I was teased and tortured in school...

There are many types of procedures that people need in their life. Most of the time they are not pleasant. Recovery from surgical procedures can be unpleasant as well. But you just have to weight the risk vs reward. I have oral ties that cased major mouth deformities. I have struggled my whole adolescent life. I was teased and tortured in school. I would have rather had uncomfortable stretches as a young person than dealt with everything i did in my later years. If your child needed their appendix removed, would you not do it because it could be traumatic? I know it's a different thing, because ties are not life threatening. But it's still beneficial in a lot of cases.

I had a gap between my front teeth. I could fit and popsicle stick through it. Laying flat. I had a very narrow palate. It forced my teeth to grow on top of each other. Some of my teeth came in backwards. I had a terrible lisp from the tongue and a speech impediment. I had a hard time eating and couldn't drink from a straw at all. I also had a lot of gum inflammation and tooth decay. ALL of these things were a result of the tongue tie and upper lip tie. I had braces for 13 years and several oral surgeries. I had to wear a palate spreading device that was basically a torture device. I had to stick a key in it and crank it myself and it slowly pushed out my palate and broke it so it would be bigger. I still ended up getting the revision done as an adult. And I had to do the stretches. My mouth isn't perfect but it's better. I wouldn't have had all those issues if I had been revised. At the time it wasn't very well known about.

The stretches weren't painful. It wasn't pleasant. But not painful. I think babies don't like being held down and messed with and that's why they get so upset. Not because it's super painful. I think you just gotta try and make it a bonding attention filled minute instead of a "I have to do it" thing. If you are freaking out and worried and dreading it, they are going to react more negative. If you are pleasant and calm and make it a special moment, they will be more comfortable.

~Allie Maxey