Surgery for Tongue?

My daughter is tongue-tied as well. We were told that they wouldn't operate until she was 3 or so to wait and see if it affected her speech. We didn't do anything to it and it seemed to kind of stretch out on its own a little bit. She has no problems eating or drinking and her speech is perfect. My advice would be to wait it out for a little while longer. I was hesitant to take the wait and see approach because I wanted it down when she was too little to remember anything if she needed it, but I'm glad that we waited. Good Luck!

As a pediatric speech-language pathologist, I am unaware of any research that supports the need to have the frenulum clipped for speech purposes and would not recommend the proceedure to any of my clients in your son's situation.

We were told the same thing by our pediatrician for my oldest daughter, who will be 4 in January. They actually told us to take her to a specialist to see if she needed the surgery. Not sure where you live, but we took her to DuPont and they were absolutely fantastic. She did not need the surgery. Quite a few of my friends were also told by their pediatricians that their kids would need the surgery but when they saw a specialist, they were told differently. My recommendation would be to get a second opinion. Good luck.

K.

Hi K.,
My niece had the same issue and had surgery when she was a few months old. She is 18 months now and talks very well and my sister said that the surgery wasn't really a surgery, just an office procedure. Her daughter had no complications and it wasn't a big deal at all. Since it is not a major procedure and healing is quick, I personally would opt for it if the alternative would be possible speach problems in the future. I hope you will make the decision that makes your family the most comfortable, after all, mommy knows best!

Hi K. ~

My son had the same issue. We elected to have the surgery when he was almost 3. This was followed by a few weeks with a speech therapist.
We decided to have the surgery b/c I felt that he was having trouble actually pushing food to the back of his mouth to swallow after chewing it. We wanted him to be able to lick an ice cream cone and a lollipop...and MANY years from now, wanted him to be able to kiss the girl of his dreams!
I battled with the insurance company to get this covered since they consider it 'not necessary' and have done all the legwork if you need information.
His speech is perfect and we never had any problems after the surgery - and he really liked his speech therapist. She made the sessions fun for him.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

J.

I am 42 yrs old and was born with the same problem. I had surgery around the age of 7 after speach therapy was not proving to be the answer. After surgery I continued with speach therapy for a couple of more years afterwhich everything was fine. My thought is to get it done as early as possible to enable your son to learn to speak correctly in the beginning. This is a minor surgery as surgeries go and the younger he has it the less he will be to remember it and have to struggle to over come future speach problems.

I have a nephew who just had the procedure done. He is 2 and my sister was a nervous wreck to have it done. His words all sounded the same and sounded like they were coming from the back of his throat. He will need therapy to use his tongue properly. Anyway, my sister said the procedure was a breeze and the recovery was not an issue. I can understand why you wouldn't want to put your child through a procedure if you don't even know if it is affecting him. My only advice would be it will be much easier to go through it with a 1 year old than a 4 or 5 year old. He will never remember it happened! Good luck with your decision.

I think that my older brother had it done. I think that he was realy young so that he wouldn't remember. You could wait till he is older for speech. Is there away that you could get speech therapy for him know and see if that would make any differnce? Teach him how to talk with it. Or if it is the much attached then maybe surgery.

One of my sisters friends from High School had this condition, she spoke perfectly clearly and it did not seem to bother her at all. My sister and I always wondered if she felt strange kissing a boy though? I agree with the other moms, trust your instincts... you will make the right choice!

That is a tongue tie or attached frenulum, and the procedure is called a frenotomy. It's very simple and best done the younger the child is. I have had this done on 2 day old babies before they leave the hospital without complication. In the olden days, midwives who attended home births would grow one long fingernail to cut the frenulum so that the baby could latch onto the breast.

Most mommies who breastfeed babies with attached frenulums have pain, so it is usually noticed and clipped shortly after birth. It truly is easier to do when they are younger, as it innervates and thickens as the child grows.

Best of luck

I am sorry that I do not have any definite advice, but I would say follow you r instincts and do what you think is best.

Hi K., My son had this problem too, they called it being tounge tied, and I opted to have the surgery. I know people that have not had the surgery and were fine with years of speach therapy. The surgery however was done within minutes, literally and as soon as we left the hospital my son was eating pancakes and drinking from a straw (he was 2 when he had it done). He had no problems with speach or eating before but I did not want to wait and have to put him through speech therapy at school if I did not have to (to avoid him being singled out).

I would advise to call Early Intervention first to have your son evaluated on his speech. They are great a determining what or if you son needs any help.
My husband has the same thing as your son and has no problems with it. He speaks perfectly fine.

Good Luck with whatever you decided to do. And like others have said, trust your maternal instincts!

Considering your son is talking well now, you may want to opt to wait a bit. A major issue with those born with this condition is that their speech is delayed or affected and or feeding. That does not seem to be the case with your son.

So, that being said, it's a choice you'll need to make, but not necessarily right now. And since it will not negatively affect him in any way to HAVE it done vs. not having it done, well it's your call. It's not like circumcision. You're not taking anything away that will impact your son lifelong.

Wishing you the best with your decision.

Blessings,
Rolinda
Wife, Mother, Friend

I am 39 now and had the same problem when I was born. The surgery is so minor that I am glad my parents had it done when I couldn't even remember it. The younger the better. Also, I am a special needs teacher and I have many children who struggle with speech. In my opinion, if you can eliminate the problem before school age it would be beneficial. Children have so much to worry about in this day and age. If you can make life easier on him, do it!!!

I was born with the same problem -- and my parents elected not to have surgery. However, at the age of 25 I was struggling with my speech beginning to slur. It did not happen all throughout childhood - but then worsened as I got older. I also had problems with the skin getting caught between my teeth on the bottom - extremely painful!! So... I got the surgery. It was NO BIG DEAL and wish my parents had done it years ago. Speech therapy is difficult - especially when you have a physical obstacle to overcome. I'd say 100% get the surgery done. It's not a huge deal & it can only help -- I don't see any reason it would hurt!! Hope this helps!

I provided childcare for a little girl who had this condition and her parents decided to do the surgery. It was a very easy surgery and they are glad they did it. The doctor told them it would only be to her benefit to do it, because there could be a possiblity of speech and eating difficulties as the child got older.

I know you do not see a driving "need" for it right now, so it seems kind of ridiculous to consider doing it when the reason isn't very apparent. However... between my two oldest sons, I have been through 14 surgeries with them.

My first son had 3 surgeries before he was 3 years old, the first of which was when he was almost 5 months old - again at 18 mos. and again at about 33 months.

My second son was critically injured in a car accident when he was 9 months old. He had surgery at 9 months, 10 month, 16 months, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 6 years and 7 years old (a total of 11 surgeries to-date just for him).

TRUST ME when I say that it's easier when they're younger!! They do not know that they are supposed to feel badly about it. They just want to jump & get back to playing as soon as possible. The older they get, the worse it is. The pain seems to last longer, they feel worse, etc.

Do it while he's young - he'll heal faster AND he'll never remember it.

K.,
I worked with someone who's son had this surgery, and they are glad they did it. I don't really have an opinion one way or the other - trust your instincts. I will offer this information which may or may not affect your decision: I am a music teacher, and this condition could affect your son's ability to succeed in playing a wind instrument (any instrument that you must blow into) because of the tongue's role in starting and stopping the airstream. of course this only comes into play if he would be interested in trumpet, trombone, baritone, tuba, saxophone, clarinet, oboe, bassoon or flute. And he would probably be able to make sounds on them, it may only affect his playing as he got more advanced. There are plenty of other instruments that would not be affected at all, like violin, viola, cello, stringed bass, piano, and percussion.
Good luck with your decision! Whatever you choose things will work out fine.