Tongue-tie is the partial or total obstruction that is caused by a thick band of tissue under the tongue. This band of tissue could interfere with breastfeeding, as it can prevent babies from properly moving their tongues.
Tongue-tie is a serious oral health condition that should be treated immediately. If left untreated for a significant duration, it can affect your child's speech and also prevent them from receiving adequate nutrition through breastfeeding.
What Are the Symptoms of Tongue-Tie?
- Difficulty in swallowing
- Breathing troubles
- Difficulty in chewing and speaking
- Bruxism (teeth grinding)
- Difficulty in moving the jaw
- Gagging, gasping, and choking during feeding
- Irritability and fussiness
Treatments for Tongue-Tie
There are various treatment options for correcting a tongue tie, such as a palatal tie treatment, palatal widening, lingual widening, or the widely accepted frenectomy. Although all these treatment methods have been used for many years now, what makes them significantly more effective is myofunctional therapy.
How Is Myofunctional Therapy Used to Treat a Tongue-Tie?
You would be familiar with the concept of physiotherapy (physical therapy). It is recommended for individuals who are recovering from recent injuries to regain the ideal movement of their limbs. Myofunctional therapy plays a similar role when it comes to treating a tongue-tie. Just before you undergo any surgical procedure, we will help strengthen the muscles of the tongue through myofunctional therapy. It helps to strengthen the surrounding oral muscles as well.
Complying with the treatment and the strengthening techniques will provide significant relief from the tongue-tie even before you have a frenectomy. In fact, as you carry out the therapy for a few days, you will experience significant improvement in your speech, better swallowing, and improved tongue movement.
Each session of the therapy would take less than an hour, making it quick and convenient. We also suggest myofunctional therapy sessions after frenectomy, which is just as important as before the surgery. The time invested in this therapy would be worth every penny, as the results observed are phenomenal.
Please schedule an appointment online or email us at info@nwmyofunctionaltherapy.com to have a consultation with our team in Portland, OR, and we will be happy to help.
