The human tongue is about 10 cm long on average, is covered with thousands of taste buds and performs many important functions that allow us to speak and eat. Unfortunately, some conditions, such as ankyloglossia, can affect the length of the tongue and its ability to move. Whatever the cause, a disease or a cosmetic preference, there are several solutions to help you stretch your tongue, ranging from simple exercises to surgery.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Practice the Yoga Technique "Kechari Mudra"
Step 1. Understand the basics of this exercise
Kechari Mudra is an advanced yoga practice, in which the practitioner uses the tongue to strengthen their body and raise their level of awareness. The idea behind this technique is to gradually increase the length of the tongue until it is long enough to reach and stimulate certain areas of the nasal passages.
Practiced constantly, the Kechari Mudra technique can also be used to counteract some diseases and slow down the rhythm of breathing
Step 2. Start practicing Kechari Mudra
While sitting in a comfortable position, roll your tongue in contact with your palate. Find out how far you can push it back. The first few times you may only be able to touch the hard palate.
- Hold your tongue back until it starts to feel pain, then let it rest in its natural position;
- By continuing to practice this technique, you will be able to stretch your tongue until you are able to touch the uvula;
- Once you have become familiar with the exercise, you will be able to practice Kechari Mudra even while you are doing light activities.
Step 3. Get help from an experienced yogi
In the later stages of Kechari Mudra, the tongue should be long enough to go beyond the uvula or reach the nasal passages. Under the guidance of an experienced yogi who assists you during the practice, you will be able to achieve this in a safer and more effective way.
- Your teacher may recommend that you use butter or ghee to help extend and stretch your tongue. At some point it should be long enough to reach the center of the eyebrows.
- Even with the help of an expert it could take months or even years to master this technique.
Method 2 of 2: Lengthen the Tongue with Surgery
Step 1. Consider whether surgery might be the best option
Ankyloglossia is a disease that impairs the ability to move the tongue. Those who suffer from this condition have a hard time getting it out of their mouth. The reason is that the strand of tissue that connects the tip of the tongue with the floor of the mouth (lingual frenum) is unusually short and therefore causes oral complications. You should consider having surgery if you or your child can have limited tongue movements due to ankyloglossia.
- Ankyloglossia does not only negatively affect speech. A person affected by this condition may also have difficulties related to oral hygiene, dental health, eating, digestive process and sexual activity.
- Ankyloglossia can be caused by environmental or genetic factors;
- Surgery can be done to solve the problem at any age;
- Ankyloglossia can also negatively interfere with the ability of infants to feed on mother's breast milk;
- If you are the parent of a child with ankyloglossia, surgery is often the best option. In most cases, the lingual frenulum will not stretch or break on its own.
Step 2. Have a frenectomy
It is a surgery on the lingual frenulum among the most practiced in cases where the ability to move the tongue is compromised. It is a relatively simple procedure, in which an oral surgeon uses a sterilized pair of scissors to completely remove the frenulum.
- Lingual frenectomy is a short-term (10-15 minute) surgical operation that generally requires only local anesthesia.
- There are not many blood vessels within the lingual frenum, so the pain caused by the surgery should be minimal.
Step 3. Consider getting frenuloplasty surgery
It is usually done when the lingual frenulum is too thick or if corrections need to be made after a frenectomy. This is a more complex procedure that aims to fix the frenulum without removing it completely.
- The goal of frenuloplasty is the same as for frenectomy: both interventions serve to increase the length of the tongue and improve its ability to move.
- Frenuloplasty surgery requires the patient to undergo general anesthesia. Surgical instruments are used during the operation and at the end sutures are placed in the mouth to close the wound.
Step 4. Understand what the possible complications of surgery are
Generally, the post-operative problems associated with the two operations (frenectomy and frenuloplasty) are not serious, but can include infection, bleeding, and nerve damage. Since the frenuloplasty operation is more complicated, the risks are greater and include the possibility that a scar will form or the body will react negatively to general anesthesia.
Both surgeries can be performed using either the scalpel or laser technology. If the laser is used to correct a case of ankyloglossia, there is no need for stitches and usually pain and bleeding after the operation is contained
Step 5. Do some language exercises
They are done following surgery to develop the tongue muscles and further increase their length and range of motion. Here are some examples:
- Stick out your tongue by first directing it up towards the nose and then down towards the chin. Repeat this exercise 3-4 times.
- Move your tongue from side to side in front of the upper lip;
- Close your mouth and keep moving your tongue from cheek to cheek;
- Move your tongue in and out of your mouth for several consecutive times.
