I tracked my healing after my tongue tie release for the first week to share my experience. I've learned a lot about how things change day to day as the wound is healing and it's given me new perspective to share with my client families.
Take a look at that progress! Day 1 on the left and Day 7 on the right.
Day 2 Post-Op:
Today I was in a lot of pain. I'm not going to sugar coat it. It wasn't just my tongue that hurt though. I had intense pain in the base of my skull, my jaw and in and around my ears. After 42 years of holding tension in those areas it was releasing and man did it hurt. I had to be on narcotic pain meds throughout the day and trust me when I say I knew when it was time for my next dose. I used iced packs on my neck and that felt really good.
Eating today was really hard. The dentist said not to use any straws because it would cause swelling to try and suck. The indications of this for my tiny clients were thought provoking. I stuck to a liquid diet and ate a lot of smoothies, broth and yogurt drinks. I could not handle anything with any type of chunks it in because moving my tongue to clear the food to the back of my throat was far too painful. I did manage to eat some Cream of Wheat by the end of the day but I was swallowing it whole.
I drove up to our Milwaukee office to see Julia, our OT, for some bodywork (she does a combination of craniosacral therapy and Feldenkrais) and for her to take a look at things. She did some great releases in my neck to help with the pain. She also released the floor of my mouth. On the left side I had some extra pain because my tongue used to pull that way. My torso twist was completely resolved and she was SHOCKED. That tight frenulum was causing so many issues throughout the rest of my body. I was not sure what I was going to experience in my body after the release. The most surprising to me was how my foot started reacting. For my entire life I have had severe supination of my right foot. As a cheerleader and gymnast as a child I injured that foot by rolling it very often. As the dentist was releasing my frenulum I felt a tingling pop down into my right foot and all the pain I had at that moment disappeared. Today I felt like that foot was getting sore. Julia did some bodywork there to see if it would help. She also gave me some myofunctional therapy exercises to start working on. I will see her again in a week.
My husband reported no snoring last night. It was interesting because I almost felt like my tongue was velcroed to the roof of my mouth all day and night.
I started some very light stretching of the wound today and it was very uncomfortable. Julia wanted me to keep going but VERY lightly. With stitches the stretches are a bit different.
Day 3 Post-Op:
Hello swelling today! I woke up this morning with less pain and decided to downgrade to just ibuprofen. You can see in the photo though that my tongue is really swollen. I feel like I have wound contraction and less range of motion. It feels like it's pulling around my stitches. I also feel EXHAUSTED today. Yesterday I did too much so I think I'm paying for it today, but as my fellow mamas know, there are still things that must get done. Trying to take it a bit easier today though.
I've been able to expand what I'm eating finally! I had some soup with noodles, apple sauce, and soft scrambled eggs. I'm trying to make sure I get enough protein so I stay full. I did a big smoothie this morning with protein powder. Shout out to Wellmade Restorative for all of her help getting my diet dialed in.
Aaron did report snoring last night. I woke up and my nose was really stuffed up from allergies so wondering if that was it. I'm anxious to try mouth taping again after I'm healed.
I have a deep tissue massage scheduled for tonight at Touch of Peace and Harmony so I can get some more help relieving this muscle tension. Also, my foot is KILLING ME today. I think the muscles on the inside of my foot, where all the tension released, are so weak from never being used properly that the outside of my foot is in so much pain because those muscles are now getting overworked. I'm trying to be mindful of flattening my foot when I walk. I also am pulling out some of my old PT exercises (foot circles, writing the ABCs with my foot, elastic band work, one foot small hops) to work on those muscles. I may have to go back to PT if what I do is not helping.
I am continuing with super light wound stretches today. I will be ramping them up tomorrow.
Day 4 Post-Op:
My mouth is feeling much better today. I only had to take ibuprofen this morning and I haven't taken anything else through the day. I started doing more wound stretches today and it's very painful and hard to do because the stitches are so tight. Using gauze has helped me get some traction. I am really tired again today and have spent as much time in bed as I could.
I started off with a soft foods breakfast of scramble eggs, smoothie and yogurt drink but was able to eat dinner with the family tonight. It was so exciting to chew food! We went to Jerry Smith's Pumpkin Farm and I even got to have one of their famous cookies. My spirts were lifted with orange frosting :) My fellow Kenosha area folks know what's up.
My foot is not hurting today thankfully. The massage yesterday was very focused on loosening up my calves and feet and I think that did the trick. I've been doing the PT exercises 1-2 times per day. Hopping around my house on one foot has been very entertaining for my kids, but is helping work on all those little foot muscles.
Day 5 Post-Op:
Today my pain is almost completely gone. I am doing more forceful stretches and I think my top stitch popped out. I can't wait to get these stitches to all come out! That bottom knot is so annoying and driving me crazy. I had a full day of seeing babies so I was gone from 7am-7pm, but I feel like I did ok. My mouth was tired by the end of the day from all the talking but I managed.
I am able to eat most things now. I had a piece of toast for breakfast and I had to take tiny bites but I got it all down. I even exercised this morning! All in all feeling much, much better today.
My foot is the lingering annoying pain. I've been working hard on my PT exercises to work on strength of my foot and ankle and am hopeful that will help reduce the pain.
Day 6 Post-Op:
We got my stitches to come out! I am so thankful! I was gargling with salt water and that worked to get the top ones out, but then my husband had to cut out the bottom knot. It was poking me all day at work so I'm so glad to have it gone. I have one little part of the tip of my tongue that is numb and has been this way since the release. I'm thinking it was where the stitch was pulling. I'm hoping that resolves now that the stitches are gone.
I have no pain today at all. My foot is feeling better as well. Now that the stitches are out I was able to use Serrapeptase to loosen up the wound and get some really good stretches in. I am doing similar wound stretches that I do on the babies that I work with, but added in Julia's fork lift exercise as well. I'm also doing tongue movement and strengthen exercises to keep the tongue moving. Our tongues are made up of 8 muscles so there is a lot of strengthen that needs to happen after a tongue tie release. This part takes time. When we skip this step getting to full function is not possible.
I'm able to eat all the things again. It does take me a little bit longer to move food around in my mouth so I'm eating a bit slower. I'm also taking longer to coordinate some of my tongue movements. I really have to think about getting the tongue tip to the corners of my mouth for example as that movement was not one that I could do well before the release.
Day 7 Post-Op:
I'm feeling pretty good today! I've been done deeper wound stretches twice today to get that diamond wound to continue to heal nice and flexible. I'm not in any pain unless something rubs against the bottom of my tongue. The hardest part is moving my tongue to clear my molars. That also makes my tongue sore.
Overall I am really pleased with how it's healing. It's amazing to feel so much more range of motion. I know I have a lot more myofunctional therapy in my future though. I am finding myself using too much effort to keep my mouth closed day and night. I'm overusing my cheek muscles to force myself into proper position during the day and I've started snoring again at night. I also have another 2 weeks of wound stretches.
Next up is my appointment to get fit for my expander. Stay tuned for my next adventure!
This blog post is in no way medical advice and just my personal experience.
Local to the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area? Need to get your older child assessed for oral ties? Book a visit with our Occupational Therapist, Julia!