't say 10, though. Even when I'm in the emergency room, I won't say 10, because I've been conditioned not to, because there will always be worse pain, and if I can tell someone I'm at a 10 then is it really a 10?

It's an ableist way of thinking. I know that, and I discourage others from thinking that way, but it's hard when it's yourself.

So here I am, encouraging you to be kind to yourself and use the pain scale above to show others who won't listen. Your pain is valid, and you should have a way to describe how much pain you're in, so here you go.

#postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome #ehlers danlos syndrome #pots syndrome #hypermobility #spoonie #potsie #hypermobile ehlers danlos #migraine #chronic pain #chronic illness #chronically ill #pain scale #vocal cord dysfunction #vcd

If you want a deodorant that actually doesn't smell like fragrance (unlike the dozens of "unscented" deodorants that are still clearly scented), one trick is to buy deodorants targeted at deer hunters. Smelling like an ocean breeze is not going to be any stealthier in the woods than smelling like human BO is, so they tend to be pretty good about actually being unscented. I'm not gonna promise you'll be "invisible to deer," but it probably won't give you a fragrance-triggered asthma attack or migraine.

#places are gearing up for hunting season right now in the US #so it should be reasonably easy to find in stores #just look for somewhere selling hunting equipment #fragrance allergy #asthma #vocal cord dysfunction #inducible laryngeal obstruction #MCAS #migraine

Shout out to folks with Inducible Laryngeal Obstruction/Vocal Cord Dysfunction/Paradoxical Vocal Fold Motion Disorder!

#Inducible laryngeal obstruction #Vocal cord dysfunction #ILO #VCD #disability #shout out #speech impairment #speech impediment #speech disorder #Voice disorder #paradoxical vocal fold motion disorder #PVFM

So I'm on Zoom, with the nurse to get checked in, and they said, "I can't hear you," so I sent a message in chat, "I can't talk"

"Why?"

"VCD"

And then we go on with the usual questions in the Zoom chat box. During this, the nurse turns their screen to the side a bit and asks, while bearly moving their mouth, "What is this?"

"VCD? Vocal cord disorder" the other nurse who isn't in screen answer

The two nurses then have a vocal conversation. The one in screen bearly moving their mouth, while I'm there answers texts in chat as if I couldn't hear them.

Once again, if I can't talk, I obviously can't hear :D

Anyways- Did you know that changing your clothes is good for sensory input? If you stay in the same clothes for too long then your nervous system will think it's just not focusing on the sensory input and will focus more so it can feel the change in input- which can cause an increase in pain

#chronic illness #disabled #postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome #ehlers danlos syndrome #chronic pain #hypermobile ehlers danlos #chronically ill #disability #pots syndrome #spoonie #vocal cord dysfunction #nonverbal

Me every single day:

#guess who can't fucking breathe rn due to their vocal cord dysfunction #vocal cord dysfunction #deviated septum #asthma #breathing problems #I made this meme like 5 years ago but it's still relevant unfortunately

i have to go to speech therapy because apparently my vocal cords close up whenever i breathe wrong

#vocal cord dysfunction #idfk 😭#UGG #actually #i can take advantage of this #talk to them abt asd stuff

Hey Joy! Feel free to ignore if you've got low spoons 😊

I was diagnosed with Vocal Cord Dysfunction a few years ago, and it's been annoying but not majorly concerning until recently. My major symptom is gagging, and I've been have gagging episodes nearly every day (sometimes until I vomit) which is extremely discouraging. It tends to flare up when I speak a lot, which I can manage at home but is impossible to avoid at work.

Are there any exercises or tips that you use to help manage your VCD? My PCP tends to brush off most of my issues as anxiety related, which means he gives advice and not any useful information. I'm planning on getting a new PCP, but dealing with insurance is a nightmare lol.

Thank you so much Joy, hope your migraines ease up and please give the mop a smooch for me!

Hey, I'm sorry to hear you're dealing with this, and I'm sorry your PCP is being so dismissive.

If you can, push to find a speech therapist. They can better guide you through breathing and speech exercises that can help you identify your specific triggers and the best way to prevent future attacks. They may also recommend more targeted physical therapy that works to keep the throat and neck muscles in good condition.

Something else you can try is also called a "rescue breath." I'll see if I can describe it, but basically, you purse your lips together (like you're going to blow out a candle) and exhale for as long as you can through your lips, then take two quick breaths through your nose. You do it a couple of times (or however many it takes) to return your breathing to normal. I'm probably not explaining it well, but if you do it right, you can sometimes stop an attack if you can feel one coming on or stop it from getting worse.

But yeah, absolutely find yourself a speech therapist. Also, do your best to keep your neck muscles relaxed. I use heat wraps multiple times a day and also try to roll the tension out when I notice the muscles seizing up--though the way I do that is specific to my cranial instability, so I'd be reluctant to give you the same technique in case it's the opposite of what you need 😅 I also find cervical traction devices helpful, but again mileage may vary.

Best of luck. I hope things improve for you.

#chronic health tag #vocal cord dysfunction #tw vomit