The 4 types of voice disorders are structural, neurogenic, functional and psychogenic voice disorders.
Structural voice disorders involve physical problems with the vocal mechanism, like vocal fold lesions, nodules, polyps, cysts or changes in your larynx due to aging.
Neurogenic voice disorders are disorders which stem from problems with your nervous system which controls your voice like vocal cord paralysis or spasmodic dysphonia.
Functional voice disorders are disorders which occur when your voice mechanism is used improperly or inefficiently even when the physical structure is normal like muscle tension dysphonia.
And psychogenic voice disorders are disorders that are though to arise from psychological factors in which a voice problem can be a manifestation of an underlying emotional or psychological issue.
Spasmodic dysphonia is a type of neurogenic voice disorder.
The symptoms of of spasmodic dysphonia are strained, breathy or shaky voice, involuntary spasms of your vocal cords, difficulty in controlling of your voice volume or voice pitch and voice changes which may get worse with stress or fatigue.
Spasmodic dysphonia is a neurological voice disorder which causes involuntary spasms of the muscles which control your vocal cords.
The spasms can cause changes in your voice and make your voice sound strained, breathy or shaky.
The cause of spasmodic dysphonia is not yet known although it is believed that spasmodic dysphonia is related to an imbalance in the neurotransmitters in your brain which control muscle movement.
There are two main types of spasmodic dysphonia which include adductor spasmodic dysphonia and abductor spasmodic dysphonia.
Adductor spasmodic dysphonia is when your vocal cords close too tightly and cause a strained or strangled voice.
Abductor spasmodic dysphonia is when your vocal cords open too widely and result in a whispery or breathy voice.
Treatment for spasmodic dysphonia include speech therapy, botulinum toxin injections, medications such as anticholinergics and surgery in rare cases.
Botulinum toxin injections are injected into the vocal cords to temporarily paralyze the muscles that causes spasms.
A speech therapist can also teach people with spasmodic dysphonia techniques to manage symptoms and improve voice quality.
Surgery in rare cases can be done to adjust the muscles which control the vocal cords.
And anticholinergics can reduce muscle spasms.