01/30/2021
What is Myofunctional Therapy?
Since this is my first blog article, I thought I would start at the beginning. For those of you who have heard of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy (or Myofunctional Therapy, Tongue Tie Therapy, Orofacial Myology - all the same thing, just different names), you may not really know what it is. Those of you who are like the majority and have never heard of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy may wonder, "What the heck is this?" I will try to simplify what Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy (let's just call it OMT for short) is and who it is for. To quote from my website, "A myofunctional therapy program is similar to physical therapy but involves mainly the muscles of the face, mouth, and tongue. The basis of the program consists of strengthening facial muscles and teaching an individual how to use these muscles correctly. These highly effective exercises help improve breathing, bite, and many other hurdles preventing people from enjoying their lives to the fullest. The first step begins with a proper diagnosis. This allows for individualized, targeted, and effective treatment with myofunctional exercises to promote increased health, with the overall goal of improved breathing, less pain, and, most importantly, a better quality of life. "
So, let's break that down even further; OMT is an individualized regimen of neurological re-education exercises given to someone who needs help getting their mouth and face muscles to perform how they should (i.e., during eating, speaking, breathing, swallowing, and sucking). Someone who specializes in OMT will evaluate, diagnose, plan, and treat their patient with these goals in mind.
Who needs myofunctional therapy?
If you answer yes to the following questions, I highly encourage you to schedule an OMT consult. (At Myology, we do not charge for our initial consults.) Ask yourself the following questions about yourself or your child:
•tongue pushing forward while swallowing
•messy eater
•tongue sticking out between the front teeth at rest
•lips apart and jaw hinged open while watching TV or reading a book
•tongue seems "tied" to the floor of the mouth or cannot stick tongue out
•breathing through your mouth
•snore at night? Sound congested? Grind or clench teeth at night
•constant chapped or dry lips
•have a forward head posture with rounded shoulders (slouching)
•difficulty pronouncing specific sounds despite having speech therapy for years
•always putting things in the mouth, such as fingers, pens, clothing, etc
•difficulty with focusing (problems at school with attention)
•crowded teeth, in orthodontics, or need of orthodontics again
You are probably saying to yourself, "That's got to be almost everybody." And you would be right. Studies have shown that anywhere from 38% to 81% of the general population have some myofunctional disorder "symptom".
Here is a short video that might explain things further from my mentor, Sarah Hornsby, an internationally known myofunctional therapist and instructor: