Baby Can't Latch? Tongue-Tie? Or Could It Be Something Else?
While I am not an expert in analyzing or diagnosing tongue-ties, the truth is, very few healthcare practitioners are. For example, not all lactation consultants know how to properly assess for tongue-ties. Furthermore, not all physicians, dentists, speech-language pathologists, etc. have training in analyzing and diagnosing tongue-ties as well.
While tongue-ties have been observed for over 2,000 years, their possible link to latching problems is fairly recent.
One fact is known, tongue-ties are congenital anomalies. An important study (Tongue-tie in the Newborn: What, When, Who and How? Exploring Tongue-tie Division) out of Australia by Dr. David Todd shows that only around 5% of the population has a congenital tongue-tie.
While only 5% of the population seem to have a tongue-tie, clinical observations indicate that anywhere between 20-50% of the pediatric population is receiving tongue-tie revision surgery.
For me, this begs the question: why the discrepancy? If only 5% of the population has a congenital tongue-tie, why is 20 to 50% of the population getting a surgery that aims to fix this congenital anomaly? The statistical gap is too big between the facts.
Something has to be driving the uptick in tongue-tie revisions. While surgery is a viable option in some, it is not a “one-size fits all” solution for all cases.
If 20-50% of the newborn population now has congenital tongue-ties, some type of epigenetic event must have occurred to create this cataclysmic change. If this is not the case, then some other cause must be at play. More often than not in these situations, the cause is driven by some type of monetary incentive. While I am not saying it is the case in this situation, it would be apropos to “follow the money” and see where it leads.
Here is another fact: A tongue-tie is not the only cause of a problematic latch. Other negative influences are distortions in the skull, a vertebral subluxation, incoordination in latch mechanics and torticollis to name a few.
A well-coordinated sequence of events must happen for a successful latch to happen. There are 9 general steps of a latch:
The jaw has to open
The tongue has to drop and get out of the way
The nipple has to come in
The jaw closes partway
The tongue comes back up
The lips close and must maintain tension to keep a seal through suction
The sides of the jaw have to come up
The tongue has to ripple from front to back
The infant then has to perform a sucking and swallowing motion
The Nerve System controls all the muscles and joints involved in the latch. All the body parts must be orchestrated in their proper balance to work effectively. Structural distortions in the body, skull, face and cervical spine can create problems in latch potential.
All the negative factors that effect latching can be addressed in less invasive ways. The most non-invasive way to correct a vertebral subluxation and its negative effect on a latch is through a specific adjustment given by a Pediatric Chiropractor.
Pediatric Chiropractors have post-graduate training in the evaluation and assessment of infant and childhood vertebral subluxations. Correcting the vertebral subluxation better optimizes the Nerve System and spine to control the muscles and joints involved in the latching movements.
- Jarek Esarco, DC, CACCP
Related Blogs:
What Is Pediatric Chiropractic?
Can Infants Get Vertebral Subluxations?
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