Saturday, November 15, 2008

Tysen's Tongue Tie

ok, so look really close underneath tysen's tongue....see that little piece in the middle that basically attaches the bottom to the top? this is called a tongue tie. (you can read more about it here.) tysen's ped had previously pointed this out to me when he was younger....some people choose to have this clipped as it can cause problems eating, and speech impairment since he can't stick his tongue out very far....
anyway...our dr. recommended leaving it alone, since he was obviously gaining weight, and it wasn't causing any difficulty in eating.
well, last week, i noticed tysen really fighting me with his solid food. like 3-4 bites into it, he would purse his lips closed and cry a lot like he didn't want to eat. and that is rare as he loves eating! but i know kids go thru phases, so i didn't think much of it...till that night when he woke up 4-5 times crying...ugh! i took him to the dr. the next morning completely expecting a diagnosis of ear infections ...but nope. nothing. the only other thing i had noticed was that his tongue tie had turned white, and i couldn't figure that out. well, it stumped his dr. as well, and i was sent to an ENT who explained to me that the white stuff was like a scab. somehow tysen had torn his tongue tie and it was healing, so it was 'scabbed' over, and that it would eventually come off, just like a scab does. i felt horrible for the little guy, cuz that explained why he didn't want to eat...why he screamed bloody murder if i didn't get the bottle into his mouth just perfectly...why every time he woke up (which was a ton at night, and all thru naps) the only thing that soothed him was a drink of something cold, and then he would go right back to sleep....o, i felt horrible!!
well, this week, the white was gone....and my cheerful little ty-man is back! and guess what...the tongue tie was gone!! the ENT was right, he had torn it (though i have no idea how or when...), it had healed and now, he has full range of motion with his tongue! that little piece that connected so far up his tongue is just gone! my dr. called to check on tysen (yep, that's how great my dr is...called me personally to check on him)...and i told the story, and he told me that i would definately have to buy him a nicer car when he's older, cuz he had just saved me 3-4,000 dollars on that procedure! :):)

4 comments:

Mrs. Valente said...

Maddie's was tied really badly, and the first thing I said when I saw her was, "You have to clip that!" LOL

They told me not to worry about it too! I was so mad, but kept bugging them until they did it when she was a few weeks old. I wish they had done it right after birth when her endorphins were still high though. I'm still mad about that!;)

carleigh said...

awww, so glad he's feeling better!

Unknown said...

I know this is a rather old post, but thank you so much for sharing! My daughter is 8 months and has been miserable for two days. I just noticed her tongue tie was white and your explanation saved me a third drs visit this week.. (She has croup, her brother has an ear infection... And blue boredom that he picked up at the drs office Wednesday) I think her coughing had torn it... Of course I'll go see the Dr if she doesn't improve soon, but this was a comfort to read. Thank you.

Unknown said...

I know this is a rather old post, but thank you so much for sharing! My daughter is 8 months and has been miserable for two days. I just noticed her tongue tie was white and your explanation saved me a third drs visit this week.. (She has croup, her brother has an ear infection... And blue boredom that he picked up at the drs office Wednesday) I think her coughing had torn it... Of course I'll go see the Dr if she doesn't improve soon, but this was a comfort to read. Thank you.