Hello, I am Robert Bastion of Bastian Voice Institute. If you are having abrupt, severe,
frightening episodes of difficulty breathing, this short video may be for you. My plan is to orient
you to a problem called laryngospasm, spasm of the larynx, or more precisely, the vocal folds.
It's a disorder that is uncommon, and therefore you may have had trouble finding a clear explanation
for it up to this point. Now of course I can't diagnose you in this web video context, but I
might be able to give you some information that you can take to your personal physician for review.
From time to I'm going to show you views of the larynx or voice box, here in the front of your
neck. As I'm sitting now, the larynx is upright with the trachea or windpipe going downwards
into the chest and to the lungs. On the screen the larynx will be tipped forward. You'll be looking
into it in this direction with the trachea or windpipe going away from you into the screen.
This is the appearance of the vocal folds when a person is breathing normally while
reading a book, sleeping at night, or even right now as you watch this video.
For generally unexplained reasons, the vocal folds can experience a spasm. I've used the analogy
of a charley horse you might get in your calf, or that cramp you get in the musculature of
the front of your neck when you yawn sometimes. These are not great analogies, but the point is
that one might get a tickle or a cough sometimes with no warning whatsoever,
and the larynx closure reflex activates inappropriately–the little muscles spasm
and closes the vocal folds, when instead you want to have them open for breathing.
We're going to do a simulated laryngospasm that lasts just 10 or 15 seconds just to give
you the idea of what is happening in the larynx. We're going to see the vocal folds
in open normal position for breathing for a couple of breaths, then tightly
clamp together for a breath, then a little more open as the laryngospasm is beginning
to relax, a little more open again, and then back to a fairly normal breathing position.
One simply wants to breathe normally, but instead, the vocal folds spasm, to close the vocal folds
air is shut off completely and the person makes a funny noise like or . They make cough and struggle
for a very frightening minute. It can seem like one is going to die. Most people who experience
this, understandably panic. People around them panic. The first time or two in particular
they may call 911. But long before the ambulance arrives, the whole problem is over. Occasionally these episodes
of laryngospasm happen in a series. In other words, one may have a tough frightening minute
of this sudden charley horse of the larynx, then the breathing gets a little better, and
then another laryngospasm happens right on the tail end of the first one, to repeat the cycle.
Take some of the information here to your personal physician
and ask the question: "Do I have luring a spasm?"
Thanks for watching this video and I hope it helps!