How Can Physical Therapy Help With Tongue Tie?

Tongue tie is a type of orofacial myofunctional disorder.

This means it affects the structure of the areas of your face related to your mouth.

Tongue tie is something you’re born with, and it can be hard to know if your child has it, especially in more milder cases.

However, kids as young as newborn babies with tongue tie can benefit from physical therapy.

At our speech therapy clinic in DC, our therapy team also provides pediatric physical therapy.

This is important, since kids with an orofacial myofunctional disorder like tongue tie will often benefit from both pediatric speech therapy and physical therapy.

But what exactly is tongue tie?

How can you tell if your child has it?

And how can physical therapy help?

Read on to find out more.

The Basics On Tongue Tie

Tongue tie is also called ankyloglossia.

It’s related to your frenulum, the band of tissue that connects your tongue with the bottom of your mouth.

Most people have a frenulum – this is considered quite normal.

However, with tongue tie, the frenulum is abnormally short, tight, or thick.

This means your child’s tongue is tethered to the bottom of the mouth, which can restrict movement.

It can impact your tongue’s range of motion and strength.

Tongue tie isn’t always very noticeable.

However, it can cause problems with swallowing, speaking, and eating.

RELATED ARTICLE: Speech Therapy Treatments For Tongue Tie

How To Tell If Your Child Has Tongue Tie

It can be difficult to tell if your child has tongue tie.

Some general signs to look out for include:

• Your child has difficulty moving their tongue to their upper teeth
• Your child’s tongue appears heart shaped when they stick it out
• Your child has difficulty sticking their tongue out past their lower front teeth

If your child is an infant, here are some other signs you can look out for.

• Difficulty latching when breastfeeding
• Swallowing air while breastfeeding
• Hungry all the time
• Taking a long time to feed when tired
• Being colicky, gassy, or irritable

If you are the breastfeeding parent, there are also some sings you can look out for.

These include:

• Plugged milk ducts
• Pain when nursing
• Cracked, damaged, or bleeding nipples
• Problems with milk supply

Why Do Some Kids Have Tongue Tie?

The causes of tongue tie are unknown.

Recent research seems to indicate a genetic link for tongue tie.

Tongue tie is also more common in boys than in girls.

Before birth, the band of skin under your tongue, called the lingual frenulum, separates.

This gives your tongue its full range of motion.

However, when it doesn’t separate properly, the lingual frenulum stays attached to the bottom of the tongue and causes tongue tie.

What Complications Can Arise From Tongue Tie?

Your tongue plays an important role in many different functions of your mouth.

You need it to chew, swallow, drink, and speak.

This means that a tongue tie can cause complications in all of these areas.

If your infant has a tongue tie, you will likely notice problems with breast feeding.

When a baby breastfeeds, they put their tongue over their lower gum as they suck.

If they can’t do this because of a tongue tie, your baby might chew your nipple instead of suck it.

Not only can this hurt you if you’re breastfeeding, it can also keep your baby from getting enough milk.

If your child is older, there are other complications you may notice.

If your child has tongue tie, you might notice they have difficulty speaking the sounds “d”, “l”, “r”, “s”, “t”, “th”, and “z”.

Your child may also have difficulty with other activities they need their tongue for, like licking their lips, playing wind instruments, or licking food items like ice cream, lollipops, or popsicles.

Another complication that can arise from tongue tie is poor oral hygiene.

You might not realize it, but your tongue plays an important role in sweeping food debris away from your teeth.

If your tongue doesn’t have the mobility for this, it can cause tooth decay and gingivitis.

Sometimes, tongue tie can also cause a gap between the bottom front teeth.

Do Kids With Tongue Tie Need Surgery?

Surgery for tongue tie is often recommended, especially in babies to help improve breastfeeding problems.

However, surgery is not the only option if your child has a tongue tie.

One study in 2019 had 115 infants assessed by a speech and language therapist.

Of those 115 babies, 72 of them (or 63%) were not recommended for tongue tie surgeries.

This is because their speech therapists found that the babies’ feeding issues weren’t caused by tongue ties, but instead by other factors like low milk supply, latching difficulties, and infant reflux.

Over the course of this study, the 72 babies who were not recommended for surgery were able to improve their feeding and put on weight with the help of physical therapy.

However, it’s also important to know that research shows babies with a tongue tie tend to have more serious breastfeeding problems than babies without it.

The good news is, your child’s physical therapist can help.

They can diagnose tongue tie and make treatment recommendations, including evaluating whether surgery is the correct option for your child.

If your child does need surgery, that may sound frightening.

However, a tongue tie surgery is a very simple procedure.

In most cases, a physician uses a scalpel to cut the lingual frenulum.

Usually, your child will be able to breastfeed right after and will be healed within a few days.

To improve the success of the surgery, it’s recommended to work with a physical therapist.

They can support you and your child both before and after surgery to improve outcomes.

This is true even if your child is past breastfeeding age.

Let’s take a closer look at how a pediatric physical therapist can help.

What Is A Physical Therapist’s Role In Tongue Tie?

A physical therapist plays an important role when it comes to tongue tie.

In babies, tongue tie can cause problems that make feeding from a breast or bottle challenging.

This includes difficulties such as:

• Breathing dysfunction
• Reflux due to swallowing air
• Weakness in the jaw and tongue
• Tension in the neck and shoulders
• Head tilting, which can lead to torticollis

Physical therapy can help mitigate some of these issues.

A physical therapist can work with you and your infant in a fun, gentle, and engaging way.

This includes different movements and exercise protocols to increase their tongue strength and feeding ability.

A physical therapist can also assess for any co occurring conditions, like torticollis or plagiocephaly, that may impact feeding.

From there, they can provide physical therapy for torticollis or to treat plagiocephaly, as well as answer any questions you may have.

RELATED ARTICLE: Frequently Asked Questions About Torticollis

RELATED ARTICLE: Frequently Asked Questions About Plagiocephaly

If your child is getting surgery for their tongue tie, a physical therapist can help improve outcomes.

Before and after surgery, physical therapy can help your infants tongue function and ability to suck.

Book Your Appointment With District Speech Today

If your child has a tongue tie, District Speech can help.

Not only do we offer speech therapy, but we also have qualified physical therapists who can support you and your child.

Book your appointment with District Speech today.