Why Bodywork Comes First: The Role of Craniosacral Therapy Before a Tongue Tie Release
A guide for families, from our team of craniosacral therapy and oral function specialists
Tongue Tie Release Bodywork: Why a Release Is a Process, Not a Procedure
If your baby is being considered for a tongue tie release, we want to share something that changes how families think about the whole experience.
The goal is not get on the schedule ASAP and go in for a release.
The goal is to understand how your baby is actually functioning, and then decide what kind of support will help. A release may absolutely be part of that plan. But it is one piece of a much bigger picture.
The full process usually includes three parts:
Bodywork before and after the release
Feeding support from a skilled lactation or feeding provider
Oral habilitation exercises, bodywork, and wound care before and after the release
When families only get the middle step, the procedure itself, results may not show up right away. When all three parts work together, families tend to see real, lasting change.
Start With Function, Not Just Anatomy
A frenulum is non contractile piece of tissue. Function is what your baby can actually do with their mouth, jaw, neck, and body while feeding.
Before we ever talk about a release, we want to know things like:
How does the baby latch, and can they hold that latch?
Does the tongue lift, cup, and move side to side?
Is the jaw tight, shifted, or clenched?
Does the baby turn their head easily in both directions?
Is the body relaxed during feeding, or working very hard?
Is there tension through the neck, shoulders, chest, or hips?
Two babies can have a similar looking frenulum and completely different feeding experiences. The tissue is only part of the story. The rest of the body is doing a lot of talking, and we want to listen to it first.
What Craniosacral Therapy Actually Is
Craniosacral therapy, or CST, is a very gentle hands on therapy. The touch is light. The most pressure we use is about 5 grams of pressure, the same weight felt when balancing a nickel on your finger.
Babies carry tension. Some of it comes from position in the womb, some from a long or fast labor, some from interventions during birth, and some from the way they have been compensating to feed. That tension does not stay in one spot. It travels through connective tissue into the jaw, the floor of the mouth, the neck, and the shoulders.
CST works with that tension slowly and gently so the body can let it go on its own terms.
Many babies fall asleep during a session. Some fuss for a few minutes and then settle. Both are normal.
Why We Recommend Craniosacral Therapy Before Tongue Tie Release
The tongue does not work alone. It connects into the floor of the mouth and from there into the muscles of the jaw, throat, neck, chest, hips, legs, and down to the toes. If those muscles are tight and guarded, releasing the frenulum will not automatically give the tongue the mobility it needs.
Preparing the body before a release helps in several ways:
More usable range of motion. When the surrounding muscles let go, the tongue can actually use the new freedom it gains.
A more complete release. When we work around the floor of the mouth, the tissues soften and the area opens up. This gives the release provider more visible surface area to work with, which supports a more complete release.
Fewer compensations. Babies get very good at working around a problem. If we do not address those patterns, they often continue after the release and get in the way of feeding.
Better comfort and less guarding. A body that is not already braced tends to be calmer through the procedure and afterward.
Lower risk of reattachment. In our experience, babies who have released tension and who can actually move well tend to do better with post release stretches and exercises, and stretches are a key part of preventing reattachment.
A calmer nervous system. CST supports regulation. A baby who can settle, rest, and feel safe is a baby whose body is in a better position to heal.
What the Research Says, and What It Does Not Yet Say
In 2025, a team at The Breathe Institute in Los Angeles published a study of 445 patients who had a tongue tie release. Every single patient completed structured therapy before the procedure and after it. The results are worth knowing about.
Here is what stood out to us:
Preparation was required, not optional. Patients were not recommended for release if their compensatory patterns had not been addressed first. Unresolved compensations were an actual reason to hold off on the procedure. The goals of that preparation included nasal breathing, jaw stability, separating jaw movement from tongue movement, and improving tongue posture and strength.
The surrounding muscles really do hide the picture. When the clinicians gently stabilized the floor of the mouth by hand, tongue movement changed in about 95 percent of patients they assessed. In plain language, most people were not moving their tongue with their tongue. They were recruiting the jaw, neck, and floor of the mouth to help. This is exactly what we described in the baby story below.
Function should drive the diagnosis, not appearance. The authors argue that a tongue tie should be diagnosed based on demonstrated functional limitation, not simply on how the tissue looks. That is the same principle we lead with.
Outcomes were good with the full protocol. Roughly 86 percent of patients reported satisfaction, and complications like severe pain, numbness, and the need for a second procedure were meaningfully lower than in the same team's earlier protocol that did not include the bodywork.
And here is the honest part. The authors do list craniosacral therapy by name among the bodywork approaches used alongside this care, and they note that patients were advised to consider bodywork after the procedure. But they also say plainly that these adjunctive therapies were not directly tested in the study, and that more research is needed on what they contribute.
So: the case for preparation and a structured process has real published support. The specific contribution of craniosacral therapy within that process has not been isolated and measured yet. We believe in it because of what we see in our practice every week, and we would rather tell you that honestly than overstate it.
Reference: Zaghi S, Ramirez A, Espadas S, et al. Lingual Frenuloplasty with Myofunctional Therapy: Improving Outcomes for the Treatment of Ankyloglossia (Tongue-Tie) with Refined Techniques and Endpoints. International Journal of Orofacial Myology and Myofunctional Therapy. 2025;51(2):11. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijom51020011. Open access.
What Happens When There Is No Preparation
We want to share two real examples from our practice. Details have been changed to protect privacy.
A Baby Who Came to Us After the Release
A family came in after their baby's frenectomy. They had been told the release would fix the feeding problems. Nothing had changed for the parent and baby. They were exhausted and discouraged, and they were starting to wonder if they had made a mistake.
When we assessed the baby, the jaw and tongue were still very tight. The tongue was not lifting well, not because the frenulum was still restricting it, but because the muscles attached to the hyoid were tight and would not allow much lift. The restriction was never only in the tissue that was released.
After we began bodywork the jaw softened. the neck released, and the tongue started to lift.
The family did go back for a second release, but this time the body was prepared. Afterward there was noticeably more range of motion, and when we implemented the oral habilitation exercises again, the baby could actually do them and function improved.
We share this not to scare anyone, but because that family deserved to know about bodywork the first time.
If You Already Had a Release and Nothing Improved
If feeding did not improve after a frenectomy, the most likely explanation is that range of motion alone was not the root of the feeding issue. Something else was contributing. That could be body tension, a compensation pattern, a suck and swallow coordination issue, positioning, milk transfer, or a combination.
It is not too late. Bodywork after a release still helps, and we work with post release families all the time.
What We Do to Get Families Ready
Preparation is not just about the baby. It is about you too.
We prepare you for the oral function assessment. Going to a pediatric dentist for an oral function assessment can feel intimidating if you do not know what to expect. We walk you through what happens, what the provider will look at, and what questions are worth asking so you can walk in feeling informed instead of nervous.
We teach oral habilitation exercises. These help build the strength and coordination your baby needs to actually use their new mobility.
We get you comfortable working in your child's mouth. This is the piece families are most surprised by. Post release wound care and stretches require you to put your hands in your baby's mouth several times a day. If the first time you ever do that is the day after the procedure, it is stressful for everyone. We practice with you beforehand so it feels familiar.
We refer out when you need more. We connect families to lactation consultants, pediatric physical and occupational therapists, and pediatric dentists based on what each family needs. We have met every provider we refer to. We will thoughtfully build you a team.
Our Care Plans and Why They Are Built This Way
We built our infant care plan to give your baby consistent support in a short window of time rather than spreading appointments out over many weeks. After an initial infant evaluation, we recommend our Infant Immersion program. This way we can assist in preparing before and after the release. This sequence of 5 follow up sessions can be schedule around your tongue tie evaluation and release if recommended.
Included extras
- Dedicated CST support for the caregiver
- Babywearing fit check to support safe, comfortable carrying and calming
- Personalized home care plan with simple tools to use between visits
Here is why that matters. Newborn feeding problems do not wait. Spacing sessions far apart means more waiting, more guessing, and more decision fatigue for parents who are already running on very little sleep. Concentrated support helps us see progress clearly, adjust quickly, and get your baby ready for a release faster if a release is the right call.
Less guesswork. Less waiting. Less pressure on you.
We Believe in Collaboration
Families shouldn't have to be the messenger between the professionals caring for them. The fix starts earlier than most people think. It starts with us knowing, personally, who we're sending you to.
Last year, Kate Hudak invited local providers who support families through a release, including dentists, lactation consultants, therapists, and bodyworkers, to meet together in one place and start the conversation about what collaborative care could look like here.
From there we went further. We've visited the offices of the release providers we recommend, and they've come to ours. We've seen their space and they've seen ours. We've talked through protocols, compared our most recent tongue tie trainings with local IBCLCs, and worked out how we each approach a family so our care fits together.
That's why our referral list is short. We only recommend providers we've met, whose skill we know, whose work we've seen, and whose results we've heard about directly from the families we've sent them.
And the relationship doesn't stop at the introduction. While your baby is in care, we stay in communication with the other providers on your team, so the plan stays current as your baby changes.
What that means for you: when we tell you what to expect at your release appointment, we're describing that provider's actual room and actual protocol. When your IBCLC and your bodyworker give you instructions, you're hearing the same language and one plan we built together.
If you're a release provider, IBCLC, or pediatric practice in the Baltimore area and we haven't met yet, we'd like to.
The Short Version
If you remember nothing else:
A tongue tie release is part of a process, not a standalone fix
The tongue is connected to the whole body, so the whole body matters
Bodywork before a release supports a more complete release and better function afterward
Bodywork after a release supports healing and helps reduce the risk of reattachment
Feeding support and oral habilitation exercises are essential, not optional
Preparing parents matters as much as preparing the child
You deserve a plan, not a procedure.
Ready to Start?
If you are considering a release, or if you already had one and things are not better, we would love to talk with you and answer any questions about tongue tie bodywork in Baltimore. Reach out with any questions or to schedule an assessment. We look forward to meeting you.
Warmly,
Austin & Kate
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