Myofunctional Therapy
My goal is to strengthen and tone the muscles of your face, tongue, mouth, and throat and retrain the muscles that are not functioning properly. I use techniques to retrain these muscles so that proper function is restored and the new habits you have learned become permanent muscle memory. Awareness of proper lip seal and tongue posture are huge, and correcting these simple things alleviates patients symptoms so that bigger issues are easier to treat, such as:
- Sleep apnea
- Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome
- Sleep disordered breathing
- Jaw joint pain (TMD)
- Orthodontic and surgical relapse
- Craniofacial growth
- Headaches, face and neck pain/tension
- Postural issues
The Four Goals of Myofunctional Therapy are:
1. Nasal breathing
If you think about it, there are very few animals you can think of that choose to breathe through their mouths. This is because of all the benefits we have from nasal breathing. It helps us to warm and moisten our air before it travels to our lungs. It also filters out allergens and airborne bacteria entering our body and reduces congestion.
We produce the most Nitric Oxide for our bodies by nasal breathing. This amazing endocrine messenger does so much for our bodies, including; sending signals to our upper airway dilator muscles to do their job effectively, causes bronchodilation, reduces inflammation and more. We produce 50-200 ppm of nitric oxide by nasal breathing compared to 10 ppm when we mouth breath.
Nasal breathing also activated our diaphragm to work better and sleep deeper. Carbon dioxide in our blood stimulates our body to breathe and nasal breathing helps us regulate our breathing more efficiently for our body.
2. Lip seal
Having your lips sealed goes hand in hand with nasal breathing. If your lips are not sealed you cannot breathe through your nose. Having our lips sealed during the day and night allows us to maintain a healthy bacteria flora in our mouth, prevent our oral tissues from drying out, which can contribute to tooth decay, gum disease and inflammation of the gingiva and tonsils/throat.
3. Proper tongue posture
Our tongue is a complex muscle that is involved in speaking, swallowing, and breathing. It is constantly working and keeping our airway open. When it is at rest, it will fill the entire space of our palate. This promotes healthy growth of the sinus cavity and supports the upper jaw structures. A proper tongue posture as a child will help teeth grow in straighter and encourage the maxilla and mandible to grow properly.
4. Correct swallowing pattern
If your tongue pushes against your front teeth or laterally against the sides of your back teeth when you swallow, you have a “tongue thrust”. This can be attributed to a past or present airway issue, prolonged thumb/digit sucking, pacifier use, or a tongue tie. It can cause you to gulp small amounts of air when you are eating and drinking, resulting in digestive issues like bloating, gas and acid reflux. You may be referred to a myofunctional therapist because your tongue thrust has caused your teeth to move or relapse from previous orthodontic treatment.
These healthy functional habits should occur all day and all night!
Not just for kids…
Orofacial myofunctional therapy is also appropriate for adults. In many instances, a myofunctional disorder develops in response to late jaw growth, worsening of a malocclusion over time, and airway problems. Adults of all ages are capable of achieving success in treatment.
Oftentimes, myofunctional therapy can be effective at improving sleep disordered breathing such as snoring, Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome and Sleep Apnea (SA). Unfortunately, sleep apnea has become increasingly prevalent, but the good news is that multiple studies have shown how Myofunctional Therapy can help improve and treat Sleep Apnea. This is because some sleep related issues are a result of dysfunctional and weak muscles. Myofunctional Therapy helps strengthen weak muscles and correct the improper use of these muscles to restore healthy function.
How does a typical exam work?
This is a list of all the things I look at during a myofunctional therapy examination:
- The airway is a major focus of mine, looking at tongue placement and space, palatal shape, and tone of the soft palate
- Tonsils and Adenoids
- Mouth breathing vs. nasal breathing
- Where the tongue rests in the mouth
- Tongue-tie and tongue function/mobility
- Chewing and the first oral phase of swallowing
- Orthodontic treatment
- Speech and articulation– certain sounds such as the “r” sound can be from a tongue-tie and sometimes a referral to a lingual speech pathologist is recommended for speech issues beyond my scope
- Jaw pain
- Head, neck and facial pain
- Snoring and sleep apnea
- Maxillary and mandibular skeletal structure
- Habits such as thumb and finger sucking
I teach my patients exercises that relate to tongue placement, breathing, speaking, chewing, and swallowing.
I want the tongue to rest in the right place and the mouth to stay closed. When these two simple things happen, troublesome symptoms disappear and the big picture problems around braces, speech, jaw pain, and sleep apnea become much easier to treat.
For success using this therapy, consistent exercise every day is necessary until the patient has fixed their improper muscle pattern and strengthened weak and imbalanced muscles. It takes a commitment by the patient, family ~ and some time. Treatment usually consists of a regular program of exercises over a 6 – 12 month period, although treatment length may vary depending on individual needs and age of the patient. All sessions are individualized to the patient’s needs for a focused approach. There are typically 3 phases to treatment:
- Intense phase – typically weekly or every two weeks
- Generalization phase – maintenance
- Habituation phase – on a cellular level, new habits take time and this supports permanent integration.
