Hello everyone! Welcome to this week's newsletter where we'll be diving into a topic that's on the tip of our tongues - quite literally! We're talking about Tongue Tie, a condition that's often overlooked but can have significant impacts. So, let's unravel the knot and understand what it is and why it matters. All spurred from the Keller's adding Baby Gregory recently to their family!
Gregory's Story
Gregory was born in early August, and very shortly after he was born, our midwife said during his newborn screen, “Wow! Look at his tongue tie!” He did in fact have a very visible tongue tie, but through the first weeks his weight gain, nursing and latch all seemed to be ok. I wasn’t in a hurry to get anything checked out. Plus, I didn’t really want to have to get his tie revised if it didn’t need to be. BUT. After our chiropractor (who I trust after being with her for several years) agreed that she would get it done sooner rather than later, I made the appointment to have his mouth evaluated by a locally trusted pediatric dentist.
So why put our newborn through an uncomfortable procedure, and uncomfortable mouth stretches for weeks after? Three words: fascia, tension, and whole-body symptoms. Ok, more than three words.
Gregory’s latch and nursing might have been going well, but what about long term? Knowing what I know in my line of work, I know that fascial tension creeps through the whole body like a spider web, and that restricted movement of the tongue, jaw and neck all contribute to changes in breath support, speech production, sleep, and - yes - pelvic, bowel and bladder function. So, if I had waited, would we see symptoms later in life? May be not. But it is far easier to stay ahead of symptoms rather than treating them. So Gregory had his tongue and lip tie revised, we did chiropractic and PT before and after his procedure, and I now feel like we did everything we could to set him up for success for the best oral health as possible.
How can the mouth affect the pelvis?
So many symptoms related to the jaw, tongue and airway connect to pelvic health - in infancy, all the way through adulthood! Cluster nursing. Snoring. Disrupted sleep. Articulation challenges. Nighttime wetting. Constipation. Personally, I (Caitlin) have a high, vaulted palate that should have been treated with an expander in childhood. Now, I have some TMJ symptoms, a tendency for clenching with big emotions, and an unregulated pelvic floor. Looking into remediating my palate as an adult is both pricey, and likely painful. Some life events in 2024 got in the way of my plans to get an expander surgically placed into my upper palate this year, but I’ll revisit these plans in the future.
Where did all of this start? Who knows. But my intuition tells me my untreated, moderate upper lip tie has something to do with it.
Now what?
When considering tongue tie, find a provider you trust to guide you. We also believe it's helpful to see what are the implications you are seeing - nursing difficulty, long feeding times, constipation, open mouth when sleeping...Being aware can help you see if the oral tension is affecting other areas.
Until next time, thanks for being here!
-Dr. Caitlin & Dr. Melissa, Founders of The Little Learning Lav
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