Have you recently discovered you have a tongue tie, lip tie, or cheek tie as an adult? You’re not alone. Many women uncover these conditions later in life, often after experiencing years of unexplained symptoms such as difficulty swallowing, jaw pain, or even issues with sleep and speech. Myofunctional treatment for adults offers a tailored approach to addressing these concerns, helping you regain control over your oral health and overall well-being.
In this article, we’ll dive deep into what myofunctional treatment entails, why it’s effective for adults, and how you can start your journey toward a healthier, more functional oral system.
Understanding Oral Ties and Their Impact
Before exploring myofunctional treatment for adults, it’s essential to understand what tongue, lip, and cheek ties are and how they affect daily life.
What Are Oral Ties?
Oral ties can occur in seven distinct placements within the mouth. The tongue Frenulum is located under the tongue and can be best viewed by clicking the tongue up into the palate and holding it there. If the band of tissue is too short, tight, or thick it limits tongue range of motion.
Similarly, the lip can be tied if the labial frenum, attaching the lip to the gum ridge is too short, thick or tight. The frenum may reach down and attach on the gum ridge between the two top teeth causing a split between the teeth.
Thirdly, we have the cheek or buccal tie. As in the lip tie the cheek tie is attached to the gum ridge in a short, thick or tight manner creating poor muscle movement.
It is possible to have one or all of these ties. In total there are seven locations: 2 upper cheek, 2 lower cheek, 1 upper lip, 1 lower lip and 1 under the tongue.
This restriction can limit movement, leading to a range of symptoms such as:
Speech difficulties Snoring
Chronic jaw tension or pain Sleep Apnea
Trouble swallowing or chewing Pelvic floor pain
Poor oral posture Need for repeated braces
Sleep-disordered breathing Neck and back pain
How Do Ties Affect Adults?
While oral ties are often diagnosed in childhood, many adults remain undiagnosed, enduring the consequences for decades. In women over 40, hormonal changes and muscle loss can exacerbate symptoms, making it harder to ignore the underlying issue. This is where myofunctional treatment for adults becomes invaluable.
When we consider the list above with all the potential areas of impact and combine that with major life events such as childbirth, we can have a firestorm!
When ties are present lifelong, compensations and recruitment to other muscles and areas of the body occur. Childbirth, work promotions, moving into the new home while all goals you strive for, bring with them stress and anxiety.
When major shifts happen and the body is already out of alignment from ties, symptoms once able to be ignored beg to be addressed.
What Is Myofunctional Treatment for Adults?
Myofunctional therapy also referred to as oral motor treatment, is a non-invasive, exercise-based approach designed to retrain the muscles of your mouth and face. It focuses on improving oral posture, breathing, chewing, and swallowing patterns by targeting the root cause of dysfunction.
5 Key Goals of Myofunctional Therapy
- 1. Restoring proper tongue posture
Your tongue should rest against the roof of your mouth. Tethered oral tissues create an imbalance in the muscles and often result in the tongue resting on the floor of the mouth.
Correcting this tongue resting posture is a central goal of all myofunctional treatment for adults.
- 2. Encouraging nasal breathing for improved oxygenation and sleep quality.
Unfortunately, mouth breathing often accompanies a low resting tongue posture. As we work to improve tongue posture, we also work to increase closed mouth posture and nasal breathing.
Your nose is designed to help you breathe efficiently, and properly. This is due to its ability to humidify inhaled air, filter out foreign particles (germs and allergens) and produce nitric acid (opens up blood vessels).
- 3. Enhancing the strength and coordination of oral muscles
When ties are present the muscles are not able to reach their full range of motion. This inhibits their strength and coordination for speech and feeding tasks. Exercises will target range of motion and strength building for the oral facial muscles.
- 4. Correcting swallowing mechanics to prevent issues like acid reflux or chronic throat clearing.
The mechanics are likely hindered by poor range of motion. Training tongue lateralization, elevation and propulsion of food bolus allows for more efficient chewing and swallowing.
- 5. Correct speech mechanics to improve speech sound production and voice strength.
There may be specific sounds that need to be retrained or simply strengthening the oral muscles so slushy or imprecise speech is improved.
The Steps of Myofunctional Treatment for Adults
Assessment and Diagnosis in Myofunctional Treatment for adults
Your journey begins with a comprehensive evaluation by a trained professional, such as a speech-language pathologist specializing in myofunctional therapy. Finding the right therapist is key as many are not trained in these techniques.
Try out with this website Tongue Tie Life to help you locate a provider who would understand tongue ties and tethered oral tissues.
Remember, it’s ok to seek 2-3 opinions and find the right match, this is indeed a journey, and you should be working with someone you like and trust!
This assessment often includes
Medical History for Myofunctional Treatment for Adults
A detailed medical history going back to birth. So, talk to mom and dad before coming in and see what they remember about your feeding as a baby, were you clicky and spitting up frequently? Were you a picky eater or a late talker? Orthodontic course of treatment if any? Did you snore as a kid or have frequent allergies? This will all help you to understand the impact oral ties may have been having throughout your life.
Examination of your oral anatomy
The therapist will wear gloves, we like flavored gloves for our assessments and treatments! Both visual and touch inspection will take place. Assessing range of motion, ability to alternate patterns quickly, strength testing and resting placements. The frenulum located at upper and lower cheek, tongue and upper and lower lip will be assessed.
We like to take pictures on day one along with video of the exam. For one this gives you the chance to share with others and review yourself later. Then two, it allows for comparison as myofunctional work progresses and after surgical releases are completed.
Analysis of breathing patterns
Because the oral frenula are part of the fascia system running throughout the body, there can be poor diaphragmatic breathing. This is due to the fascia being held tight orally and thereby lifting out of place the diaphragm which helps to regulate breathing patterns.
Assessing whether clavicular breathing is primary (shoulders and clavicles raising up) or diaphragmatic breathing is primary. Also Judging if the rib cage moves up or spreads outward.
Functional tests for chewing and swallowing
You will be asked to bring in some food and drink so that your chewing and swallowing can be assessed. Is the mouth able to maintain closure? Does the tongue thrust outward on the swallow of food or liquid? Is it effortful? Neck strain noted, or head nods.
Speech and Voice Analysis
Spontaneous speech samples, and if needed standardized articulation tests, to assess impact of ties upon the speech mechanism. Do you feel vocal strain or fatigue when speaking for a few minutes? Do you have drunk speech without the benefit of alcohol? Are there sounds you are aware of that you struggle with when tired or sick?
Developing a Customized Plan Within Myofunctional Treatment for Adults
Every individual’s needs are unique, especially when addressing tongue, lip, or cheek ties. Your therapist will create a personalized plan tailored to your anatomy, lifestyle, and goals.
Targeted Exercises Myofunctional Treatment for Adults
Myofunctional therapy includes a series of exercises designed to strengthen and coordinate the muscles in your mouth, face, and neck. Examples include:
- Tongue Lifts: Gently lift your tongue to the roof of your mouth and hold for a few seconds.
- Tongue clicks – building up to 50 strong clicks
- Tongue lateralization – touching back molar with tongue tip building to 50 reps and increasing speed
- Tongue up and down alternating- touch just behind the front teeth building to 50 reps and increasing speed
- Tongue lift and hold -hold up wile opening and closing the jaw -build to 50 reps and increasing width of opening.
- Lip purse/smile – alternating the movements while holding jaw still. Build to 50 reps.
- Lip squeeze – hold a tongue depressor between the lips and pucker just a bit. Hold for 15-20 seconds repeat 3-5 times.
- Lips on straw tip -keep them pursed no rolling inward -drink 4-6 ounces without biting straw or rolling lips inward.
- Cheek Resistance Exercises: Using your fingers to apply gentle pressure while puffing out your cheeks to enhance muscle tone.
- Cheek resistance -blow up balloon build to 25 times with new balloon.
- Cheek – straw drink and squeeze cheeks in creating a line down the cheek build to 4-6 ounces.
- Debra Beckman deep tissue releases and stretches- these cover all oral facial groups listed above and are completed by a trained therapist. Considered passive exercises while the above-mentioned exercises are active exercises.
- Myofascial releases – These soft tissue releases target the frenulum area specially. Helping to release the tension built up around the frenulum and into the muscle. They target the fascia system and relieve years of built-up stress and strain. For a more detailed explanation of oral myofascial release check out our other blog article Myofunctional Therapy Exercises.
Collaboration with Other Professionals to Augment Myofunctional Treatment for Adults
Often as adults our muscles have had years of recruiting help from other body areas. Recruitment is the act of muscle fixing, tightening, balancing out and straining to adjust and help a weaker area. In this case the oral ties directly impact the fascia system which runs through the whole body.
As the hiccup in the orofacial muscles kicks in recruitment occurs to the neck, back, hip, and pelvic floor.
This may require the skills of a physical therapist, occupational therapist, chiropractor, cranio-sacral trained therapist, or myofascial deep tissue release therapists.
At times you may need one or more of these therapists as you progress in your treatment plan.
In most cases, releasing the tie through a surgical procedure (frenectomy) may be necessary. Myofunctional therapy complements this by preparing the tissues before and supporting recovery after the procedure.
Your therapist may also collaborate with other surgical specialists, such as Dentists Orthodontists, Oral maxillary surgeons, and ENTs.
Why Myofunctional Treatment for Adults Works
Adults often worry that it’s “too late” to address their oral ties. However, research and clinical experience consistently show that myofunctional treatment can yield remarkable results, even in your 40s and beyond. Here’s why:
1. Muscle Plasticity
Your muscles retain the ability to adapt and strengthen throughout life. Myofunctional therapy takes advantage of this plasticity, helping you retrain oral habits and improve functionality.
2. Holistic Benefits
Myofunctional treatment doesn’t just address isolated symptoms; it enhances your overall quality of life. Benefits include reduced jaw and neck pain, improved digestion through better chewing, enhanced sleep quality, and clearer speech and communication.
3. Non-Invasive Approach
Unlike more invasive options, such as surgery, myofunctional therapy is a gentle and patient-centered process. It empowers you to take an active role in your health and recovery.
Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them
Adopting myofunctional treatment for adults comes with its own set of challenges, but they are surmountable with the right mindset and support.
1. Time Commitment
Many women worry about finding time for therapy sessions and daily exercises. Remember, consistency is key. Setting aside just 10-15 minutes a day can lead to significant improvements over time. If you brush your teeth, you’re in front to the mirror, perfect time to get your “Myo” in!
2. Emotional Barriers
Discovering an oral tie later in life can be emotionally challenging. It’s normal to feel frustrated or overwhelmed, but focusing on the potential benefits can help you stay motivated.
3. Financial Considerations
Myofunctional therapy can be an investment. Look for practitioners who offer flexible payment plans and explore insurance options that may cover part of the treatment.
Success Stories: Women Thriving After Myofunctional Treatment for Adults
Hearing about others’ successes can be incredibly inspiring. There are Facebook support groups for adults just like you! Success and failure are part of the journey, and finding a group to validate your experiences can be invaluable.
Just search “adult tongue tie” and you will find several options to join local and national-based groups.
Getting Started with Myofunctional Treatment for Adults
If you’re ready to embark on this transformative journey, here are some steps to take:
1. Find a Specialist
Look for a certified myofunctional therapist or speech-language pathologist with experience in treating adults.
2. Commit to the Process
Myofunctional therapy requires consistency and patience. Set realistic goals and celebrate small victories along the way.
3. Build a Support System
Surround yourself with friends, family, or online communities who understand what you’re going through.
Conclusion Myofunctional Treatment for Adults
Myofunctional treatment for adults offers a powerful solution for adults dealing with the effects of tongue, lip, or cheek ties. By addressing the root causes of dysfunction and retraining oral muscles, you can unlock a healthier, more vibrant version of yourself.
Remember, it’s never too late to invest in your well-being. Take the first step today and discover the life-changing benefits of myofunctional therapy.
Please follow us at Lynn’s Tied Together Hub for more information and helpful tips on the myofunctional journey!