Fascia is connective tissue, primarily made up of collagen, that completely covers your body - from your head to your toes. Your fascia holds everything in place - bones, organs, blood vessels and nerves. Not only does it keep everything in place, it also has a lot of nerve endings - making it almost as sensitive as your skin.
Fascia is made up of a fibrous connective tissue that contains closely packed bundles of fibers. Fascia is ultimately very flexible because of it’s structure, but when it is faced with force, trauma or dehydration, it can harden, tighten and become “stuck”. When your fascia is “stuck” or restricted, it can cause inflammation, pain, exhaustion, and can also cause the immune system to not function properly. These restrictions can be in response to physical stress or injury, and also emotional trauma.
So why talk about fascia and speech therapy? Tight fascia can mimic a tongue or lip tie. Remember - fascia is connected from your head to your toes. So birth trauma, emotional trauma during the pregnancy, and environmental trauma can all affect a baby, which can lead to tight fascia.
A tongue or lip tie (or fascia mimicking one) can significantly hinder many areas of a baby’s nursing journey. As a speech therapist, I want to see baby successfully nursing. I am looking for many things - some of them being: the ability to suck, swallow breath, the jaw moving like it should, muscles overworking, and positioning. One of the first things I do is assess function. If function is inhibited, then I work with the baby’s fascia in a neurological way so that baby can release any tension. From there, we can assess the baby’s needs to see if tongue or lip tied is actually needed.
Many times, I see babies who have already had the ties released but still are struggling with tension and coordinating their tongue and swallow pattern. We can help those babies too! By releasing some of the tension and trauma, they can gain better function and improve their nursing.
If you are concerned about your baby’s nursing, please schedule a full evaluation with me!