The autoimmune diseases that affect your voice are Sjogren's syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and myasthenia gravis.
A lot of different autoimmune diseases can affect your voice and even cause difficulty speaking, vocal fatigue and hoarseness as the autoimmune diseases can target your joints, muscles, nerves and tissues of your larynx and throat.
The most common symptom of all voice disorders is hoarseness which is often described as a voice being raspy or rough.
Hoarseness, breathiness, weakness, strain and tremors or quivering and unusual pitch or difficulty controlling voice volume are common symptoms of all voice disorders.
A weak, airy or whispery voice, difficulty in projecting your voice or speaking loudly and feeling like you're forcing your voice or experiencing vocal fatigue and having a shaky or unsteady voice are signs and symptoms of all voice disorders.
The neurological disorders that cause voice problems are Parkinson's disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Spasmodic dysphonia, multiple sclerosis, Myasthenia gravis, strokes, brain tumors and vocal cord paralysis.
Parkinson's disease is a condition that causes tremors, rigidity and slow movements which can lead to a hoarse, raspy or quivering voice.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive neurodegenerative disease which affects motor neurons and results in weakness and paralysis including your vocal cords.
Spasmodic dysphonia is a condition in which involuntary muscle spasms in your vocal cords cause sudden interruptions or changes in your voice quality.
Multiple sclerosis also known as MS is an autoimmune disease which damages the nerves that can affect voice control and cause weakness or paralysis of your vocal cords.
Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disorder which weakens the muscles, including the muscles involved in voice production and lead to fatigue and hoarseness.
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.