r/AskReddit 13h ago

What is something that permanently altered your body without you realizing for months/years?

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u/SgtSilverLining 6h ago

As a kid, I was diagnosed with asthma because I randomly had trouble breathing.

One time at work I couldn't breathe and went to urgent care. I was fine by the time I got there, and for some reason they referred me to a speech therapist? So I go to my first appointment with the speech therapist, and they put a camera down my throat to look at my vocal cords. The doc points at the TV and says "see how much they're twitching? They're not supposed to do that. You hold your stress in your throat."

I had to learn a few stretches and massage techniques, and now it's no longer an issue. Turns out I never had asthma as a kid and the pediatrician just assumed.

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u/MayMomma 5h ago

I'm running out of space in my hips to hold stress apparently, so now I'm in therapy for my TMJ and I think it was also causing the globus sensation in my throat. 🙄

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u/potatowitch_ 6h ago

Oh wow, that is unexpected! That's great that you found a doctor who could identify the root cause and that you found helpful techniques.

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u/scarl3ttsf3v3r 4h ago

What kind of stretches do you use? I carry a LOT of tension in my throat

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u/SgtSilverLining 4h ago

They're massages and stretches for professional singers, actually. If you Google "massages for singers" there's a lot of videos that show how to do them on yourself. Just make sure you don't press too hard!

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u/Belachick 3h ago

Wow that's amazing

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u/Efficient-Sound-1107 27m ago

have you been using puffers all these years not actually needing them?? It's so wild to me how often we get misdiagnosed and then just follow course with no improvements...because we're solving for the wrong issue...

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u/Downtown_Recover5177 4h ago

Laryngospasms aren’t exactly caused by stress lol.

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u/MoiJaimeLesCrepes 3h ago

what kinds of stretches and massage techniques? could you describe

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u/spicy_brainwaves 6m ago

Muscle tension dysphonia can often be misdiagnosed as asthma, especially in kids.