I had my first experience with an athlete who had Vocal Cord Dysfunction (VCD) about 6 – 7 years ago.  I had never heard of it, but this particular athlete would start exercising or playing her sport and then would have issues breathing.

It is commonly misdiagnosed as exercise induced asthma as in this particular case.  Once it was correctly diagnosed, the athlete was given breathing exercises to help alleviate the problem.  She came to me to start getting back in shape using these new breathing methods that had been taught to her.

In a nutshell, VCD is caused by the vocal cords remaining about 2/3 of the way closed and making it harder for you to breathe.

Typically, when you breathe they remain wide open.  When you hold your breath, they are closed shut.  The VCD occurs through improper breathing and if you can correct that to get the vocal cords to relax you should be in good shape.

Here are a few nuggets about VCD that might help clue you in to whether you have it and what to do about it:

  • If you have trouble breathing after starting exercise or your sport and the trouble is when you inhale then it could be VCD. If you have more trouble when you exhale, then it could be exercise induced asthma.
  • Symptoms include feeling like the air gets caught in your throat, possible wheezing, coughing because you can’t get the air in, and then the longer it goes your legs start feeling really heavy and you have pressure in your chest.
  • In order to rule out if you have VCD or something else, you need to be checked out by an ENT or allergist.
  • The population who seems to get afflicted with VCD most often are teenage female athletes. They’re playing their sport, not concentrating quite on their breathing, and have improper breathing techniques.
  • Once diagnosed with VCD, the athlete will go to a speech therapist who will have around 2 – 5 sessions with the person teaching them breathing techniques to help alleviate VCD.
  • If you are having a bout of VCD, a possible quick remedy can be a quick sniff. It will help relax the vocal cords to allow you to breathe better.
  • I couldn’t quite find exact techniques that are used to help with VCD, but they center around effectively breathing through your nose and exhaling through your mouth possibly with pursed lips. Use of the diaphragm to breathe is taught as opposed to chest breathing.
  • Very rarely is surgery and/or medication required.

Once the breathing is mastered, athletes generally have little to no problems.  They aren’t hindered by the lack of breath and can do what their physically capable of.

If your athlete is having issues with his/her conditioning (and it isn’t because they are out of shape – there is a difference), then maybe you consider the possibly it is VCD.  It is becoming more common and doctors are diagnosing it correctly a lot more often.  Look into it and see if this helps your athlete.

Image courtesy of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0-HMrb41f0.