Speech Therapy Found to be of NO Benefit for Spasmodic Dysphonia

A recent study was published that has found that speech therapy had minimal if any significant beneficial effect on spasmodic dysphonia (a spastic vocal disorder) in a study cohort of 31 patients.

The study was divided in 3 patient treatment groups:

- One-third received no further intervention after botox injection which is considered standard of care in the treatment of spasmodic dysphonia
- One-third received a standard 5-week course of voice therapy after botox injection
- One-third received a 5-week course of sham voice therapy after botox injection

All patients regardless of treatment group experienced improved voice quality in response to botox injection.

However, patients who received voice therapy after botox injection did not experience longer injection effect duration or significantly greater improvements in vocal quality than patients in botox only or botox plus sham therapy groups.

Dr. Chang performs botox injections for spasmodic dysphonia every Friday afternoon.

Reference:
Combined Modality Treatment of Adductor Spasmodic Dysphonia. J Voice. 2011 Feb 2. [Epub ahead of print]

Dr. Chang to Give Lecture on Spasmodic Dysphonia in Richmond, VA

Dr. Christopher Chang will be a guest lecturer on the topic of spasmodic dysphonia in Richmond, VA on June 11, 2011. Dr. Chang was invited to give a 3 hour long talk to the Central Virginia SD Group at the CJW Medical Center Johnston-Willis Campus in the Board Room starting at 12PM.

Dr. Chang is a Yale and Duke trained, board-certified otolaryngology-head and neck surgeon with fellowship training in laryngology. He is considered an expert on spasmodic dysphonia and has patients coming from as far as the Philippines (yes... the one on the other side of the world) every 3-6 months to receive treatment for this rare condition.

Read more about this condition here.

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Books on voice therapy that MIGHT be a useful ADJUNCT to botox injections:

The King's Speech and Those With Spasmodic Dysphonia

The film "The King's Speech," nominated for Oscars in 12 categories for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards hits home for many who suffer from stuttering. However, I am sure this story also has empathetically affected those patients who suffer from spasmodic dysphonia.

What is spasmodic dysphonia?

Think of it as stuttering of the voicebox where the words get stuck in the throat level rather than the mouth level.

Both conditions result in patients severely limiting their social engagements and cause tremendous stress when communicating with others.

Many people know what stuttering sounds like... Now listen to what spasmodic dysphonia sounds like here in this video. This video also shows how spasmodic dysphonia is treated with botox injections to the vocal cord. Such injections calm the spasms down so that the person is able to speak almost completely normally for at least 3 months until the botox wears off and it needs to be repeated.



Botox injections for spasmodic dysphonia as well as other conditions are performed by Dr. Chang every week.