Tongue Tie and Bodywork: Addressing Tension Before a Release
Tongue, lip and buccal tie release has become an incredibly hot topic in recent years.
We see many babies in our chiropractic office for breastfeeding difficulties, often related to a tie/oral restriction. We hope in this post, to shed some light on how bodywork with a Chiropractor can help with oral dysfunction related to feeding with or without the addition of a release/frenectomy.
Breastfeeding is Not Always Easy
Over the years, breastfeeding has somewhat come and gone as the ideal method for feeding babies. It is once again recognized as the best food source for babies. Both the WHO and UNICEF “recommend that children initiate breastfeeding within the first hour of birth and be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life.” Breastfeeding can offer many benefits for both mother and baby. And while this method of feeding may be the preferred method for many moms, there are many biomechanical and hormonal factors for both mom and baby that must work in-sync for breastfeeding to be successful.
If a mom gives birth and her milk comes in, she should be able to breastfeed, right? It’s not always that easy. We’re talking about mom’s breast anatomy, size and shape of the nipple, milk production, letdown, and mental health to name a few. For baby, symmetrical head shape and movement, their suck function, their ability to open the jaw, flange at the lips, and strength for suction to release the milk must be efficient. So in a way, a lot has to go right for breastfeeding to work well!
Difficulty Breastfeeding: Is it a Tongue Tie?
When breastfeeding doesn’t work well, creates pain for the mom, or is very slow, commonly, a family will seek help – which is great! We all need help in this season (postpartum) of life. But oftentimes, this cry for help can be met with a friend or professional who suggests a consult for a tongue tie restriction. Not a bad thing either, but other factors should be considered first.
If a baby has a true tongue tie, that bit of extra cells or tethered oral tissue falls into the category of ‘midline deformity’ in our cellular growth and apoptosis during a baby’s development. Midline deformity can mean that there is tension throughout a baby's body, along the midline = the spine!
How Chiropractic Care Can Help
In our office, we address these tension patterns along the midline, asymmetries in a baby’s head or cranium, facial bones, TMJ and more with adjustments.
These tension patterns and asymmetry often present as:
a tight jaw, leading to difficulty with properly flanged lips
ineffective suck
decreased suck strength
fatigue at the breast (long feeding periods)
flat spots on an infant’s head
the ability to feed better on one breast or in one position better than another
fussiness and agitation at the breast
pulling on and off the breast
For mother, these tension patterns can lead to difficulties such as:
a painful latch
clogged ducts (as the milk is not efficiently pulled or emptied from the breast)
a crease across the nipple
bleeding
mastitis (infection) if an injured nipple does not heal properly
Chiropractic care for an infant and specifically for breastfeeding difficulties is very gentle. What most people are used to with a chiropractic adjustment, the ‘cracking’, etc., is not what we do with infants. It includes very gentle palpation and light touch over the muscles and boney structure to evaluate and release tension in the infant’s body.
We often find compensation patterns in a baby’s body from the way they were positioned in-utero or because of the birth. For example, a baby could be tight in the right side of their neck and tight in the left side of their sacrum. When we see this type of pattern (opposite sides) it creates a full spine torque of sorts that when released enables the baby to use their anatomy more effectively, both overall and specifically for breastfeeding.
When Your Baby Needs a Frenectomy
If your baby has a true tongue tie and needs a frenectomy, we recommend that you bring your baby in for an adjustment both before and after the procedure. Adjusting and releasing the aforementioned tension patterns prior to a frenectomy can help ensure that a release is successful. A frenectomy alone, without proper bodywork, does not address full body tension patterns within the jaw, neck or sacrum. Because of this we often see kiddos who do not successfully breastfeed after a release. There are often multiple layers to a babies feeding dysfunction and a frenectomy addresses only one layer.
Contact Our Office
If you are having difficulties breastfeeding or have been told your baby may have a tongue tie, we recommend bringing your baby in for an assessment at our office. If you have questions or concerns, feel free to email us here. To schedule an appointment, call our office at 720.403.8255 or schedule an appointment online.