Problem: for a consultation with the Dial-Dent speech therapist T.B. Zukor was contacted by a 22-year-old man. His wish: “We urgently need to trim the frenulum of the tongue! The surgeon needs a referral from a speech therapist to perform the operation!” The reason for this urgent treatment was unbearable pain in the tongue area when kissing!
Solution: myofunctional examination confirmed the need for frenuloplasty of the tongue (surgery to trim the frenulum of the tongue). The man received a referral for an operation, which was performed by surgeons at the clinic. Frenuloplasty of the tongue was successful, the pain was completely eliminated.
The speech therapist of the Family Dental T.B. talks about the short frenulum of the tongue, how to identify it, and what to do with it. Zukor in his article.
Short frenulum of the tongue - how to determine?
Symptoms of a tongue frenulum are usually identified by a speech therapist during a myofunctional examination. Most often, specialists (this can be attentive parents or the patient himself) observe the following symptoms:
- Limitation of tongue mobility; it is difficult for the patient to move the tongue out of the mouth and raise the tip of the tongue to the upper lip.
- The tip of the tongue bifurcates when you try to push it forward.
- The patient pronounces the sound L incorrectly, making it sound like V.
- Sometimes a short frenulum of the tongue brings purely everyday discomfort, as in the clinical case described above.
A set of exercises for the development of a short frenulum of the tongue
Anastasia Shcherbinina
"Painter". You must perform the exercise with your mouth wide open and a smile. The tip of the tongue should be drawn across the palate, starting from the teeth to the throat, while the lower jaw should not move. The exercise is accompanied by a rhyme:
It's time to paint the rooms. A painter was hired. We lower our jaws and help the painter.
"Drum". Performed with an open mouth and a smile. The essence of the exercise is the repeated pronunciation of the letter [D]. It needs to be pronounced as clearly as possible. When pronouncing a sound, the tongue should rest against the upper teeth, and the mouth should be kept open. While doing this exercise, the child may involuntarily close his mouth; to prevent this from happening, you should hold a stick about 1 cm wide between his teeth, it could be a toothbrush handle or some other object.
We beat the drum hard and all together we sing: “D – d – d – d!”
"Reach your nose." Just like in the previous exercises, you need to open your mouth and smile. The edge of the tongue must be pulled towards the nose and lowered towards the upper lip. Parents need to ensure that while performing these manipulations, the lips and lower jaw are motionless and the tongue is not compressed.
"Swing". The child should smile and open his mouth, and on the count of “one or two,” alternately touch the upper and lower teeth. The lower jaw should remain motionless.
"Football". The essence of the exercise is that you need to alternately press the tip of your tongue first to one cheek, then to the other, as if swinging a ball in your mouth.
"Kitty". Children really like this exercise. You need to put some jam, ice cream or sour cream on a small plate and let the child lick the treat like a kitten.
"Harmonic". The tongue should be pressed to the palate and, without lifting it, open and close the mouth.
I play the harmonica, open my mouth wider, press my tongue to the roof of my mouth, lower my jaw.
"Horse". Starting position: smile and open your mouth. Click your tongue like horses click. The tip of the tongue should not be pulled out or tucked down, and the lower jaw should remain motionless.
We are riding, riding a horse along a smooth path.
A neighbor invited us to visit us for sweet pudding.
We arrived at lunchtime, but the neighbor was not at home.
"Fungus". The tongue should be pressed to the palate - this is the cap of the mushroom, and the frenulum is the leg, the lips should be kept in a smile.
“Reach your chin.” In the process of performing the tenth exercise, the baby should reach with his tongue to the tip of the chin; the further he can reach, the greater the stretch of the frenulum.
During the exercises, you can use additional objects, for example, a rubber ring, it can be cut from a pipette. The child opens his mouth, places the ring on the tip of his tongue, presses it to the roof of his mouth and closes his mouth.
How to do speech therapy massage for short tongue frenulum in children
A special massage helps to lengthen the hyoid ligament very effectively. The child can do it independently or with the help of parents.
Massage to stretch the hypoglossal ligament
Using your thumb and index finger, you need to grab the tip of your tongue and lift it up. The mouth should be open during the massage. Using the fingers of the other hand, you need to move along the frenulum from bottom to top with stretching movements, as if pulling it out.
The index and middle fingers should be placed under the tongue so that the frenulum is between them. Use your thumb to press on the front of the tongue and make outward lengthening movements. During such manipulation, the index and middle fingers should be motionless.
The massage can be performed by simply stretching the tongue in different directions. Grasp the tip and gently pull the tongue out
Methods for eliminating a short frenulum of the tongue
A short frenulum of the tongue is corrected surgically. The most modern method is cutting the frenulum of the tongue with a laser, since there is less pain, the operation is almost bloodless, the wound is sterile and heals quickly.
Operations can be different:
- Frenuloplasty of the tongue is plastic surgery of the frenulum of the tongue with mobilization. Mobilization is the preparation of the edges of the wound for a screed by pulling the tongue forward and upward; flap formation is often used in plastic surgery. In most cases, frenuloplasty of the tongue is the most favorable way to lengthen the frenulum for both healing and restoration of the tongue.
- Frenulotomy is a dissection of the frenulum, usually done in the maternity hospital by simply cutting the frenulum without sutures.
- Frenulectomy - excision of the frenulum. During this operation, the doctor cuts the tissue wedge-shaped in several places, then applies sutures, but does not mobilize the tongue. This is a disadvantage of the method.
Obviously, each case is individual and the choice of method should be made by a specialist.
Sex with a short frenulum
The sensations during sex with a short frenulum depend on its length and the degree of elasticity of the skin. For some men, the tension is insignificant and there is no particular pain during an erection. In order not to be distracted by discomfort, they use condoms and anesthetic lubricant. It also saves you from premature ejaculation.
If the frenulum is too short, the pain during an erection will be severe. Ignoring it can lead to ruptures. If there is a large amount of blood, you should apply a circular pressure bandage to the penis and call a doctor (or go to a urologist yourself).
Urologist Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Makarova talks about the causes and consequences of tearing and complete rupture of the frenulum of the penis.
Does a short frenulum interfere with sexual activity?
A short frenulum cannot contribute to normal sexual life, as it causes severe pain during erection, and also becomes one of the possible causes of premature ejaculation.
There is also a danger that during sexual intercourse a rupture of the frenulum may occur, which will be accompanied by severe pain and heavy bleeding. Usually you cannot stop the bleeding on your own. Then the man needs to see a doctor for help.
The situation is further aggravated by the fact that after the rupture a scar is formed, which shortens the frenulum even more. In the future, this leads to another rupture during intercourse. To prevent such cases, the urologist may prescribe plastic surgery of the frenulum of the penis.
How is plastic surgery of the frenulum of the penis performed?
Before the operation, the patient is recommended to lose excess weight, as well as notify the doctor in advance about existing diseases (heart disease, lung disease, etc.) and undergo a professional examination.
Direct plastic surgery of the short frenulum consists of transverse dissection of the frenulum, after which it is sutured longitudinally using self-absorbing threads. This operation is performed under local anesthesia and only as prescribed by a urologist. The procedure takes up to 30 minutes, after which the patient can go home.
The rehabilitation period will last about 10 days, during which time the patient needs to treat the wound with an antibiotic and adhere to other prescriptions from his doctor. Full recovery will occur within 2-3 weeks; during this period it is recommended to abstain from sexual intercourse. Author of the article: Glebov Anton Sergeevich
The article was compiled using the following materials:
Website of the Center for Public Health of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine / Disease Control
National Library of Medicine / www.nlm.nih.gov
Website of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine / Medical news
Short frenulum: to treat or not to treat?
Hello dear audience, today I, urologist-andrologist Gennady Valentinovich Volovich, would like to consider such a problem as a short frenulum.
Many male representatives believe that this is not a problem at all, many do not notice it in themselves, many believe that it does not need to be treated.
However, relying on my experience and the opinion of my colleagues, I must tell you that a short frenulum can cause many problems
What is a short bridle?
A short frenulum of the penis is a congenital anomaly, manifested in insufficient length of the skin cord between the foreskin and the head of the penis.
Normally, the head of the penis deviates downward relative to the main axis of the shaft of the penis from 0 to 30 degrees. Over 30 degrees is already excessive, and readings of 25-30 degrees can also cause problems under certain circumstances. That is, from 20 to 30 degrees is a relative norm.
Most often, this pathology is detected during the first sexual intercourse, since during an erection the shortened frenulum is subject to excessive tension and rupture. In this case, the injury may be accompanied by severe pain and profuse bleeding, which can lead to significant blood loss, since a large artery passes through the thickness of the frenulum. In less severe forms of this disease, a man may experience:
- strong tension of the frenulum in the erect state of the penis and the development of pain (including during sexual intercourse);
- insufficient filling of the cavities of the cavernous bodies with blood and, as a result, insufficient increase in the volume of the penis and its hardening;
- strong curvature of the penis towards the scrotum, making sexual intercourse very difficult (or even completely inaccessible);
- development of sexual dysfunction, in which ejaculation occurs too quickly; damage to the frenulum during sexual intercourse in the form of cracks and tears with bleeding, which can be very profuse. Bleeding occurs at the most inopportune moment and you have to urgently look for a hospital with improvised bandages
- Due to the incorrect excessive bending of the head of the penis downwards during sexual intercourse, the partner may experience excessive friction in the area of the lower wall of the vagina, vaginal dysbacteriosis occurs, the girl-woman undergoes expensive smears, is treated, but all in vain, since the field of sexual intercourse arises again dysbiosis.
If left untreated, due to frequent tears, the frenulum can turn into a painful scar cord. This entails increased sensitivity of the glans penis, which, in turn, can provoke premature ejaculation. And as a consequence of this, one’s own dissatisfaction and that of one’s partner.
And here's the result:
The development of complications can only be prevented by surgery, and the earlier treatment is started, the fewer old tears in the frenulum, the easier this problem is to correct and the better the postoperative result. The only way to treat this pathology is plastic surgery to lengthen the frenulum - frenuloplasty. It is performed on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia and lasts about twenty minutes. The essence of this surgical intervention is to dissect the short frenulum of the penis in the transverse direction. In some cases, up to three incisions may be required.
The patient can return home on the same day. Wound healing continues for 8-14 days.
In our center, any version of frenuloplasty is performed: using a scalpel, radio knife or laser.
Take care of your health and the health of your partner, check with a urologist for the presence of this pathology, and if there is a problem, have a frenuloplasty.
