Tongue Tied Mama

Submucosal ties are tricky. They are usually missed by pediatricians and neonatologists because they are difficult to see and diagnose, and in these cases initially baby is eating decently well, though mom may have more ni**le pain than normal if baby is breastfeeding. Most often I see these babies around month two or three, when reflux-like symptoms have set in due to baby taking in excess air when feeding, because of the tongue’s restricted range of motion. Baby has often been put on reflux meds by this time by their pediatrician, but parents are frustrated because there seems to be no relief and the meds don’t help. If this is you, I encourage you to see a doctor experienced in ties for a consult to make sure a submucosal tie isn’t the culprit of these reflux-like symptoms. It can make all the difference!

In this sweet little one, we can see cupping of the tongue, milk residue on the body of the tongue, an indention on the tip of the tongue where the frenum inserts, and a deficiency in range of motion of the tongue. In this pic, the tongue is extended towards the palate as far as it can go, indicating a severe lack in range of motion. (With a non-restricted tongue, the tongue is able to comfortably rest in the roof of the mouth.) Baby was suffering from reflux symptoms, inadequate weight gain, nursing difficulties, and mom and dad were exhausted. Can’t wait to see what improvements this sweet family will experience after baby’s release!

There’s that little Eiffel Tower again!! Paris is great but not under the tongue. When you see this presentation, baby has a .

This little one had a couple of accessory frenums. We don’t see that often! They were not restrictive so there was no need for a release there. But the larger, central labial frenum was released. Excited to see how baby progresses!

So happy to help this little one by releasing the lingual frenulum. We are looking forward to feeding improvements ASAP!

Dr. Sledge is currently taking a 40 hour course from Kristie Gatto, a renowned Speech Language Pathologist and Certified Orofacial Myologist, who literally wrote the book on dysfunction in the orofacial complex. Understanding myofunctional therapy and its benefits is a huge part of providing fully comprehensive tongue tie releases and therapy.

Note the blanching of the tissue (tissue turning white) at the insertion point of the maxillary frenum. This patient was experiencing significant reflux due to the intake of air when feeding because of the inability to create a proper seal around the ni**le. Dr. Sledge completed a 10 second laser release on this patient, who is now enjoying relief from her reflux and is much happier. The patient’s mama is enjoying this relief as well!

Sure do love this amazing team and how they help treat our babies and children with tethered oral tissues! Couldn’t do it without them!!

Here is an excellent example of an incompletely performed . This five day old had her tie “snipped” in the hospital with scissors. Unfortunately, the majority of the fibers were not released, and no aftercare exercises were recommended, so what fibers were released had mostly reattached. Also, you can see the scar tissue beginning to form on the underside of the tongue. The “snip” was done into the underside of the body of the tongue, rather than into the center of the frenum.

So glad to be back in the saddle helping babies and families! This 15 month old had experienced an abruptly ended breastfeeding relationship, difficulty bottle feeding, and had begun to struggle with solids by packing food in his cheeks and experiencing texture aversion. An SLP saw him struggling and sent him to us.

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