Airway Mama

On the left, 3 years ago my son could not breathe in his sleep. He woke up constantly, cried, poured sweat, toss & turned, paused, gasped, sighed. He had many deficits.

It was torture.

On the right, today, the boy sleeps. Restful, restorative sleep… some nights even in his own bed all night. He’s deficit free.

There’s hope, it takes time.

Breathing is a complex orchestra.

The rabbit holes all lead to airway.

Don’t chase the rabbit, chase breathing.




If you are tired of going it alone.
If you want to be more efficient in your efforts… Check out my services.

www.airwaymama.com

Is it? Sleep disordered breathing is as much an anterior-posterior problem as it is a transverse problem. Making the mouth wider does not address the lack of forward development.

Traditional orthodontics extracts third molars to “make space” like premolars but removal of teeth means bone loss.

It’s 2022… why are we still extracting teeth from children’s jaws? 32 adult teeth is the physiologic norm for our species. If we want competent airways 32 teeth must be the goal.

“Apoptosis, programmed cell death, plays an important role in the processes of gamete maturation as well as in embryo development, contributing to the appropriate formation of various organs and structures. Apoptosis is one of the mechanisms of action of various cytotoxic agents and teratogens. Teratogen-induced excessive (or insufficient) death of embryonic cells is undoubtedly one of the most important events preceding the occurrence of structural abnormalities, regardless of their nature.”

doi: 10.1023/A:1020541019347

Our culture loves to pacify the intuition of mothers. Real answers are the only way to sort out problems. Your best bet is to know the anatomy and make sure your questions are answered in those terms. You do not need to memorize human anatomy. Write down the terms you are given and look them up.

Do not settle for being pacified.

The anatomy never lies. It never gives well intended but s**tty advice. If you have to ask… you already know the answer because you had the inclination to ask in the first place!

That’s called intuition and you can always trust it.

“The newborn infant is an obligate nose breather. Obstruction of the nasal
airway by any means produces an extremely stressful reaction and the infant will submit to breathing through the mouth only when the point of suffocation is reached.”

- Functional Anatomy of The Newborn, Edmund S. Crelin. University Press, 1973.

ONLY WHEN THE POINT OF SUFFOCATION IS REACHED.

🤔🧐…

Time, rhythm, consistency ⏳

Two steps forward, one step back 👣

Guided growth is a dance 💃🏼

Development is a symphony 🎼

Shape and symmetry of the cranium matter (because the brain lives there!) 🧠

Gentle manipulation is our religion 🙏

Rain ⛈, snow ❄️, hell 🔥, or high water 🌊 you’ll find us at church ⛪️ dancing….

"Clinical pediatric sleep medicine has had to rely on nosology developed for adults. Adaptations have been attempted, but it is clearly apparent that adapting adult criteria to infants and children can lead to many false starts and wrong turns. Most sleep-related problems in children might carry similar nomenclature, but children are different and it would be no less inappropriate to apply adult sleep medicine anatomical, physiological, and pathological criteria to veterinary medicine. Yet, the general pediatric community has been very slow to grasp the significance of the entirety of pediatric sleep disorders. Child health care practitioners have been resistant to absorb the importance of sleep physiology and sleep structure to human development and behavior."

Stephen H. Sheldon DO FAAP, R. F. (2015). Principles and Practice of PEDIATRIC SLEEP MEDICINE. London, New York, Oxford, Philadelphia, St Louis, Sydney, Toronto: Elsevier Inc.

Therapies designed for adults and modified to treat children are compensatory.

Why? Because they assume the neurologic foundation is intact and that children can be trained to reach milestones through repetition. This is not so. Neurologic development is programed in our DNA, it does not need to be trained like a dog. Children are not pets. Remove the barriers to function. Support the individual.

Infants and children are complete human beings when they are born. They tell us what they need, adults fail to respect them enough to see it.

That is the skull of a CHILD who was 5 or 6 years of age.

Space between every single primary (baby or milk) tooth.

Our children’s primary teeth are erupting crooked in infancy (“V” turned mandibular central incisors).

The most rapid growth of the cranium and jaws happens in utero. From birth to 6 years of age 60% of facial growth is complete, 90% by puberty.

We are NOT born with teeth we don’t NEED. We ARE born with 20 primary teeth and 32 adult teeth all contained within the maxilla and mandible (upper & lower jaws).

Conventional Allopathic Medicine sets the bar of well being just slightly above death. So if you are breathing… you can breathe.

Quality of life is not measurable.

LOST potential for development is not measurable… Also, not profitable.

Underdeveloped. Vulnerable. Those are profitable.

Well being starts with your mouth and is not contingent on flossing and brushing (your plastic tooth brush is a gold mine for petrol companies to dispose of scrap material).

The size of our mouth is a direct influence on how well you breathe and the balance of the cranium and spine, brain development, cranial nerves, spinal nerves, the function of every organ system…

It’s not really about teeth. Our teeth just tell the tale that was lost with oral traditions, the stories that fed the soul.

Humanity is SO UNDERDEVELOPED.

Shields, bottles, feeding tubes… soon no amount of compensation will be enough to keep our offspring alive.

Have you ever looked at the mouth of a child with neurodevelopmental problems? Corrupt collapsing jaws is what you will find. Narrow, tight, tiny, crowded mouths. It is related. It’s proof our species is no longer capable of compensating for the shortcomings of our culture.

This breath was gifted to me, I want to share it with you.

It is called the BREATH OF LIFE.

Breathe in through your nose for 7 seconds.

Hold the breath for 3 seconds.

Tip your head down toward your heart and exhale through your nose.

Do this for 20 minutes or whenever you are feeling unwanted energies.

This exercise is great for grounding, centering, promoting nasal breathing, whole body posture and increasing oxygen to the brain.

My sister has been my greatest blessing. She’s a fierce advocate, supporting birthing mothers as a labor & delivery nurse and supporting the mother baby DYAD through her work as an IBCLC. We need more fearless advocates like her that are not afraid to speak uncomfortable truths.

BREASTFEEDING SAVES LIVES

MOTHERS & INFANTS LIVES ARE WORTH PROTECTING



📸
💈.luie
💄
👯‍♀️

My name is Lindsey Leuwen, I am an intuitive storyteller.

My physical existence on earth is the culmination of half a millennia of trauma.

I am the physical manifestation of patriarchal oppression and misogyny that controls human reproductive rights globally. I carry all the pain and suffering of humanity's past, present and future within my connective tissue.

The time has come. Humanity must heal the rift between our physical and spiritual existence. It is my will to save our species.

I CAN AND I WILL AVENGE SOCIETIES BANISHMENT OF THE FEMININE DIVINE.

Energy is movement, movement is breath, breath is life, none of us can breathe.

Frenectomy and appliances are not enough. If we do not act NOW, yesterday... it won't be long and human infants will not even have mouths at birth. Soon, no amount of compensation will sustain human life on earth. We are well on our way to extinction.

Uncomfortable truths must be said!
A tied body is a BOUND SOUL.
I am the spark of the universe and I AM GOING TO BURN THIS INSTITUTION OF SUFFERING TO THE GROUND! 🔥

I will accept nothing less than complete healing. We all deserve to be whole; mind, body AND soul. I will set the world on fire, by igniting strength, courage and justice in every life I encounter.

Rise with me. 🔮🌬🌏




📸 IG:

Breathing and respiration are a complex orchestra of cranial & skeletal structure, whole body posture, soft tissue function, central & peripheral nervous system function and cellular diffusion.

It’s never just a tongue tie.

Understanding the problems happening with our airways and living in a place that has zero access to high quality information and care is a really strange place to reside.

Tuesday evening my friend Jayna Hillegeer DeLyser and I virtually consulted a Wholistic (that’s how she spells it, not holistic, whole-is tic) dentist in California about a baby with HIE (hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy). This baby, Layana Storm ⛈, has very serious deficits. Allopathic medicine has nothing to offer her but whole person care does! This dentist is using appliances in infants and she saw great potential in using an appliance to help Layana heal her brain injuries. Mom got a big pat on the back for not settling! Which she deserves!

It’s not easy to go against the grain but it pays off big time if you have the tenacity to stay the course.

Wednesday I got to finger paint with my 4 year old. It may not seem like a big deal for most people but for us it’s huge. I sat on my kitchen floor and cried for a few minutes when we were done painting. Tears of joy and gratefulness because 2 ½ years ago all he wanted to do was sit in a hallway alone peeling paint off my wall... I should really repaint that wall! 😅

In my own community I’m fear mongering, I’m a bully. I’m the bad guy. The truths I say are terrifying.

What’s really more terrifying? Struggling, exhausted children that don’t neurologically develop and live in constant inflammation or going against what some generalist physician said?

Medicine doesn’t know everything about humans. If they did half of American children wouldn’t be suffering from chronic disease and developmental delays. 🤷‍♀️

The only way to change what is happening is to do something different.

It’s not ok for infants and children to have broken, unrestful sleep!

It’s not okay for mom to be blamed when doctors don’t have an answer!

Every where I go I see kids with open mouths, dark under eye circles. Speech delays, motor delays, sensory issues, feeding issues...

90% of humans alive today have underdeveloped airways.

🤷‍♀️ maybe I am crazy but it’s suffocating in your sleep that’s terrifying. Not me.

😏 I’m just some mom on the Internet. For every 10 people that shun and vilify me there’s one family that gets better because I said some s**t no one wants to hear. There’s way too many families that need help, I could never help all of them.

I’ll take 1/10.



Do you want to join me on my mission to help one family at a time? Please consider donating to Layana Storm’s ⛈ GoFundMe and together we can show the world what the real healing is.

https://gofund.me/cedd52e6

- Myofunctional Therapy
- Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine
- Prolotherapy Injections
- Chiropractic
- Functional Movement Training
- Rhythmic Movements
- Neuromuscular Repatterning
- 2 Osteopathic Guided Tethered Oral Tissue Releases
- Surgically addressed Laryngomalcia























Airway is the only way.

Stretches after release can end up being traumatic for baby and family. The old “rub the wound” and “push down and back under tongue” have to go.

Are you supposed to rub wounds on your skin? 🤨 Why on earth would we rub a wound in the mouth? THIS DOESN’T MAKE SENSE. 😤

Forceful “pushing down and back” under an infants tongue is their AIRWAY.

The infant airway is tiny. The late Dr Brian Palmer (http://brianpalmerdds.com) accumulated a wealth of clinical study around the tongue occluding the airway and SIDS.. because that’s how itty bitty the infant airway is. Please DO NOT instruct us to choke our babies with their tongues after tethered oral tissue release.

Active wound management that doesn’t choke baby.
Take note, all seven attachments are addressed. ❤️🙌

Be sure to share this with the next mama 😘.





From www.stamforddentist.com

Here is a brief video of stretches after frenectomy. Several key points.

Child should be on a flat, safe surface.
You need to be behind the child
Absolutely no force
Lips and cheeks 5-10 seconds
Tongue 30 seconds
Tips of your fingers need to be under the TIP of the tongue. You do not need to touch the wound.

https://youtu.be/NP36heQNV7E

Frenectomy Stretches Here is a brief video of stretches after frenectomy.Several key points.1. Child should be on a flat, safe surface.2. You need to be behind the child3. Absolu...

I had my second Osteopathic Guided Release yesterday.

When you aren’t familiar with connective tissue understanding restriction can be difficult.

To see restriction we need to understand what it is to not be restricted.

Restriction lives in the body in layers. We will likely never get it all the first time, you just get as much as you can each time. Do the bodywork to localize the restriction to its origins, release, more bodywork to bring remaining restrictions to the forefront, release again when can go no further. Start again.

Tongue tie is a whole body process.

Physically
Emotionally
Neurologically

It’s not about muscles. Repatterning is important but that’s more about teaching your brain to understand the body.. through harnessing the power of connective tissue.

We must understand connective tissue to employ it to our benefit.

I’ve never felt this calm all my life.

How many generations are we from our physiologic norm?

At least 5 - 7 right?

How many generations does it take to breed pets into chronic dis-ease and dysfunction?

You know they make CPAP for dogs?

In March 2020 my medically complex 3 year old son’s upper biobloc appliance was placed. The lower biobloc was placed in June. We maxed out the upper appliance in the end of November, he’d just turned 4.

This expansion took 9 months.

An ALF appliance will be placed sometime in the next couple of weeks to replace the maxed out upper biobloc.

We need more providers learning to place real orthodontic appliances before the adult first molars erupt.

There’s no good reason to wait to treat tiny, tight, crowded mouths.

Malocclusion is not a tooth problem. Teeth literally just float in bone. Malocclusion is a craniofacial-respiratory problem.

The shape and symmetry of the cranium matters, it’s not cosmetic.
It’s quantum physics and it matters to function of nervous system, fluid movement and breathing.

Yup!

The American Academy of Pediatrics clinical guidelines clearly say it is medically necessary to treat pediatric sleep disordered breathing.

Why?

The rates of life long morbidity (suffering from a disease or medical condition) associated with pediatric sleep disordered breathing are astronomical!

Think you cannot afford to put your kids through appliance treatment?

Think again.

Do you have pediatric patients that need appliance treatment and their family cannot afford to pay out of pocket without the possibility of medical reimbursement?

Send them my way!

Our health care system cannot afford the financial burden that comes from failing to treat sleep apnea as early in life as possible.

Breathing comes first.

“Plastic deformation of connective tissue occurs when a tissue remains deformed and does not recover its prestress length. Once all of the possible realignment has occurred, any further loading breaks the restraining bonds, resulting in microfailure. On average, collagen fibers can sustain a 3% increase in elongation (strain) before microscopic damage occurs. Following a brief stretch, providing the chemical bonds remain intact, the collagen and proteoglycans gradually recover their original alignment. The recovery process occurs at a slower rate and often to a lesser extent. The loss of energy that occurs between the lengthening force and the recovery activity is referred to as hysteresis. The more chemical bonds that are broken with applied stress, the greater the hysteresis. If the stretch is of sufficient force and duration, and a sufficient number of chemical bonds are broken, the tissue is unable to return to its original length until the bonds are re-formed. Instead, it returns to a new length and a new level of strain resistance. Increased tissue excursion is now needed before tension develops in the structure. In essence, this has the effect of decreasing the stabilizing capabilities of the connective tissue.”

“Persistent chronic inflammatory response results in the continued release of inflammatory products and a local proliferation of mononuclear cells. The macrophages remain in the inflamed tissue if the acute inflammation does not resolve, and begin to attract large numbers of fibroblasts, which invade and produce increased quantities of collagen. This failure during the healing phase continuum can result in chronic pathologic changes in the tissue. Often, the increased collagen production results in decreased extensibility of a joint or soft tissue structure. Characteristics of this chronic inflammation include a physiologic response that is resistant to both physical and pharmacologic intervention, resulting in a failure to remodel adequately, an imperfect repair, and a persistence of symptoms.”

👀 See.. science.

https://musculoskeletalkey.com/tissue-behavior-injury-healing-and-treatment/

Frena (frenum, frenulum) are physiologically normal connective tissue attachments. The purpose of these attachments is to provide stability.

Physiologically normal frena are pink and stretchy.

Restrictive frena or the tissues they attach to blanch white when pulled taut.

Blanching indicates blood flow to the frena or structures they attach to is restricted.

Loss of blood flow to body parts is a problem.

If your finger turned white every time you used it.. you’d probably be pretty concerned.

Our mouths are more important than our fingers.

TOTS ~ A Family Affair With Lindsey Leuwen Part 2 of 2

Ep. 75
In this episode, Hallie continues to talk to Lindsey Leuwen on her experience with tethered oral tissues (TOTS) as well as how to be the best advocate for TOTS. Lindsey and Hallie discuss the importance of airway, working with a team and insurance coverage. They discuss how you need to get to the root cause of the issue and not just release the tethered oral tissue without the combination of other modalities and therapies.

https://shows.acast.com/the-untethered-podcast/episodes/episode-75-tots-a-family-affair-with-lindsey-leuwen-part-2-o

Episode 75: TOTS ~ A Family Affair With Lindsey Leuwen Part 2 of 2 | The Untethered Podcast Listen to Episode 75: TOTS ~ A Family Affair With Lindsey Leuwen Part 2 of 2 from The Untethered Podcast. In this episode, Hallie continues to talk to Lindsey Leuwen on her experience with tethered oral tissues (TOTS)as well as how to be the best advocate for TOTS. Lindsey and Hallie discuss the imp...

The Untethered Podcast
A Family Affair

Ep. 74 - In this episode, Hallie talks with Lindsey Leuwen who is mother of two tied children as well as having one herself. She discusses her children’s story and how she was a huge advocate on tethered oral tissues and airway. She strongly believes in finding the right team of people to work and being the best advocate for yourself and family. This is part one of a two part episode. More to come!

https://shows.acast.com/the-untethered-podcast/episodes/episode-74-tots-a-family-affair-part-1-of-2

Episode 74: TOTS ~ A Family Affair With Lindsey Leuwen Part 1 of 2 | The Untethered Podcast Listen to Episode 74: TOTS ~ A Family Affair With Lindsey Leuwen Part 1 of 2 from The Untethered Podcast. In this episode, Hallie talks with Lindsey Leuwen, a mother of two tied children and a tied adult herself! She discusses both of her children’s stories and how she was instrumental in advocati...

We are not very good at recognizing trauma or knowing how to treat it.

To understand trauma better, we first must understand connective tissue.

Connective tissue is where trauma lives.

Connective tissue remembers all of our traumas:
• Physical
• Emotional
• Environmental

Connective tissue is a crystalline matrix, it is colloidal - a liquid and a solid. Trauma makes connective tissue more solid. It is a vital defense mechanism meant to protect and keep us alive. Trauma bioaccumulates in connective tissue.

The body compensates to continue vital functions to life with each additional trauma. Dysfunction follows because eventually the energy required to carry out vital functions + compensations exceeds the amount of energy available to the system.

Time for kids to go back to school.

Do you have one of those kids who struggles in school?

In your classroom?

Kids that fall sleep during lectures?

Kids who’s report cards always have comments like:

"Not living up to their potential"

Maybe it’s because they are EXHAUSTED.

Maybe they have trouble falling asleep at night.

Maybe they have trouble staying asleep at night.

Maybe they still wet the bed.

Maybe they have nightmares.

Maybe it’s difficult to wake them in the morning.

Do they always have dark under eye circles?

Trouble concentrating.

Trouble sitting still.

Trouble handling their emotions.

Maybe it’s not their home life.

Maybe it’s their anatomy.

Maybe we just aren’t looking at the whole person.

Maybe adults just suck at recognizing what’s right in front of them.

Sleep disordered breathing is rampant in children and misdiagnosed as behavioral disorders.

Kids who have forward head posture not only can not breathe, they also have structural misalignments in the spine from compensations formed to SURVIVE.

Is your child thriving?

Or are they just SURVIVING?

Maybe it’s time we starting looking at our youth through a different lens.

Yes. It’s our systemic nervous system.

If connective tissue is tethered the nervous system is underdeveloped.

Breathing and the nervous system are deeply intertwined.

What more is there to say?

Airway is the only way.

Let the humans breathe.

It’s true.

Where there is trauma, there is poor breathing.

Cutting tethers does not heal trauma.

Fascia is the organ of innerness.

Fascia, the crystalline matrix, is where the soul lives.

Mind - Body- but between there is the spirit, the soul - it is the fascia.

We SUCK at identifying trauma. We are all so bound. We can’t see or feel our own dysfunction let alone identify it in others.

Nature leaves no stone unturned.

The nervous system does not need to be trained like a dog.

The nervous system must be unwound.

The barriers to function must be removed.

We cut the ties but that does not heal the person.

It is not a revision, that means doing it again.

There is no second take for development that did not take place.

If we want to heal the humans, we must release them from their trauma and then release them from their embryologic tethers. Then, with a gentle hand, guide the soul to its rightful balance between the mind and body.

ALL of the tethers need to be released, if tethers remain they’ll still be bound.

We must remember the third dimension of life, we are not a sum of parts.

Humans deserve to be whole and treated at such.

Heal the mother, heal the child.

Hey Mama!

Does your man snore? Have morning headaches? High blood pressure? Family history of heart attacks?

Better check that sleep disordered breathing!

They say sleep apnea is the “silent killer”. It’s not actually silent, that’s why he’s sleeping on the couch or in the other room! 🤣



Do you need help identifying 🚩🚩 of sleep disordered breathing?

Join our parent support group!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/762426811236391/?ref=share

This is a peer to peer support group. Compensatory recommendations are not allowed. We are happy to assist professionals seeking help for their children or themselves.

Breathing should be SILENT.

You should not hear it.

You shouldn’t even been able to hear yourself breathing.

Air moving over the vocal cords is what produces sound. Stridor is the term used when sound is produced by breathing.

Types of Stridor

The type depends on the cause and where it is in your body. They include:

• Inspiratory stridor. The sound happens when you inhale, or breathe in. It may be because of floppy tissue around the vocal cords, especially in children.

• Expiratory stridor. The sound happens when you exhale, or breathe out. The cause could be a problem farther down your airway.

• Biphasic stridor. This is sound when you inhale and exhale. There may be a problem with the spongy tissue called cartilage just below your vocal cords.

Can you hear yourself breathing?

Can you hear your child breathe in their sleep?

If you can hear breathing the airway is restricted or collapsing. This indicates the individual is not taking in enough air to provide sufficient oxygen for the body’s needs.



Do you need help identifying 🚩🚩 of sleep disordered breathing?

Join our parent support group!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/762426811236391/?ref=share

This is a peer to peer support group. Compensatory recommendations are not allowed. We are happy to assist professionals seeking help for their children or themselves.

Did you know?

Every psychiatric disorder in the DSM-5 is accompanied by issues with sleep?

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders was originally published in 1952.

According to new research around humanities incredible and rapidly shrinking mandible, this epidemic really started to become quite prevalent in the United States around the 1950’s.

🤔 curious..

Have you read Rachel Carson’s book Silent Springs? Published in 1962.

I wonder what the patient dental records from the psychiatric institutions show in terms of malocclusion?



Do you need help identifying 🚩🚩 of sleep disordered breathing?

Join our parent support group!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/762426811236391/?ref=share

This is a peer to peer support group. Compensatory recommendations are not allowed. We are happy to assist professionals seeking help for their children or themselves.