Inside the terrifying health condition that left Father of the Bride actress unable to speak

Kimberly Williams-Paisley revealed that a voice disease left her unable to speak for two years.

The actress, 53, said Wednesday that she was diagnosed with muscle tension dysphonia (MTD), which caused the muscles around her voice box to tighten.

She said that the condition, which mostly affects middle-aged women, effectively silenced her and made her unable to utter anything more than a whisper. 

After months of having to turn down jobs and interviews, doctors found that Williams-Paisley’s vocal cords were so tight that they barely showed up on scans. 

MTD had caused her left laryngeal nerve, which controls movement of the larynx or voice box, to become partially paralyzed.

While it’s unclear exactly what caused it, experts believe vocal cord overuse, pollution, and stress all irritate the vocal cords and keep them from vibrating against each other. This prevents sound from coming out. 

Experts estimate that vocal cord conditions like MTD affect about 18million Americans. 

After months of unconventional therapies like acupuncture and antidepressants, and a three-hour operation in August to close the gaps between her vocal cords, Williams-Paisley’s voice is only just starting to return. 

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 

She told People: ‘I felt trapped in my own body.’

MTD occurs when muscles around the larynx become so tight during speaking that sound can’t come out. 

According to Johns Hopkins University, the condition mostly affects women ages 40 to 50 and people who tend to overuse their voices, such as teachers, singers, and actors. 

This overuse creates gaps in the vocal cords, which prevents them from hitting each other and producing sound.   

The condition typically starts suddenly and without warning. For Williams-Paisley, she had just got on stage in November 2022 to give a speech when no sound came through the microphone. 

‘It was terrifying,’ she said. 

For months after, she could only manage to whisper. Even now, she said she can barely ‘yell down the road.’

Typical symptoms, according to Johns Hopkins University, include a husky or hoarse voice, muscle aches and tenderness in the throat and neck, a weak or strained voice, frequent throat clearing, and feeling a lump in the throat. 

Pictured is the scar from Williams-Paisley’s three-hour operation to bring her vocal cords closer together 

While overuse of the vocal cords is the main cause, experts also believe conditions that irritate the respiratory system like smoking, pollution, and acid reflux can cause the vocal cords to weaken and tighten. 

In August 2024, Williams-Paisley underwent medialization laryngoplasty, a three-hour operation that moved her damaged left vocal cord closer to her right. 

She said that her voice is still raspy, and she regularly meditates to lower her stress levels and prevent the muscles from tightening again. 

She said: ‘I’m taking better care of my body. I’m managing stress. I’m dissolving shame. I’m feeling more whole, empowered and joyful.’