When Traditional Speech Therapy Isn’t Enough for EILO

If you’ve been diagnosed with exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction (EILO), vocal cord dysfunction (VCD), or paradoxical vocal fold motion (PVFM), you may have already tried speech therapy.

And maybe you’re still struggling.

You may still feel like your throat closes, gasping for air, or avoid certain sports or workouts due to the fear of what your breathing might do.

So why isn’t it working? The answer is that you may need more than traditional speech therapy can offer.

EILO isn’t always an easy problem to fix.

While speech-language pathologists have an important role in the treatment of EILO, it can be more difficult than one might think. This is due to EILO being a breathing disorder that occurs under specific physiological demands.

That means, for many athletes, the problem doesn’t happen while they are sitting in a therapy chair.

It happens when they are sprinting, swimming, cycling, playing soccer, performing at high intensity, or competing under pressure.

While practicing breathing techniques while sitting in a therapy chair can be relaxing and helpful, it may not be enough to change what your body experiences under the demands of exercise.

That’s why we take a different approach at Functional Airway Lab.

Breathing needs to match the exercise demand.

At Functional Airway Lab, we evaluate the entire breathing system. We treat the unified airway, not just the upper airway.

This may include taking a more focused look at nasal vs. mouth breathing patterns, upper chest vs. diaphragmatic breathing, breathing mechanics and coordination, respiratory muscle strength, carbon dioxide tolerance, and breathing patterns at rest and during exercise.

Our goal is not to fix your breathing problem.

Our goal is to help you develop a more efficient and adaptable breathing pattern.

We must look beyond the diagnosis to provide effective treatment.

EILO may not be the whole story, and exercise-related breathlessness can have multiple contributing factors.

It doesn’t look the same for every individual who has been diagnosed with it.

For some, EILO may be the primary issue.

For others, there may also be breathing pattern disorders, exercise-induced bronchoconstriction, dysfunctional breathing mechanics, reduced breathing efficiency, anxiety or stress-related changes, nutritional deficiencies, or other upper airway or respiratory factors.

I’m not saying every case can be resolved with breathing retraining, but we shouldn’t assume every athlete who struggles to breathe has the same problem.

This is what sets Functional Airway Lab apart from traditional speech therapy.

Functional Airway Lab was created specifically around the intersection of speech-language pathology, airway function, breathing physiology, and exercise.

We don’t ask, “What breathing exercise should you do?”

We ask:

• Why is your breathing changing?
• When does it change?
• What happens as exercise intensity increases?
• What systems are contributing to your symptoms?
• How can we train your breathing to work more effectively under those demands?

It’s a very different approach from asking someone to practice breathing exercises at home.

You may need a different approach.

If you’ve already tried traditional speech therapy for EILO and haven’t gotten the results you hoped for, that doesn’t necessarily mean that therapy doesn’t work.

You may need a more specialized and individualized approach.

Functional Airway Lab provides specialized breathing assessment and retraining for EILO/VCD, breathing pattern disorders, exercise-related breathlessness, and other functional breathing problems.

Contact us to learn more.