TTMA Lip/Tongue Ties

[lostineden]

Hi, hi!

So, my darling little E apparently has a fairly severe upper lip tie and a moderate tongue tie. We're still BFing, but I literally have a hole in my left nipple and it hurts to keep going. I saw a LC and my pedi who both confirmed the tie(s). The LC gave us a few referrals to have it/them revised, the pedi seemed to think it was only worth revising the upper lip tie and only as a last resort if nothing else helped the pain while BFing. I'm torn about whether to do it at all, just do the upper lip, or go ahead and do both.

I looked into a dentist who uses a water laser, which seemed the kindest way to go. But it's not covered by our insurance. I can also go to an ENT who will cut the tie with scissors. This is covered by our insurance.

Does anyone have any experience revising ties? What procedure was used? How did your LO do with the recovery process? Any suggestions for a Momma dealing with this?

THANK YOU.

[shortermommy]

Hey. My 15 month old had a pretty noticeable tongue tie when he was born but we didn't catch it until like you it was so so so painful for me to breast feed that my LC discovered the tie when she was watching how he latched and suckled- we had the on call Doctor/surgeon clip his when he was a week old and they didn't even numb it (because it was going to be such a quick snip and done) he snipped it real quick and then I nursed DS and it stopped bleeding and he stopped crying- I don't think it was a bad procedure at all honestly. For a few days where he was clipped at underneath his tongue had like a little white film over it (normal) and then you couldn't even tell anymore- my nipples almost felt immediate relief after the tie was clipped.

[cheeseandrice]

Do it.

I have no experience, but I have a few friends who have had various ties clipped and have nothing but positive things to say about it. It can help with potential speech issues later down the road too.

[mrsh82414]

I can't speak to tongue ties, but I personally had an upper lip tie that was not fixed until I was like 7? I think? This was almost 20 years ago, but I believe my lip tie removed by a laser? I was awake for the procedure they just numbed me and made me keep my eyes closed. They also let me wear a cassette player so I didn't hear anything. They stitched me up and sent me on my way. I honestly can't remember being in much pain except when I smiled or laughed. If the pain was severe I would've been old enough to remember and I really don't remember it at all. I would definitely get everything taken care of now especially if you want to continue breast feeding. There's no need to suffer as these procedures are quick and relatively painless. Besides baby will never remember it happened.

[leopardgurl831]

So DS1 has a bad upper lip tie. No one told me and I didn't get help soon enough. I had a hole in my nipple as well. I pumped that side while it healed and nursed on that side once a day.

It did get less painful with time. If I was aware if the problem I would have had both fixed with a laser. I'm actually worried we might need to get the lip tie clipped later due to his tooth gap.

[pambeesley]

DS2 had a tongue tip (clipped) and still has a lip tie. We had the tongue tip clipped when he was 4 weeks old with scissors and it was seriously not a big deal. The ENT cut it and DS2 went right to nursing with no issues. The lip tie wasn't severe enough to be clipped then and there, and the ENT said it is likely that as he grows, it may "clip" itself without any medical intervention. However, I will warn that a friend had a severe lip tie and her parents refused to do anything about it. She had a serious speech impediment all throughout school until her dog jumped on her in high school, catching her lip and essentially clipping it with his claws.

[rondosa]

DS1 had a tongue tie that went undiscovered for 5 weeks. Those 5 weeks were hell. Long nursing sessions, super painful, my nipples would go white. Argh.

I went to the Newman clinic and he diagnosed it right away and I had it clipped then and there. They just clip it old school nothing fancy but honestly it was 4 seconds, he cried and I nursed him and he was fine. Immediate relief.

If I were you I'd clip both and just do it the normal way that's covered by your insurance.

[sunflwra]

I just asked our pedi about this yesterday. She said Gracie's isn't horrible (most kids have some sort of lip tie, it's just about severity and whether it will resolve itself over time, but she does have one. She said it may not help with breastfeeding but it would help with bottle feeding (she's dripping out a lot of milk and taking in excess gas by not getting a good seal). She said it was up to us but if we want to do it, do it now since it's a very minor procedure at this age versus requiring anesthesia, etc when they are older. We were referred to a pediatric dentist so I'm waiting on a call back to see where to go from there. I didn't realize an ENT could do it as well, will be checking that out.

[lostineden]

Thank you so much everyone!!

[cnbpa3027]

So I knew there was such a thing as tongue tie, but never knew there was such a thing as a lip tie! I just googled images and Charlotte definitely has this! And my other daughter has it, too. No one ever checked my older daughter for it--and she is currently in speech therapy(she was a late talker because of tubes in her ears) and none of her speech evaluations have ever brought it up.

I will definitely be asking our pediatrician about it tomorrow! It still really hurts when she nurses so I wonder if this is why.

[sunflwra]

From what I've heard from other mamas, a lot of medical professionals are not well trained in evaluating lip ties. My pedi admitted that she hadn't even really heard of them until about a year ago. They can often be missed. We have an appointment set with a pediatric dentist in 2 weeks and they want me to bring her in hungry so that they can evaluate her nursing attempts and also bottle feeding along with the overall physical eval which really surprised me. It does sound like most kids have them to some degree or another, it only factors in when there are issues feeding or could be future speech issues, etc to make it worth addressing. Unfortunately insurance will only cover about half so it's going to be about $500 OOP :-(

[kittymeowbark]

JJ was refereed to a specialist after she we were struggling with BFing as well. My nipples were so torn and blistered that I would have more blood then milk come out. Her initial hospital discharge papers mentioned she has a mild tongue tie, but the LC did not think she did. Anywho, we went to the consultation and confirmed she just has a short tongue, but no tie tongue itself. This information helped the LC come up with a different approach to helping us BF. She is now latching on perfectly and no more pain.

I would recommend doing the procedure. I was doing my research on it prior to our consult and all the information lead me to decide that is something that will benefit my baby in the long run. I do not have any words of wisdom for the actual procedure since I haven't had it done, so i'm wishing you two the best of luck instead

[cheeseandrice]

Who'd you all first talk to about this? Pedi? LC?

[stephyfaith]

DD had a really hard to diagnose tongue tie as it wasn't super obvious and we got it clipped and she did amazing. It was so quick and she nursed right after. DS has a small tongue tie that you can see but he nurses just fine. If you're having trouble nursing, do it. So worth it.