I saw my EMT doc yesterday. She is of the opinion that my post nasal drip is inflaming the bottom portion of my vocal cords and could be the reason they are shutting down during swimming. She has never treated this condition but gave me medication to dry up the post nasal drip. Mean time. I found a pool side breathing exercise from "Coach Shev Gul" that seems to be working in that I have more than doubled my pull laps with out stopping and gasping for air. Check out this article "Diaphragmatic Breathing Technique Practice for Improved Swimming Performance". Again, any one out there with the same problem? I still can not do more than 75 yrds but am improving.
Ed,
It sounds like you still don't have your vocal cords under reasonable control. I don't have issues with my vocal cords, but my daughter who is 14 does. It started a little over a year ago when she had moved into the "excellence" squad in her swim team. It was as if she was suffocating from all the excellence in that group... (She is very ambitious and wants to perform 150% in everything she does, straight As etc., the typical profile for someone with VCD). I was pretty sure she had VCD after a long night on the computer when the doctors were getting really aggressive about treating her "asthma" with steroids and the like, when she herself felt her problem wasn't like asthma (she had had temporary EIA episodes before). She saw an ENT specialist who referred her to a speech pathologist who taught her breathing/relaxation techniques that helped her to not feel totally helpless when VCD struck in the pool. That fixed a lot of the problem, but not all of it. She then saw a hypnotherapist, and after two or three sessions with him she pretty much had it completely under control. That does not mean it is gone - it still bothers her in certain situations (breatstroke kicking with snorkel, hard butterfly, uphill sprinting when running), but for the most part, it is under control. She finds it harder to control when she is stressed out over other issues. But for the most part, the speech pathologist and hypnotherapist have helped her control it. This is NOT per se something that you take a pill for - you really have to work at it yourself. Things like acid reflux can play a role, but mostly they just seem to contributing factors. I am amazed how well my daughter has done despite this predicament, I had really thought her swimming days might be over. Good luck to you!
Ed,
It sounds like you still don't have your vocal cords under reasonable control. I don't have issues with my vocal cords, but my daughter who is 14 does. It started a little over a year ago when she had moved into the "excellence" squad in her swim team. It was as if she was suffocating from all the excellence in that group... (She is very ambitious and wants to perform 150% in everything she does, straight As etc., the typical profile for someone with VCD). I was pretty sure she had VCD after a long night on the computer when the doctors were getting really aggressive about treating her "asthma" with steroids and the like, when she herself felt her problem wasn't like asthma (she had had temporary EIA episodes before). She saw an ENT specialist who referred her to a speech pathologist who taught her breathing/relaxation techniques that helped her to not feel totally helpless when VCD struck in the pool. That fixed a lot of the problem, but not all of it. She then saw a hypnotherapist, and after two or three sessions with him she pretty much had it completely under control. That does not mean it is gone - it still bothers her in certain situations (breatstroke kicking with snorkel, hard butterfly, uphill sprinting when running), but for the most part, it is under control. She finds it harder to control when she is stressed out over other issues. But for the most part, the speech pathologist and hypnotherapist have helped her control it. This is NOT per se something that you take a pill for - you really have to work at it yourself. Things like acid reflux can play a role, but mostly they just seem to contributing factors. I am amazed how well my daughter has done despite this predicament, I had really thought her swimming days might be over. Good luck to you!
