Small Mouth Opening
After the second tongue-tie revision, the surgeon said the baby had a small mouth opening—here’s why.
A five-month-old presents with no latching capabilities. The nursing was so difficult that mom had to squeeze her breast tissue for feeding, so much so that her hands got very sore.
Two tongue-tie revisions did not correct her nursing problem. I found on examination that her body was loose due to early osteopathic manipulative work, but bilateral TMJ issues still remained.
Our Lancaster research showed that nursing difficulty was usually a clear-cut sign of TMJ fascial strain. I realized that most of my career adult TMJ patients had their jaw difficulty originating from untreated soft tissue birth trauma, a profound discovery for my dental colleagues.
In therapy her right TMJ cleared after a few visits, but her left TMJ area remained tight. The uniqueness of this case was that the entire left side of her face had deep fascial strain contributing to her breastfeeding issue.
The four muscles encircling her mouth, collectively named the orbicularis orbis, were tight, resulting in a small opening. The fascial strain also included her major left-sided facial muscles, most notably her zygomaticus and buccinator muscles. All of these muscles are involved in sucking and swallowing.
Gillespie Approach providers need to check all of the facial tissues for fascial tightness. I believe that our work at birth could have prevented this scenario.
All of my posted stories are derived from my practice in the Philadelphia suburbs. If I were to practice anywhere in the world, I would find similar cases.
The universal truth: We all spend time in a uterus and go through the birth process. The universal problem: About ninety percent of us experience soft tissue birth trauma. The best solution: All newborns need to be checked and freed at birth to prevent a lifetime of suffering.
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