Kimberly Williams-Paisley revealed that a voice disease left her unable to speak for two years.
The actress, 53, said on Wednesday that she had been diagnosed with muscle tension dysphonia (MTD), which causes the muscles around her voice box to tighten.
She said the condition, which mainly affects middle-aged women, effectively silenced her and left her unable to speak above a whisper.
After months of turning down jobs and interviews, doctors discovered that Williams-Paisley’s vocal cords were so tight that they could barely be seen on scans.
MTD had caused her left laryngeal nerve, which controls the movement of the larynx or larynx, to become partially paralyzed.
While it’s unclear what exactly causes it, experts believe that overuse of the vocal cords, pollution and stress all irritate the vocal cords and prevent them from vibrating against each other. This prevents sound from escaping.
Experts estimate that vocal cord disorders such as MTD affect approximately 18 million Americans.
After months of unconventional therapies such as acupuncture and antidepressants, and a three-hour surgery in August to close the gaps between her vocal cords, Williams-Paisley’s voice is only just beginning to return.
Kimberly Williams-Paisley, 53, revealed on Wednesday that she had been diagnosed with muscle tension dysphonia (MTD), which causes the muscles around her larynx to tighten
Two years after her symptoms started, Williams-Paisley is still getting her voice back. She underwent months of treatments to relax her vocal cords, followed by surgery
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She told People: “I felt trapped in my own body.”
MTD occurs when the muscles around the larynx become so tight during speech that sound cannot come out.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the condition mainly affects women between the ages of 40 and 50 and people who tend to overuse their voices, such as teachers, singers and actors.
This overuse causes holes in the vocal cords, preventing them from touching each other and producing sound.
The condition usually starts suddenly and without warning. For Williams-Paisley, she had just gotten on stage to give a speech in November 2022 when no sound came from the microphone.
“It was terrifying,” she said.
For months afterward, she could only whisper. Even now, she says she can barely “scream on the go.”
Typical symptoms, according to Johns Hopkins University, include a hoarse or hoarse voice, muscle pain and tenderness in the throat and neck, a weak or tense voice, frequent clearing of the throat and a lump in the throat.
Pictured is the scar from Williams-Paisley’s three-hour surgery to bring her vocal cords closer together
Although overuse of the vocal cords is the main cause, experts also believe that conditions that irritate the respiratory tract, such as smoking, pollution and acid reflux, can cause the vocal cords to weaken and tighten.
In August 2024, Williams-Paisley underwent a medialization laryngoplasty, a three-hour surgery that moved her damaged left vocal cord closer to the right.
She said her voice is still hoarse and that she meditates regularly to lower her stress levels and prevent muscles from tightening again.
She said: ‘I take better care of my body. I manage stress. I dissolve shame. I feel more complete, more powerful and more joyful.’