Lip & Tongue-Tie Patient Aftercare – Dallas, TX

Stretches

The mouth will heal quickly after a frenectomy, but if the right precautions aren’t taken, the tissues might bond back together and put you back at square one. To avoid this, we’ll have you perform a series of stretching exercises. These stretches won’t take very long and are very simple to do, and as long as you stick with them, they’ll shorten recovery time by a significant margin. We’ve outlined the stretches below; if your child is undergoing the treatment, you can help them perform these exercises. Be sure not to perform any given exercise for too long, or it might result in significant discomfort. It’s generally recommended to perform these stretches the same night as the surgery, again the morning afterwards, and then every night from the third day forward for about 21 days. (Do NOT do them twice on the second day.)

Lip-Tie Exercise

Take the lip and lift it (or pull it down) as far as you can before running your finger across the surgical site. This should be done for about 5 seconds at a time and repeated every 3 to 4 hours over the course of the next three weeks. During the fourth week, you should massage the area at least three times a day in case there is any scar tissue remaining. The good news is that the exercises will no longer need to be done throughout the night from the fourth week onward, which means it won’t get in the way of your child’s rest.

Tongue-Tie Exercise

Lift up the tongue as high as you can and push it back on the surgical site and swipe your finger on it like a rolling pin. Do this about 3 times while keeping your finger under your tongue for around 10 seconds. This particular exercise should be performed regularly for about three weeks, and you should continue massaging the area if scars are still visible at the beginning of the fourth week.

Pain Management

Every patient has a different threshold for pain tolerance, and while we will of course take every step to keep you comfortable during the procedure, you should be ready to deal with pain management for the next few days. Ibuprofen and other over-the-counter pain medications usually help, and you can also hold a cold or warm compress over the area where surgery was performed.

Aftercare for Adult Patients

While you might have to help your child perform the above stretches after the procedure, adult patients can simply perform them on their own. Take Tylenol, Advil, or another kind of pain medication to help with any soreness that occurs. Normally the recovery process only takes about 21 days. After that point, continued pain or swelling should be taken as a sign to call our practice as soon as possible.