How to make the tongue longer for a teenager, adult, child. Exercises

The tongue is an organ of the oral cavity of humans and most vertebrates, which is directly involved in the process of chewing food, perceiving tastes, secreting saliva and producing articulate speech.

The length of the tongue is regulated by the frenulum, located in the lower part of this organ, attached to the bottom of the mouth. The average size of the hyoid ligament is about 3 cm. The presence of a shorter frenulum leads to a shortening of the length of the tongue, the development of abnormalities of the speech apparatus, and problems with eating.

To make your tongue longer, you need to regularly perform special exercises, massage the hyoid ligament, and pronounce tongue twisters.

When do adults and children need classes to lengthen their tongue?

Speech therapy exercises will help make the tongue longer, the use of which is an alternative to surgery.

Exercises to lengthen this part of the oral cavity are indicated in the following cases:

• an adult or child has limited mobility of the tongue, which affects the characteristics of speech reproduction;
• during a visual examination of the oral cavity, you can see that the sublingual ligament is too short, connected by a thin film filled with small veins of blood vessels;
• eating food takes too long, and in the process of chewing food a person gets very tired;
• performing basic actions of folding the tongue into a “tube” shape causes difficulties, and is also accompanied by a sound reminiscent of a click.

You can make your tongue longer with a set of developmental exercises. The decision to use this method of therapy must be made by a speech therapist. In this case, you should first consult a dentist.

If the doctor confirms that there is no need for surgical intervention, then you can begin working with a speech therapist.

How to make your tongue longer, the best ways

There are several basic non-surgical ways to lengthen the tongue. In this case, you can use speech therapy exercises, tongue twisters that develop the muscles of the tongue, as well as therapeutic massage.

Exercises

To stretch the hyoid ligament, articulation exercises are used, which gradually make the tongue longer. This type of therapeutic process is suitable for adults and children over 3 years of age.

Painter

The articulation exercise “Painter” is performed as follows:

1. You need to smile and then open your mouth as wide as possible.
2. After this, you should stroke the palate with the tip of your tongue, moving from the front teeth towards the throat. At this moment, the lower jaw should remain motionless.

3. While performing these manipulations, you must pronounce the following words:

“It’s time for us to paint the house.

We called a painter.

We lower the jaw smoothly,

We help out the painter.”

This exercise is suitable for children of all age groups, as its implementation is not particularly difficult.

horse

The technique for performing the “Horse” exercise involves following the following algorithm of actions:

1. You will need to open your mouth and make a wide smile.
2. After this, you should click the tip of the surface of the tongue, imitating the sound of a horse’s hooves, saying the following words:

“Let's ride our horse.

Along the road smooth, smooth.

A neighbor invited us to stay.

Try the sweet cake.

We arrived at lunchtime.

But our neighbor is not there.”

The exercise for developing the length of the tongue “Horse” is performed with periodic pauses lasting 1-3 minutes, which provide an opportunity for the muscles under stress to recover.

Fungus

To master the “Mushroom” exercise, you must do the following:

1. Open your mouth wide.
2. Raise your tongue up, resting its tip against the mucous membrane of the palate.
3. After this, you need to try to pronounce the following words:

“I stand on a thin leg.

I stand on a smooth leg.

I have a brown hat.

With my fluffy lining.”

The “Mushroom” exercise is considered quite complex, so it is best used to lengthen the tongue for older children and adults.

Harmonic

To perform the “Accordion” exercise, you will need to position your tongue exactly as during the “Mushroom” articulation exercise, but in this case you need to add a smile.

After this, you should smoothly open and close your mouth, and also try to pronounce the following words:

“We play the harmonica.

We open our mouths wider and wider.

I'll press my tongue to the sky.

I’ll lower my jaw.”

It is believed that during this exercise, not only the effect of articulatory stretching of the hyoid ligament is achieved, but also the facial muscles are significantly strengthened.

Drum

The drum is a simple exercise to increase the length of the tongue, the principle of which is as follows:

1. You need to open your mouth wide.
2. Place your tongue against the inside of the front teeth of the upper jaw.
3. Then you should repeatedly and as clearly as possible pronounce the continuous sounds “D-D-D-D-D”.

How to make your tongue longer is one of the Drum exercises.
While performing this exercise, you must ensure that your mouth remains open at all times. Otherwise, it will not be possible to achieve a positive effect in lengthening the hyoid ligament.

Swing

To perform the “Swing” exercise, you must follow the following algorithm of actions:

1. Open your mouth as wide as possible.
2. Make a smile.
3. Alternately move the tip of the tongue, touching the upper and lower teeth.
4. Keep the lower jaw motionless.
5. In the moment between moving the tongue, quickly pronounce the following words:

“I swing on a colored swing.

I go up and down.

I climb to great heights.

And then I go down again.”

From a technical point of view, performing this exercise is a rather complex process that will be difficult for children of the younger age group to master.

For adults, the “Swing” exercise is best suited.

Tongue stretching

Stretching the tongue is one of the simplest and most effective exercises, the implementation of which is as follows:

1. It is necessary to stick your tongue out of the mouth.
2. Pull the tip of the tongue in the direction of the nose, using only muscle strength.
3. After feeling tired, lower your tongue closer to the beginning of your upper lip.

While performing this exercise, you must ensure that the lower jaw remains motionless at all times.

Extending the tongue towards the surface of the tip of the nose should be carried out to the limit of physical capabilities. Only with the use of this approach will it be possible to achieve a positive result.

Tongue Twisters

Using the method of pronouncing tongue twisters makes it possible to develop the muscles of the tongue and thereby increase its length.

It is worth noting that the positive effect of using this method is less pronounced than that of articulation exercises or speech therapy massage.

Despite this, in combination with other techniques, you can recite the following tongue twisters every day:

1. Prokhor and his friend Pakhom rode together on horseback.
2. The white bull's upper lip was blunt.
3. Thick dust flies from the clatter of horse hooves across the black field.
4. The jackdaw sat on top of the stick, the stick hit the jackdaw.
5. Fenya has a signature sweatshirt, and Aunt Faya lives on Fontanka.
6. Chicken "Chick" tenaciously clings to a solid chain.
7. A water carrier brought water taken from the water supply.
8. Mother gave her daughter Sasha whey from sour milk.
9. The scales of a pike fish, the stubble of a Chukchi man.
10. The striped bee buzzed and buzzed before the bloodthirsty spider.

Tongue twisters should be pronounced in one breath, trying to demonstrate maximum speed in reproducing sounds. All words must be consistent, but at the same time legible to the ear.

Speech therapy massage

Speech therapy massage is an effective method of lengthening the hypoglossal ligament. This method of therapy is carried out with the direct participation of a speech therapist or dentist.

The technique for performing speech therapy massage is as follows:

1. The person sits down on a chair or dental chair, opens his mouth and sticks his tongue out.
2. The specialist performing the massage uses a cut of a sterile bandage to pinch the tongue with his fingers, lifting it slightly upward to free access to the sublingual ligament.
3. Then, with the thumb, index and middle fingers of the free hand, the speech therapist massages the frenulum, which limits the mobility of the tongue.

The average duration of a speech therapy massage is 10-15 minutes. depending on the well-being of the child or adult who needs tongue lengthening. In this case, a gag reflex may occur and the effect of excessive salivation may occur.

Price for plastic frenulum of the tongue

The cost of this procedure usually consists of the cost of consultation and examination, local anesthesia and the service itself. This is a fairly simple surgical procedure, so no additional tests are required. The price of a classic operation (with a scalpel) for adults and children is the same, but may be slightly higher if the patient has too dense frenulum tissue. Then they do not give local anesthesia, but general anesthesia; it costs more, and, accordingly, costs increase due to this. The average cost of classic lingual frenuloplasty in Moscow is 3,800 rubles. The price for laser plastic surgery of the frenulum of the tongue is about 5,000 rubles.

How to stretch the frenulum for children at home?

Stretching the frenulum at home should include regular articulation exercises, speaking tongue twisters that develop the muscles of the tongue, as well as the use of speech therapy massage.

Only an integrated approach using the above methods will allow you to achieve a positive result at home.

Tips and tricks

In the process of lengthening the tongue at home, it is recommended to follow the following rules:

1. All movements of speech therapy exercises should be performed as slowly, smoothly and without sudden movements as possible.
2. Children who study with a speech therapist should not perform exercises to the limits of their capabilities. A tongue limited by a too short hyoid ligament gets tired very quickly and requires a long rest.
3. Performing exercises requires opening the mouth as wide as possible.
4. Before starting tongue lengthening classes, it is necessary to thoroughly warm up and warm up the facial muscles by massaging them with your fingers.
5. Speech therapy massage of the tissues of the hypoglossal ligament should be performed only by a qualified specialist with extensive practical experience.

Before deciding to use a new type of exercise or technique for lengthening the tongue, it is recommended to consult a speech therapist and dentist.

Massage

You can do a simple massage to lengthen the tongue: grab the frenulum at the very bottom under the tongue with two fingers (index and thumb) and pull your fingers along it to the tip of the tongue. You must try to pull it, but you cannot use much force so as not to damage the thin fabric. In each session you need to do several of these techniques. Your fingers will quickly begin to feel the frenulum, and this action will not cause discomfort. By doing a massage 4-6 times a week, a person will be convinced that the frenulum has changed in length.

If the frenulum is less than 8 mm, then it is better to stretch it rather than operate. After surgery, a scar remains on the frenulum, which will reduce its mobility. In addition, a child who has undergone surgery will be afraid to do exercises so as not to experience the pain that he experienced during the operation.

Therefore, the best way to lengthen the tongue is to lengthen it with special exercises.

For what indications is surgery performed?

You can make your tongue longer through surgery, but only if there are direct medical indications.

This treatment method is advisable to use in the following cases:

• it is impossible to install removable dentures in patients of the adult age group who have had most of their teeth removed;
• there are signs of a distorted smile;
• the anatomical proportions of the facial disc are disrupted;
• a small child does not gain weight and begins to lag behind in physical development due to a too short hyoid ligament, which interferes with the full implementation of the sucking reflex;
• there was a displacement of the anterior dentition of the lower jaw towards the inside of the oral cavity;
• there is a real threat of the child developing a malocclusion;
• Diagnosed with breathing problems caused by limited mobility of the tongue;
• a child or adult has difficulty swallowing and chewing rough food.

The use of the method of surgical tongue lengthening is advisable in cases where speech therapy exercises and therapeutic massage do not bring the expected result. At the same time, there is a risk that as the child grows up, obvious speech defects will begin to appear.

For example, children with a too short hyoid ligament may mispronounce touch and sibilant sounds. Surgery to cut the frenulum should be performed as early as possible.

This will avoid a large number of complications associated with the functioning of the jaw and speech apparatus.

When and who needs tongue frenuloplasty?

Most often, an abnormality of the frenulum of the tongue can be diagnosed in a child immediately after birth. Then it is recommended to fix it. However, plastic surgery is performed on children of preschool and school age, as well as adults. The operation is indicated in the following cases.

• Violation of sucking in newborns.
  If babies have a tongue frenulum that is too short, they cannot latch onto the nipple properly, resulting in underweight, fussiness, and poor sleep.
• Diction defects.
  Due to poor tongue mobility, children distort some sounds, especially “r”, “l” and hissing sounds. As a rule, the problem is discovered by a speech therapist in preschool age.
• Abnormal shape of teeth and gums.
  A tongue frenulum that is too short can interfere with proper growth of the lower jaw. This leads to incorrect positioning of the front teeth and gum recession.
• Preparation for implantation and prosthetics.
  Any deviations in the shape of the soft tissue from the norm can ultimately lead to implant failure, so they need to be corrected before surgery. The discomfort caused by the pathology of the frenulum of the tongue during the use of removable dentures, especially on the lower jaw, is also important: the structures simply fall out when talking or eating.

Contraindications

It is possible to make the tongue longer through surgery, but in the absence of medical contraindications.

This type of treatment is not used in the following cases:

• the presence of any infectious disease that has an acute form of development;
• severe hematological pathologies such as hemophilia, thrombocytopenia, leukemia;
• chronic diseases of the oral cavity that are bacterial in origin (for example, glossitis, stomatitis, gingivitis);
• osteomyelitis of the upper or lower jaw caused by infectious microorganisms;
• all types of cancer, regardless of the type of tumor and its location;
• severe pathologies of the central and peripheral nervous system;
• all forms of caries, including complicated damage to tooth enamel.

The dentist may decide to postpone the surgical operation if, during a control examination of the oral cavity, it is determined that its sanitation was performed with obvious violations, and foci of an infectious process are observed.

Surgical dissection of the hypoglossal ligament is performed with extreme caution in people with diabetes. The presence of this disease can lead to severe complications that are associated with a long tissue healing process.

How to prepare for the procedure?

Surgical tongue lengthening does not require complex preparatory procedures.

It is enough to follow the following algorithm of actions:

• undergo a comprehensive examination by a dentist;

• perform sanitation of the oral cavity for caries, inflammatory processes in the gum tissue (in this case, it will require treating teeth with damaged areas of enamel, removing molars that cannot be treated);
• Patients of the adult age group must refrain from drinking alcohol during the last 72 hours before the scheduled date of surgery;
• 3-4 days before the scheduled date of the operation, it is necessary to stop taking medications, the main or side effects of which are a violation of the blood clotting process.

1 hour before surgery, you should eat a hearty meal, then thoroughly brush your teeth and rinse your mouth with warm water. On a full stomach, salivation is much less active, which can complicate surgical procedures.

Surgery and rehabilitation

You can make your tongue longer in the surgical department of a public hospital or use the services of a private clinic. This type of therapy is considered a type of plastic surgery to restore the physiologically correct length of the hypoglossal ligament.

To dissect tissue, traditional surgical instruments in the form of a scalpel are used, or a laser is used.

The table below describes the step-by-step process of tongue lengthening surgery:

When using laser equipment, the dentist performs the same actions, but the tissue of the hypoglossal ligament is dissected using a laser beam.

The advantage of this method over traditional surgery is that after a cut with a scalpel, a large amount of blood is released, damaged tissues heal over a longer period of time.

When cutting the frenulum with a laser, simultaneous cauterization of the wound is ensured. In this case, minimal bleeding is observed and the risk of infection of the sublingual area is reduced.

Operation techniques

There are two methods of performing tongue frenuloplasty: traditional (classical) and laser. This is a more modern and safer method. The laser allows the operation to be performed with great precision and does not cause bleeding after the procedure. In addition, there is no need for stitches, and healing time is significantly reduced. This is especially important if you need to perform laser frenuloplasty on a child: the baby will tolerate the procedure much easier.

Depending on what pathology of the frenulum is detected, the doctor uses one of three techniques: cuts the frenulum, removes it, or changes the attachment site. The number of cuts and their shape depend on the choice of technique.

What results can I expect after plastic surgery?

Plastic surgery of the hyoid ligament, which is performed with high quality, ensures elongation of the tongue to an anatomically correct size. A surgical operation performed on infants makes it possible to shorten the period of rehabilitation of the child’s body.

Already 1-2 hours after completion of therapeutic manipulations, the baby can be applied to the breast. Older patients feel the positive effect of surgical treatment on days 3-4 as tissues are restored and signs of postoperative swelling are eliminated.

The tongue becomes more mobile, diction improves, and it becomes much easier to eat food.

The tongue is an important part of the masticatory and speech apparatus, the length of which is regulated by the hypoglossal ligament. This element of the oral cavity externally resembles a thin frenulum connecting the lower surface of the tongue and the floor of the oral cavity.

Too short a hyoid ligament disrupts the chewing process, leading to the formation of an incorrect bite and curvature of the front teeth of the lower jaw.

To make your tongue longer, you need to use the services of a speech therapist who will develop a set of exercises aimed at developing the muscles of this organ.

In the absence of a positive result, a radical method of therapy is used in the form of plastic surgery of the hypoglossal ligament, which is cut to surgically lengthen the tongue. The cost of surgery is 5,500 rubles.

What happens if tongue frenuloplasty is not performed in children?

An abnormality of the frenulum of the tongue in children provokes the following serious consequences.

• Due to a violation of the sucking regime in infancy, the child may not receive enough nutrition and, as a result, lag behind in development.
• Children with tongue frenulum abnormalities may never learn to pronounce some sounds.
• Incorrect placement of the frenulum leads to underdevelopment of the lower jaw, resulting in the formation of an incorrect bite.

If pathology of the frenulum of the tongue has been identified in a newborn, it can be easily corrected by making an incision with a laser. At this age, you won't even need stitches. With age, the structure of the frenulum becomes more complex, new vessels appear in it, so plastic surgery of the frenulum in preschool and school-age children turns into a full-fledged surgical operation. Therefore, it is best to do it at the age of 5-6 years, when the child’s milk teeth are replaced by permanent ones.

Parents can determine whether their child needs surgery on their own. To do this, ask him to reach the upper palate with the tip of his tongue. If he cannot do this, or it hurts, he should consult a doctor.