Tongue-tied

Tongue-tied: causes and treatment methods

Tongue-tied is a speech disorder characterized by incorrect pronunciation of sounds. This can be caused by various reasons, including improper speech education in young children, deformation of the speech apparatus, hearing loss, damage to the central nervous system and other factors.

One of the most common forms of tongue-tiedness is burr when pronouncing the sound “r”. It often occurs due to improper speech education in young children, when parents or educators do not monitor their speech.

However, tongue-tiedness can also be caused by physiological reasons, for example, deformation of the speech apparatus, such as incorrect positioning of teeth, open bite, narrow or flat hard palate, its clefts, paralysis of the soft palate, tongue, etc. Also often a violation of the pronunciation of sounds is associated with hearing loss, when the patient has difficulty hearing spoken words and is deprived of the ability to control them auditorily.

Treatment for tongue-tiedness depends on its cause. If the cause is improper speech education, then the defects are corrected by a speech therapist. He can help the child with various exercises and games that will help him pronounce sounds correctly.

If the cause of tongue-tiedness is the incorrect structure of the speech apparatus, then tongue-tiedness is eliminated with the help of special devices and prostheses, such as orthodontic locks. In some cases, surgery, such as plastic surgery, may be required.

It is very important to begin the formation of speech at an early preschool age, so that correct speech is formed by the time they enter school. In our country there are a large number of preschool institutions for children with severe speech impairments: specialized kindergartens, nurseries, medical hospitals and sanatoriums. Parents can also help their children by monitoring their speech and seeking professional help when needed.

In general, the earlier medical and pedagogical work to correct tongue-tiedness in a child is started, the greater the chance of a favorable outcome. However, even if tongue-tiedness occurs in an adult, it can also be successfully treated if you contact specialists in a timely manner.

We learn the ability to speak, express our thoughts coherently and actively listen to other people from childhood. It would seem that the ability to speak is such an elementary thing that anyone can easily master it. However, often due to poor vocabulary, lack of necessary words, or fear of interrupting the speaker, a person cannot express his thoughts in full or say what he really wants. And if some people, thanks to their perseverance, easily improve their speech skills, others have problems even in such a small matter. It is with such people that we will talk today about such a concept as tongue-tiedness. This condition can occur in both children and adults and is almost always the result of some kind of dysfunction of the nervous system. According to recent research, speech is a complex combination of movements. The lower jaw bone is controlled by 32 muscles at once, which is significantly more than the lower or upper jaw, which have 5 and 9 muscles, respectively. Also, the smallest jaw is controlled by 14 muscle groups. In order to be able to smoothly move the jaw to the ear, a person needs to feel the body with his hands. If there are any moments of impaired muscle sensitivity or control over all the muscles that control the mouth, then the person simply will not be able to pronounce the right word or will “stop hearing” his own speech and will forget it. Thus, the fewer functions a person’s speech performs, the more