The semi-final of masterchef It has been almost more news for the recovery of the Jordi Roca’s disease than by the results of the contestants. The expert chef in desserts has spent seven years dealing with a cervical dystonia that it had not only affected his neck, but also he had primed with his voice.
During all this time, Jordi Roca has spoken between whispers, because articulating words as he did in the past was an ordeal for him. However, last March, his voice returned to normal. As he himself recognized on his social networks, he had left the voice of radio announcer.
Although the semifinal of masterchef just aired, it was shot at the end of March, so it had been just a few weeks since the surprising Jordi Roca’s recovery from illness. Precisely for this reason, both he and his brother Joan They took the opportunity to tell how everything had happenedfrom the time she was diagnosed with cervical dystonia until one day, suddenly, her voice went back to being more or less what it was.
What is cervical dystonia?
Jordi Roca’s illness is cervical dystonia. This is a rare condition that occurs in 1 in 25,000 people and It is mainly characterized by involuntary and painful contraction of the neck muscles.
This causes the head to move without the patients being able to control it. The most common is that fall to one side, with the chin towards the shoulder, although there are many other variants. There is no known definitive cure, although botox injections and rehabilitation with physiotherapists they can help a lot. In some cases, surgical interventions can also be done to try to improve posture.
Although the postural issue is the main symptom of Jordi Roca’s disease, complications can also occur, as it spreads to other parts of the body. For example, it can affect to the shoulders or upper extremities. In the case of the chef, what happened is that his vocal cord control. After all, these are located inside the neck, so it is logical that he could not move them normally. For this reason, for seven years the confectionery expert has only been able to speak in whispers.
Jordi Roca’s mysterious recovery from illness
In his intervention in masterchefthe Roca brothers have recounted that the cervical dystonia it started suddenly. One day, Jordi he became hoarsewithout knowing why. She also began to lose control of her neck and, not surprisingly, it didn’t take long for her to see her doctor. Thus, she began a journey through various specialists that ended with the diagnosis of cervical dystonia.
He is aware that his disease does not have a definitive cure. However, he has undergone all the treatments that can help improve it. For example, he has injected Botulinum toxin, better known as Botox. This is a substance generated by bacteria Clostridium botulinum, which has the ability to produce muscle paralysis. This, depending on which muscles it affects, can be very dangerous. However, at controlled doses, it has many applications in aesthetics and medicine.
In aesthetics, for example, it is injected into the face to reduce expression wrinkles, since the muscles of the face cannot move normally. It is also very useful in medicine, to treat conditions such as Jordi Roca’s illness.
Injected into the neck, it can help reduce those involuntary contractions that cause poor posture and pain for patients. The chef has been treated with these injections and with physiotherapy rehabilitation. In this way, not only has his neck posture improved, he has also recovered his voice.
It is not known how it left or how the voice returned
In his statements in masterchef, the eldest of the brothers, Joan, explained that Joan Roca’s illness was perhaps due to the anxiety about traveling to New York to find out if his restaurant was classified as the best in the world. However, although it is true that stress and anxiety can cause many pathologies, it does not seem that cervical dystonia is one of them.
yes it can happen muscular stiffness, especially in the neck area, but not to that extent. In reality, the origins of Jordi Roca’s illness are not clear. Cervical dystonia is believed to have a genetic component, as it has been seen that many patients have a family history. It can also be linked to a neck injury. But little else is known about other risk factors.
And, with respect to its cure, just as little is known as with respect to its origin. Jordi himself has recognized that he is not going to throw the bells on the fly. Keep practicing the exercises that he has learned in rehabilitation and remains aware that everything can go backwards. In fact, although in cervical dystonia it is not uncommon for symptom remissions to occur, on very few occasions these are definitive.
Therefore, he is seizing the moment. As soon as he recovered his voice, he said that he read many stories to his daughter, something that had not been able to do until then. In short, she has realized something that, no matter how often it is repeated, sometimes it is difficult for us to assume. That we don’t value things until we lose them. It can be a partner, a job or a friendship. In his case it was the voice. For this reason, she insists that those of us who have it intact feel lucky for it.