I am a dedicated, caring professional that embraces the natural health approach and whole body wellness. Myofunctional therapy is a program of exercises to help restore normal strength and co-ordination of the muscles of the face and tongue. This is important to ensure optimal functions such as tongue placement, breathing, speaking, chewing and swallowing.
My goal is to teach awareness of the oral and facial muscles through a series of exercises that focuses on keeping the lips closed and the tongue in the proper resting position. When this goal is achieved, symptoms quite often lesson and disappear which allows me to concentrate on problems with speech, jaw pain, orthodontics and sleep apnea. Although the tongue is a major part of the airway, the airway is the first thing I address.
In children, this therapy helps to instil healthy habits for life. Poor functional patterns such as low tongue posture and tongue thrusts, open mouth breathing, bottle feeding, sucking habits, sippy cups and restricted tongue ties, lack of chewing or low muscle tone all restrict facial development.
In adults, this therapy can be beneficial for those suffering with TMD and/or TMJ jaw muscle pain, some head and neck aches and those with obstructive sleep apnea.
Myofunctional Therapy helps to address the root causes of problems, not just the symptoms.
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