Myofunctional Therapy
What is Myofunctional treatment?
Myofunctional therapy seeks to treat individuals with problems stemming from the muscles of the face. This therapy technique corrects improper use of an individual's orofacial musculature (tongue, jaw, throat, top of mouth, teeth, and tonsils) to improve breastfeeding, chewing, swallowing, movement, breathing, speech, and more.
An Orofacial Myofunctional Disorder occurs when the orofacial musculature, due to either misuse or a structural abnormality, interferes with normal development and function, and these OMD's can correlate with a plethora of speech and swallowing disorders.
What we work on
After identifying the dysfunction in the mouth, our speech therapists will practice customized exercises that allow children to change chewing and swallowing habits, speak more clearly, or breathe in a healthier pattern to improve oral-motor abilities, facial tone, or desensitization to certain textures.
We also specialize in tongue ties. A lip or tongue tie occurs when a frenum, a band of tissue connecting two areas of the mouth, is either too short or connects the tissues too tightly. This can cause issues with feeding, breathing, and speech. If your child has a lip or tongue tie that needs to be surgically corrected through a frenectomy, our therapists will work on preparing the patient before and after the procedure to ensure it goes as smoothly as possible.
General Indicators that your child may benefit from myofunctional therapy services
Children see oral-motor therapists for a variety of reasons, including difficulty:
- Feeding or swallowing – unable to safely eat or drink age-appropriate foods and liquids, drooling, inability to close the lips to swallow
- Tongue Tie
- Weakness in Tongue muscles/limited tongue motion
- Difficulties breathing/often breathing through the mouth
- Difficulties saying sounds like "s" "sh" "r" or "j"
- Tongue thrusting
Overview of Services
Services begin with a 45 minute initial evaluation to get to know both you and your child and what difficulties you may be concerned about. The feeding therapist will....
Standardized testing will be completed as well as a questionnaire by the parent to determine long- and short-term goals for your child.
A doctor’s prescription will be required to schedule an initial evaluation.
If your child is deemed a candidate for services, Color Along Pediatric Therapy provides feeding therapy services and support to begin implementing interventions to meet goals set for your child.