Tethered Oral Tissues Tongue, Lip & Cheek Ties -
Pre/Post Revision Care in Rocklin CA

A baby struggling with severe challenges of nursing, reflux, digestion, and sleep might be suffering from a medical condition, ankyloglossia commonly called tongue tie. This is not only a baby struggling to thrive but a mother and family who is in distress as this bonding experience is not a smooth and easy beginning. Our Rocklin CA chiropractor, Dr. Abate has a practice dedicated to helping babies and moms affected by tongue tie. Difficulty breastfeeding interrupts the joyful bonding experience with challenges for the baby and for the mom. Challenges of the infant can include an inability to latch, weight loss of baby, reflux, constipation, failure to thrive, incessant crying, and irritability. Challenges to mom can be many: nipple soreness and pain, milk supply worries, mastitis, loss of sleep, frustration, and postpartum depression. It is a common misconception to think once you've overcome the hurdles of feeding difficulty, the next consideration might be speech delays and articulation impediments such as lisp, stuttering, and inability/unwillingness to communicate. We now know the implications are even more far-reaching than just breastfeeding and speech. These difficulties continue to affect the older child who escaped early intervention and go on to impact maturity. These adults can have lifelong conditions including dental development, posture, scoliosis, breathing and airway obstruction, mood/behavior problems, and academic/learning disorders. Early identification and proper treatment can mitigate any of these conditions that can result from tongue tie.

Assemble Your Care Team

Once identified, it is important to assemble your care team. Parents who choose to consult a specialist might think the revision is the only step to help mom and baby. It is now well accepted that a multiple-disciplinary approach provides for optimum recovery and arrests the development of those conditions associated with the ties. The specialist performs the surgical revision and the team provides therapies to address the adaptations of the entire body and brain development secondary to the restricted oral tissues. The team can be quite comprehensive depending on the severity of the restriction, the age of the child, and the impact on development. Soft tissue mobilization, known as 'bodywork', muscle strengthening and retraining as well as myofunctional, physical, occupational, and speech therapies all play a role in your child's recovery.

A Doctor of Chiropractic, experienced in not only pediatrics but also the special considerations of tongue tie can play an essential part as a primary healthcare provider. Dr. Abate is experienced and works closely with a team of professionals to refer as necessary for the health of each child. As a certified pediatric chiropractor instructed in functional bowen for the pediatric spine, she can provide structural care for joints, soft tissue, and muscle to improve mobility, and flexibility of the spine and release whole body tension. Dr. Abate is also uniquely qualified to add the dynamic of brain health and development which can be impacted by a tie with her post-graduate educational emphasis on functional neurology and neurodevelopment(how the brain grows and matures).
Dr. Abate combines this education with over 30 years of clinical experience. She has worked with 1000+ infants pre/post revision and compliments her chiropractic and neurological care with bodywork, nutritional counseling, therapeutic exercise rehabilitation for movement, and sensory integration including primitive and postural reflex assessment and care. She evaluates each child not only for the structural and neurological effects of the tie but also for appropriate brain and nervous system development for early detection of delays and disabilities that might manifest later secondary to the tie, even after frenectomy release.

Why So Many Families Choose Better Health Chiropractic

Dr. Abate has been a practicing Doctor of Chiropractic serving the Rocklin CA community for over 30 years and has a dedicated pediatric practice. More than 50% of her patient base is under the age of 10. She has attained Certification from the Academy Council of Chiropractic Pediatrics, American Functional Neurology Institute, completed 300+ hours through the Carrick Institute in Children's Neurological Illnesses and Disorders, and is currently enrolled in the DevelopingMINDS program to complete her post graduate credential in neurodevelopment. She is a leader in her disciplines and serves as Lead Senior Mentor for DevelopingMINDs, helping share her mission and application of her knowledge throughout the profession. Her extensive experience and education in pediatrics make her uniquely qualified to assess and identify your child's needs. Often she is the first consulted when an older infant suffers more reflux and digestive challenges or a younger child struggles with coordination, behavioral, or learning challenges. If a tie has been missed, she has a network of the best team of providers and refers your child appropriately. With 200+ postgraduate educational hours through the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association, Dr. Abate is trained beyond the standard chiropractic education to provide gentle, effective chiropractic care with techniques specific to the pediatric spine. She has additional training in cranial and visceral adjusting techniques. It can be important to address the bones of the skull including the palate for suck, swallow, and airway function as well as plagiocephaly(flattened/misshaped skull) to complement spinal care for the health of the body and nervous system, particularly integrating movement.

Dr. Abate will educate and empower you as she explains every step of your baby's care. Unlike other providers, she incorporates her unique knowledge base of functional neurology with her post-graduate focus on neurodevelopment to optimize the healthcare of your baby from a brain-based perspective of wellness. She guides parents through the milestones that mark the path of their baby's maturity and helps them understand the long-term consequences of tongue tie and make informed choices to initiate care BEFORE a problem surfaces.

Pre & Post Revision Care

Dr. Abate works closely with pediatric dentists, lactation consultants, a birthing community of midwives and doulas as well as bodyworkers to provide the highest quality of chiropractic care for structural improvement and neurological integrity to the brain and nervous system for babies and families. She continues her post-graduate education to competently provide many of these multimodal therapies in her office for the convenience of the families and continuity of care. She has pioneered a complete approach of "Pre-hab and Rehab" for these children integrating bodywork techniques to "unwind" the fascial restriction throughout the body with her experienced, specific chiropractic care. The primary care goal is to release whole-body tension, restore movement, and improve the integrity of the nervous system. She develops a treatment plan to incorporate therapies tailored to your child's recovery such as home exercises and recommendations for optimal brain development and fostering of gross and fine motor maturity to ensure the healthiest child's, mental and emotional well-being.

Tied To The Brain

What is truly extraordinary about chiropractic care for your child at Better Health Chiropractic is Dr. Abate's comprehensive approach to integrating functional neurology and brain development relevant to tethered oral tissues(ties of the tongue, lip, or cheek). Evaluating your child from a structural, neurological, and developmental perspective includes assessment of primitive reflexes, postural reflexes, and milestones. She explains and helps your baby's development from a brain-based health approach. The in-depth assessment of these neurological windows provides an opportunity to "see" into the brain and predict potential developmental problems. Her passion in practice is to provide exceptional care and optimal brain/body wiring for the benefit of the child and future life success. Pre and post-revision care is integrated and coordinated and allows for necessary care to support the revision to be provided conveniently in one place, on the same visit at Better Health Chiropractic. Better Health Chiropractic truly becomes your primary care provider throughout this journey of recovery and your pediatric wellness resource.

The revision is a surgical procedure that separates the tight soft tissue attaching the tongue to the floor of the mouth. That is only the part that we can see. What we don't see is the tongue is a long muscle that attaches down the throat to the diaphragm. This adhesive tissue continues down the front of the spine anchoring the tongue to the length of the body. With or without the surgical release, this tissue can continue to cause suck and swallow difficulties as well as hiccups and breathing difficulty creating the need for structural care, chiropractic, and bodywork. Bodywork or soft tissue mobilization is recommended before and after the revision to loosen or free the adhesive tissue above and below the surgical site that can not be cut. Structurally, chiropractic care is so important and can have a huge impact on that child. These restrictions can 'subluxate', or misalign the spinal vertebrae that protect the delicate nervous system and can impact the child's development even after completion of the revision. The chiropractic adjustment restores mobility of the head and neck and relaxes the spinal tension of the baby. Often Dr. Abate must incorporate other chiropractic techniques such as cranial adjusting to address flattened or bald spots, palate formation secondary to altered suck and swallow that can cause dental conditions that affect bite(cross, over, and under) as well as a future of extensive orthodontics. Postural and airway restriction has been connected to chronic asthma and many pediatric tonsil and adenoid surgeries.

Chiropractic care improves neurological function and brain development. Dr. Abate can provide craniosacral techniques to activate the parasympathetic or rest and digest nervous system for a more content, happy baby. Many times symptoms of colic, reflux, and constipation are relieved when neurologic function is improved.

Tongue, lip, or check tie/tethers can be so tight they restrict movement and literally 'tied to the brain' as this restricted movement adversely affects brain development. Red flags of types of restricted movement affecting brain development can be limited head motion -left/right rotation, head tilt or arching, inability to engage in tummy time, weak core strength, and failure to hit milestones on time as well as hitting milestones too early. These physical developmental delays or inappropriately achieving these skills impact brain integration. Poor integration in the brain can be the hallmark of developmental delays and impact sensory processing disorders. Often poor sensory-motor control will manifest in pre-school and primary grades as behavior issues, clumsiness, poor body control, and coordination. By the time the child reaches secondary grades reading, focus and attention can be affected. Chiropractic care restores movement, particularly of the head/neck, and regulates proper sensory input to foster optimal brain development. Restoration of movement through the adjustment reduces breast preference and helps the baby progress to initial milestones of tummy time, rolling, sitting, and crawling which fosters optimal brain development. These milestones are essential to developing the brain and coordinating body movement for balance, walking, and orienting our body to the world.

Dr. Abate's certification in functional chiropractic neurology and additional credentialing in the field of neurodevelopment is the foundation of Better Health Chiropractic's exclusive Smart Start Care recommendations to assess your child's brain development and ensure the smoothest path of development for the healthiest child with the greatest opportunity to achieve physical, emotional and academic success as they grow. Functional Bowen for the Pediatric Spine and Specific Chiropractic Adjustments are provided in one place for the convenience of the parents and continuity of care. The highest quality of care for your child begins with pre/post-revision care but can continue as long as you desire with our milestone check-in visits.

What Can You Expect From Your First Visit In Rocklin CA

Better Health Chiropractic promises an exceptional office experience that will leave you confident and comfortable with your care. Your experience begins with a comprehensive consultation before your first office visit. The consultation without the child affords a candid conversation and doesn't leave the child bored, testing their patience and wasting time. The child is greeted and made to feel special from the minute they enter the office since this is HIS/HER appointment. We have a room dedicated to the care of children with specialized equipment. We pride ourselves on being appropriately scheduled based on the needs/age of the child and running on time. The child is never rushed and dependent upon age, our scheduling provides time for observation and interactive play as part of the exam. Dr. Abate feels strongly, that no child should be forced and the visit should be relaxed and comfortable. She wants parents just as relaxed and comfortable as she explains each step throughout the exam and care process. Your baby will be evaluated for structural, neurological, and developmental health and wellness.

The most optimal care plan for a tongue-tied baby is the identification of the problem as soon as possible! Typically the baby is seen 2 weeks before the revision and 4-8 weeks after the revision. The frequency of care is dependent upon the difficulties the child is manifesting, the degree of baby/maternal distress, and the severity of the physical restriction to the baby's body. Dr. Abate's comprehensive treatment plan includes bodywork, cranial and craniosacral therapies, spinal subluxation care, developmental assessment and integration as well as sensory integration. Home care recommendations include recommended stretches and exercise, nutritional counseling, and therapy instruction. She is experienced with children of all ages undergoing revision, from infant to teen. She is also experienced with co-management with providers already attending your care.