can you help me understand tongue tie?

[meg-momto2]

i'm aware of the typical tongue tie where the frenulum is attached to the tip of the toungue but can't figure out much beyond that. i'm googling like made but can't find the difference between anterior, posterior and regular tongue tie. is there a difference? also i'm starting to wonder if DD, DS and i all have tongue tie issues. none of our frenulums are attached at the end of our tongues but i guess we all have some other signs based on what i read in the other threads. can you recommend a good site to read up on this?

[tanyalynn]

Have you read this article?

http://www.aap.org/breastfeeding/8-27%20Newsletter.pdf

Not sure it will answer all your questions, it hasn't answered all mine, but it was helpful. I also got a lot from the discussion here--I don't know of another site that discusses it clearly.

I _think_ types 3 and 4 are posterior in that .pdf, but I still don't really know how to identify a posterior tongue tie. I get the impression that they usually co-exist with an arched, high palate (such as when you can feel a ridge down the middle of the mouth, front to back) but I can't tell if one can exist without the other. Also, I think it's quite possible to have anterior (regular) tongue ties and posterior at the same time, though the article above seems to imply that's not really something to look for.

[meg-momto2]

thanks. i found that article on my search. i'm still confused. maybe it would help if i described my mouth/tongue issues.

i have a narrow jaw and the roof of my mouth very tall and narrow. one side is higher then the other and the ridge is a bit off center. my tongue seems almost to big for my mouth. it's very wide and long. i can touch my nose with my tongue if that means anything. i get caught up on words very easily and don't talk much because of that. it doesn't sound like tongue tie but i'm wondering if it's related at all.

does that sound normal? do you think it could be related to allergy/intolerance issues?

[tanyalynn]

I don't think we're supposed to have that ridge, but like I said, I can't tell if that always goes with a posterior tie. My husband also has the crazy long (compared to my family) tongue--I think (as long as the tongue doesn't roll when you stick it out and move it left to right) it mostly means there's no anterior tie.

I don't know if this helps or not, Traditional Chinese Medicine says that fat tongues are related to health (they'd look at the color and other things as well, of course), my husband feels like his tongue is fat and he can't talk well. It's either related to dampness or heat, and I can't remember for certain which--I think dampness though, if you're familiar with TCM or want to look it up. A TCM practitioner may be able to help with that, they'd probably give dietary recommendations and nasty, nasty herbs (according to my husband).

http://www.sacredlotus.com/diagnosis/tongue/index.cfm

I have no idea if this is helpful or not. I found it helpful understanding our HCP's description (damp heat was a really foreign concept) and this adds at least a description that I could use (it's weird, but his tongue matches).