Tension & Tongue Function
Page under construction...
During birth, infants’ skulls change to fit through the mother’s pelvis. The cranium bones may override each other in order to accommodate the birth process. Known as compression/decompression, it’s a normal process, and the bones usually go in back in place naturally. However, in some instances, unnatural damages may occur to the bones, and in turn they may fail to heal properly. As a result, it can lead to a host of problems, such as motor impairment (including troubles with their suck & swallow), breathing problems, digestive issues, and more.
Infants who are delivered via C-section may also be at risk for cranial injuries. In fact, studies suggests that babies born via C-section have more abnormal craniosacral evaluations when compared to infants born via traditional delivery. This may be in part due to the C-section experience being more abrupt. In addition, when babies are delivered via C-section, they don’t go through the normal process of the cranial compression/decompression, which can result in skull constrictions. Babies born with the assistance of forceps or vacuum are also likely to have craniosacral tension.
This page is designed to give you some basic information about what you might see if your infant is struggling with tension and possible issues with his/her tongue function, and whether or not it would be worthwhile having them assessed by either myself, or another qualified IBCLC.
The Tongue
The tongue is a remarkable muscle and is really part of a larger structure of muscles/bones/etc of the skull, spine, jaw and neck. It is the only muscle in our body that has one end that moves freely, unattached to any other body structures and at its other end is attached to eight other muscles. "A baby's complex suck-swallow-breathe sequence requires the function of 6 cranial nerves, 6 cervical nerves and a few thoracic nerves coordinating 31 muscles in the lips, cheeks, tongue, jaw, chin, soft palate etc" (Carol Smyth, IBCLC). Because of this, it is not uncommon for newborns/infants to have some sort of tension that can result in their suck, swallow, or breathing being affected.
Tongue ties or (ankyloglossia): During the embryologic development, this muscle is initially attached to the floor of the mouth. This attachment usually partially disappears and in most cases reduces naturally from the tip toward the base of the tongue. When this piece of tissue fails to disappear or reduce its attachment, it may restrict the ability of the tongue to function and have adequate mobility and function. Just because an infant may have a tongue tie it does not automatically mean they need to have it revised. There are numerous instances where the combination of some body work (CST, chiropractor, osteopathy, etc) and working closely with an IBCLC can improve the infant's tongue function and ability to suck/swallow/breathe effectively.
During birth, infants’ skulls change to fit through the mother’s pelvis. The cranium bones may override each other in order to accommodate the birth process. Known as compression/decompression, it’s a normal process, and the bones usually go in back in place naturally. However, in some instances, unnatural damages may occur to the bones, and in turn they may fail to heal properly. As a result, it can lead to a host of problems, such as motor impairment (including troubles with their suck & swallow), breathing problems, digestive issues, and more.
Infants who are delivered via C-section may also be at risk for cranial injuries. In fact, studies suggests that babies born via C-section have more abnormal craniosacral evaluations when compared to infants born via traditional delivery. This may be in part due to the C-section experience being more abrupt. In addition, when babies are delivered via C-section, they don’t go through the normal process of the cranial compression/decompression, which can result in skull constrictions. Babies born with the assistance of forceps or vacuum are also likely to have craniosacral tension.
This page is designed to give you some basic information about what you might see if your infant is struggling with tension and possible issues with his/her tongue function, and whether or not it would be worthwhile having them assessed by either myself, or another qualified IBCLC.
The Tongue
The tongue is a remarkable muscle and is really part of a larger structure of muscles/bones/etc of the skull, spine, jaw and neck. It is the only muscle in our body that has one end that moves freely, unattached to any other body structures and at its other end is attached to eight other muscles. "A baby's complex suck-swallow-breathe sequence requires the function of 6 cranial nerves, 6 cervical nerves and a few thoracic nerves coordinating 31 muscles in the lips, cheeks, tongue, jaw, chin, soft palate etc" (Carol Smyth, IBCLC). Because of this, it is not uncommon for newborns/infants to have some sort of tension that can result in their suck, swallow, or breathing being affected.
Tongue ties or (ankyloglossia): During the embryologic development, this muscle is initially attached to the floor of the mouth. This attachment usually partially disappears and in most cases reduces naturally from the tip toward the base of the tongue. When this piece of tissue fails to disappear or reduce its attachment, it may restrict the ability of the tongue to function and have adequate mobility and function. Just because an infant may have a tongue tie it does not automatically mean they need to have it revised. There are numerous instances where the combination of some body work (CST, chiropractor, osteopathy, etc) and working closely with an IBCLC can improve the infant's tongue function and ability to suck/swallow/breathe effectively.