Chiropractic Care and Tongue Ties: Understanding the Connection

A quick note: This article is based on my personal experience, conversations with healthcare professionals, and current research available at the time of writing. It is intended for educational purposes and should not replace individualized medical advice from your healthcare team.

Introduction

If you’ve started researching tongue ties, you’ve probably noticed that many providers recommend chiropractic care before and/or after a tongue-tie release.

My first thought when I saw this was:

“Why would my baby need to have anything cracked, and what does that have to do with their tongue?”

Well, hopefully, by the end of this post, you’ll have a better understanding of why some providers incorporate chiropractic care into tongue-tie treatment and how it may relate to an infant’s overall body tension and movement.

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How Does Chiropractic Care Relate to Tongue Ties?

Chiropractors who work with infants may focus on areas such as the spine, joints, muscles, and soft tissues, including the fascia. The goal is generally to improve mobility and reduce areas of tension or restriction.

The tongue does not function independently from the rest of the body. Feeding involves coordination between the tongue, jaw, neck, shoulders, breathing, and the muscles throughout the body. Because of this, tension or movement restrictions in other areas may influence how an infant uses their mouth during feeding.

This is also why tongue-tie care can involve several different types of providers.

Depending on the baby’s needs, a care team may include:

• Chiropractors — may work on overall mobility and areas of musculoskeletal tension.

• Myofunctional Therapist - may work on muscles shoulders up on swallowing function along with strengthening oral-motor skills; they also may be trained in deep tissue releases

• Physical therapists — may address movement patterns, asymmetries, strength, and motor development.

• Speech-language pathologists — may address oral-motor skills, feeding, swallowing, and related functions.

Each profession has a different scope of practice, and one provider cannot replace another when a baby needs specialized care.

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Why Do Some Babies Have Body Tension at Birth?

Think about what a baby goes through during birth.

For months, they have been growing in a relatively confined space. Then, during labor and delivery, they may experience significant forces as they move through the birth canal. Babies can also be positioned differently in the womb, and some may spend extended periods favoring one position.

These factors can contribute to temporary differences in how a baby holds or moves their body.

During birth, an infant’s skull also undergoes a process called molding. A newborn’s skull is made up of multiple bones that have not yet fused together, allowing the skull to change shape as the baby moves through the birth canal.

This molding is normal, and a baby’s head will typically gradually return toward a more typical shape after birth. Your pediatrician will monitor your baby’s head growth and development during routine visits.

All of that being said, birth is a major physical event for a baby, and some infants may have areas of tension or movement asymmetry afterward.

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Why Do Some Providers Recommend Chiropractic Care?

Chiropractors who specialize in infant care may recommend gentle bodywork when they identify areas of tension, restricted movement, or asymmetry.

The idea is not that chiropractic care can “fix” a tongue tie. It can’t.

A tongue tie is an anatomical restriction involving the lingual frenulum, and chiropractic care cannot release that tissue.

Instead, some providers believe that addressing overall body tension and mobility may help an infant use the range of motion they have more effectively. The tongue is connected all the way to the toes by fascia, therefore treating the whole body can have significant impact.

The mouth and body also work together during feeding. An infant’s jaw, tongue, neck, and body all need to coordinate to achieve effective feeding.

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How Can Body Tension Affect Feeding?

Infants may develop preferences for turning or moving toward one side. When an infant consistently favors one side, it can affect how they position their head, neck, jaw, and mouth.

Reducing areas of tension and improving overall mobility may help an infant move more comfortably and symmetrically.

This can be particularly relevant for feeding because effective feeding requires coordinated movement of the tongue, jaw, lips, and surrounding muscles.

It is important to remember, however, that feeding difficulties can have many causes. Bodywork is not a replacement for an evaluation by an appropriate feeding or medical professional.

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What Does the Research Say?

This is where it is important to separate personal experience and clinical practice from what has been scientifically established.

Research specifically examining chiropractic care for infants with tongue ties and feeding difficulties is limited. Some parents and providers report improvements in feeding, mobility, or body tension after bodywork, but individual experiences do not establish that chiropractic care caused those improvements. There are case studies but nothing definitive. Recommendations from providers for this type of care is from experience typically and watching first hand the effectiveness of the treatment for some babies.

More high-quality research is needed to determine:

• Which infants are most likely to benefit from bodywork

• What specific techniques are effective

• Whether bodywork improves feeding outcomes

• Whether treatment before or after a tongue-tie release provides measurable benefits

• How much of the perceived benefit comes from bodywork versus other aspects of the infant’s treatment plan

Fascia and its relationship with movement and the body is also an area that continues to be studied. While fascia is an important part of the body’s connective-tissue system, many of the specific claims made about fascia and tongue ties have not been well established through high-quality clinical research. This doesn’t mean that there is no true relationship, just that it hasn’t been fully studied yet.

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What Happens During an Infant Chiropractic Visit?

Infant chiropractic care should look very different from the adjustments many adults are familiar with.

A provider who works with infants may use very gentle movements, stretches, positioning, and soft-tissue techniques to assess and address areas of tension or restricted movement.

Your baby should not need the type of forceful manipulation that you might associate with an adult chiropractic adjustment.

If you are considering chiropractic care for your baby, look for a provider who has specific training and experience working with infants and who may have collaborated  in the past with your baby’s release care team.

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Before a Tongue-Tie Release

Some providers recommend addressing areas of body tension before a tongue-tie release.

The reasoning is that improving an infant’s overall mobility may allow them to use their tongue more effectively after the release and may make the post-release exercises easier to perform.

For some babies, bodywork may also be used to address asymmetrical movement or a tendency to favor one side.

This is not a requirement for every baby with a tongue tie, and there is currently limited evidence showing that chiropractic treatment before a release improves the outcome of the procedure.

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After a Tongue-Tie Release

After a tongue-tie release, the body begins the healing process. The goal of post-release care is generally to help maintain the mobility gained from the procedure while the tissue heals.

This is one reason some providers recommend working on surrounding areas of tension as part of the post-release plan.

If an infant has significant asymmetry or tension, addressing those issues may make it easier for the baby to participate in their post-release exercises and develop more coordinated tongue movement.

Post-release care varies considerably between providers, so it is important to follow the specific instructions given by the clinician who performed the procedure.

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Questions to Ask a Chiropractor

If you are considering chiropractic care for your baby, here are a few questions you can ask:

• Are you specifically trained to work with infants?

• How often do you treat infants?

• Have you worked with babies before and after tongue-tie releases?

• What techniques do you use with infants?

• What would you expect to accomplish through treatment?

• How do you determine whether my baby actually needs treatment?

• Do you communicate or collaborate with pediatricians, speech-language pathologists, physical therapists, myofunctional therapist, or other providers?

A good provider should be comfortable explaining what they are doing, why they are doing it, and what evidence supports their approach.

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My Personal Experience

If you had told me while I was pregnant that I would be taking my infant to a chiropractor, I probably would have said you were crazy.

Little did I know how much of a difference it would make for my little one.

My baby went through the first two months without receiving tongue-tie-specific care and was literally shaped like a “C” when moving on her own. We had been doing myofunctional and speech therapy, which had already improved her feeding, and we had also been doing some general baby body development exercises from the pediatrician.

The myofunctional and speech therapy helped get her out of that “C” shape, but before her tongue-tie release, the pediatric dentist highly recommended to do chiropractic care for preparatory bodywork.

By this point, I had already been doing speech and myofunctional therapy for more than six months.

The chiropractor told us that we were actually in really good shape and that she didn’t need a ton of work.

Even so, the difference I noticed before and after the chiropractic care was present mainly in her mouth. The side of her mouth that had been noticeably tighter seemed to loosen significantly within just two sessions.

I was honestly shocked given I was expecting this to not make a difference because I thought what more could it do.

I had been skeptical about infant chiropractic care going into this, so seeing that change firsthand made a big impression on me.

That was my experience—not proof that every baby with a tongue tie needs chiropractic care.

Every baby is different, and what helped my baby may not be necessary for another.

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The Bottom Line

Chiropractic care does not release a tongue tie, and not every baby with a tongue tie needs chiropractic treatment.

However, some infants have additional movement restrictions, tension, or asymmetries that may be worth addressing as part of a broader feeding and tongue-tie care plan.

The most important thing is having the right providers working together and understanding what each professional can—and cannot—do.

If you’re considering bodywork for your baby, ask questions, look for someone specifically trained in infant care, and make sure your baby’s medical and feeding needs are being addressed by appropriately qualified professionals.

Sometimes tongue-tie care isn’t about one procedure or one provider.

It’s about looking at the whole baby.