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01. Lip Tie

If you have a tongue-tie (ankyloglossia) with restricted mobility of your tongue, you may likely also have an upper or lower lip tie. In these situations, there is extra midline tissue at the upper or lower lip which can negatively interfere with your ability to maintain closure of your lips. 

Lip tie releases can be performed by dentists typically with a laser using numbing novocaine so there is no pain during the procedure. You will experience postoperative pain and soreness for ~2 weeks that can be managed using Tylenol. ENTs can also perform lip tie releases where they often use surgical cutting instruments vs a laser. 

The photo above is an example of a before and after lip tie release. You can see how the tie was creating a gap between the front teeth.

 

In some situations, lip ties are very obvious while others can be more subtle yet be causing significant issues in the body such as neck, jaw and shoulder tension and dysfunction. 

Indicators as to why you might be a candidate for a release despite already trying myofunctional and postural therapy include:

  • An inability to easily keep your lips sealed at rest and sleep 
  • Mouth breathing
  • Mentalis over-activity which can be seen as a scrunching/dimpling of the muscle on the chin.
  • Neck, shoulder or jaw tension or pain
  • Gap between front teeth
  • Sleep problems 

 

Lip and tongue ties tend to be familial where if you have one it is likely one of your parents do too. However, there are also nutritional factors that can be contributing to their incidence. Refer to this article to learn more about how your nutrition, posture and facial development are connected. 

Before having a lip tie release, it is important to prepare and train your lips using lip seal techniques. This way, once released, your lips will neurologically understand how to behave like normal lips and reduce the likelihood of it becoming restricted again (which can happen if you do not comply with the post-op exercises and stretches). 

For more subtle lip ties, you may not even need to have a release and be able to restore your lip function simply by doing lip seal exercises along with other important posture, movement and breathing techniques. Often, when the lips are a problem there are likely other corresponding breathing and postural issues in the body which need to concurrently be addressed.

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