Progress and Ongoing Concerns

How do!

Personal matters have kept me from this blog but I’m throwing myself back into the fray because matters of the tongue are near and dear to my heart… wait, what?

So, its been close to two years since I’ve had my lingual frenectomy and I still regard having the procedure, and following it with myofunctional therapy, as one of the best medical/personal decisions I’ve ever made.  I thought I would get back into my blog by talking about my progress and current concerns.

Current Progress

When I’m Happy, My Face Looks Happy Too

Whenever I look into a mirror these days, I see a relaxed face and pleasant smile.  Gone is the pout that once adorned my face 24 hours a day.  Gone are the frown lines between my brows.  Gone are the jowls that were beginning to form prematurely.  Gone is the ‘pooch’ under my chin.  Before my frenectomy, I always looked like I was pouting or scowling, even when I was not unhappy or upset, because my tongue literally pulled my entire face down.  Now, when I’m relaxed, my face is relaxed.

Less Headaches.

If I am stressed or dehydrated, I can certainly still get headaches.  But I don’t get ‘mystery headaches’, ones that seemingly came on for no reason, anymore.  Why?  Because the tension in my face is gone!  Remember, all your facial muscles are interconnected; so when one is restricted, like my tongue was, it pulls everything out of place.

Less Daytime Sleepiness

Just like with headaches, other factors will give me trouble (e.g., not enough sleep, eating too much sugar or carbs) if I am not careful, but there were so many times before my frenectomy when I complained of being tired for no apparent reason.  Now, I have much more energy to get through my day. 

How is daytime sleepiness related to tongue-tie? Well, tongue-tied people are oftentimes (but certainly not always) mouth breathers and are likely to have airway issues (see my post Why The Long Face?).  In my case, having the lingual frenectomy, followed by myofunctional therapy, allows me to keep my tongue on the spot, even when I sleep (more on this in the Ongoing Concerns section), which gives me more sound, restful sleep.  Also, I breathe better during the day because I now breathe through my nose.

Easier to Eat and Drink

I remember how much effort it used to require to swallow my food and drink.  Nowadays, it’s so much easier.  I still pay attention to how I swallow (i.e., position of my tongue during the process) as part of my ongoing myofunctional therapy but it’s not difficult. 

Improved Speech

I’ll be talking about speech here and in the ‘Ongoing Concerns’ section.  Overall, my speech has improved.  I speak in a more ‘normal’ fashion, without dentalizing my Ls, Ns, Ts, or Ds as I used to.  Not dentalizing is vital for those of us with open bites.  Every time you touch your teeth with your tongue, you keep that bite open!  I also say Rs properly, which was a major concern of mine in the past.  So I’m very happy to have improved.

Let me point out that myofunctional is not speech therapy.  The improvements in my speech are incidental to my learning to properly position and move my tongue.

Some Unexpected - Albeit Minor - Benefits:

It no longer hurts to laugh.  That’s right.  Back in my tongue-tied days, if I had a laughing fit my cheeks would ache.  I just thought that was what happened when a person laughed for a prolonged amount of time.  Wrong!  My face was aching because all that smiling was pulling against the tension caused by my tongue-tie!  You know how stretching a stiff muscle can hurt?  Same idea.  Now, I can laugh with impunity.  MWAHAHA!

I can also look up at the ceiling without opening my mouth.  OK, this may not be the most important thing, but it is just another example of how having a tongue-tie can affect you in unexpected ways.  Before my frenectomy, if I looked up or stretched my neck (say, when I was at the gym and stretching on a mat), I could only close my mouth with force.  Stretching my neck pulled against my tongue, which would pull my jaw down.  Sort of like a tug of war.  However, these days it is no problem for me.

Final Word on My Improvements

This list is meant to give you an idea of the benefits of treating ankyloglossia with lingual frenectomy and myofunctional therapy.  I cannot guarantee the same results for everyone; however, I would like to stress that the reason I have experienced so many benefits is because I immediately followed up my lingual frenectomy with myofunctional therapy.  Getting your frenum cut will not do you much good if you do not retrain your tongue to move and rest the way a normal tongue would. 

Ongoing Concerns

“Sibilants… Why’d it have to be Sibilants…”

It is somewhat ironic that one of the concerns that pushed me towards getting a lingual frenectomy the most is the one I have been able to do the least about.  No amount of myofunctional therapy (in my case) can help me speak with a normal S.  Why?  Because of my anterior open bite.  It is quite simple really, saying ‘S’ requires controlling the flow of air between your teeth.  When you have an open bite, you cannot control the flow of air.  You can improve on it, but your S is likely to always be somewhat distorted.  Think minor lisp.  So, I speak with my old ‘compensated’ S which occasionally trips up my speech, probably not as much as I think.  I’ve said before that many of the concerns of tongue-tied people are subjective; meaning, they are ware of them even though others may not. 

Sleeping With My Tongue On The Spot

My sleep is so much better than it was.  I don’t toss and turn, I don’t wake up in the middle of the night, but I still have trouble keeping my lips closed.  I also have some trouble keeping my tongue on the spot when I sleep.  I have no trouble keeping my lips closed and tongue on the spot during the day but nighttime is a different process.  While I know I need to increase my lip strength and keeping my tongue suctioned to the roof of mouth tightly, I am limited by my open bite and high palate.  An open bite makes it difficult to keep lips together and my high palate, from years of thumbsucking, means my tongue has to reach higher to stay on the spot.  Correcting my open bite would likely improve these two difficulties, which brings me to my next concern…

The Open Bite That Would Not Die

More so than  improving my sibilants, closing my open bite was the biggest reason for my getting a lingual frenectomy.  I had hoped that my bite might close a little with myofunctional therapy.  That was not something I expected would happen when I first began myofunctional therapy, nor was it something I was told would happen, but I had hoped it might.  However, my bite has proven to be as stubborn as my Irish-Norwegian self.  It refuses to budge! Which leaves me with little recourse except to consult with an orthodontist about orthognathic surgery.

Orthognathic surgery, or - as I like to call it - Extreme Face Makeover, is surgery to correct conditions of the jaw and face that cannot be easily corrected with braces.  I would (likely) need to have my maxilla (upper jaw) repositioned to allow my lower jaw to close properly.  This would be done in conjunction with braces, which would line my teeth up properly before and after the surgery.  I will be consulting with an orthodontist in a few weeks to see what my options are.  Ooh! He’ll be taking 3-D imaging of my head, so I’ll ask for copies to post here!

Final Words For Today

My lingual frenectomy and myofunctional therapy have improved my life in so many ways it is difficult to quantify them.  Many of the benefits I have received were unexpected, which made them all the more delightful.  That is why it’s frustrating to see that I still have a long way to go to get the results I most wanted: A normal bite and (completely) normal speech.  Am I bitter?  Certainly not! The journey has been exciting and educational and my only regret is that I did not do it sooner.

I hope what people take away from this post is that the problems I have talked about take a lot of work to get over, and it is harder (but not impossible) to get over them the older you are. So, PLEASE address these things when your loved ones are young!  Even if you are or your loved one is not young, it is not too late to do something that may improve your life more than you realize! If any of my problems are concerns you have as well, consult with a myofunctional therapist.

Happy Trails!