A Different Perspective

OK, so I am trying out this blog thing.  For those of you who know me, you know that this is my definition of torture. In school, I was the one with red circles and lines through EVERYTHING. Somehow, I made it through many, many years of school and now practice as a physical therapist in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  Six months ago, when one of my adult patients told me that I should write a blog, I literally laughed out loud.  And well, here I am putting myself out there.

WHO am I? I am a wife and mother to three “typically” developing, constantly growing boys. I am a physical therapist and an orofacial myofunctional therapist (we’ll get to that part later).  My family, probably much like yours, never stops moving. I’m certain I spend more time at various ballparks than at my home.  We eat dinner together between 8- 9 pm. We fall into bed at night, and at 6 am, start all over again.  It’s nothing short of a happy life that, within the last two years, has collided with my professional life as a therapist.  This is where the story begins.

Let me begin with my 10-year-old.  At birth, I noticed that he was another boy and oh, he was tongue-tied.  We had it “fixed” when he was 2 days old, and he breast fed without issues.  He was the happy baby who always had a bib on because he drooled, but thank goodness grew out of it for the most part.  The dental hygienist told me to get my bank account ready because he would need lots of work to fix his teeth.  Last summer, following the beginning of my son’s orthodontic work, I noticed that he didn’t want to read out loud with me or his brothers anymore because he was nervous he would drool.  He grinds his teeth at night, always has, but it was worse- so much so that it would wake up his brothers at night.  I began noticing that his mouth was open while he chewed his food- ALL- THE- TIME.  It was out of desperation that I started connecting the dots.

Then there’s my 12-year-old… loyal and observant of everything.  A firecracker that broke the mold upon delivery.  He was a terrible breast feeder.  An extremely “colicky” and fussy baby (though no one could ever tell me why).  He has NEVER been a sound sleeper.  NEVER. I cannot even begin to tell you how many different therapies and natural medicines we have tried to improve his quality of sleep.  He used to hum and rock himself to sleep!  I was told it was a sensory or attention-related behavior, and that he would grow out of it.  He sighs a lot and has trouble breathing when he runs, yet loves to exercise.  I was also told that his sighs were just a tic.  He has always taken an extremely long amount of time to eat.  He has two speeds in everything that he does:  off and fast.  I’m quite certain his teachers would say that he has attention issues.  My husband and I would certainly agree. Often, he can be found in his bed attempting to nap, especially toward the end of the week.  Yet, he never seems rested.  I often wondered … there has to be a correlation between his sleep and his daytime temperament, right?

Finally, my 13-year-old…last summer my husband (who is also a physical therapist) and I noticed that his posture was REALLY becoming an issue.  His head sat more forward than it should and sitting up at the dinner table was suddenly a constant battle.  He frequently complained of headaches.  We were just getting started with the orthodontic evaluation process and I was told that he had a “small airway.”  WTH? I didn’t know a lot, but I knew that the size of his airway was kind of an important thing and my sweet orthodontist was telling me that my 13-year-old had a narrow one.  

As a mom, hearing this and realizing that all three of my kids were having issues at the same time made me want to cry “uncle.”  We escaped to the beach where I typically catch up on all the new best sellers.  Not that year.  I read, researched, and soaked up everything I could about the relationship between weak posture, breathing, asthma, ADHD, sleep, teeth grinding, and tongue restrictions.  

I wanted to start with “fixing” my youngest child first, so I Skyped with Sarah Hornsby, a Myofunctional Therapist out of Portland, Oregon for his evaluation.  She explained  myofunctional therapy to me in terms I could really understand.  She said, “myofunctional therapy is essentially like physical therapy for the mouth”.  It is therapy used to eliminate faulty habits and correct imbalances in the face and tongue muscles which help train the tongue to rest properly in the mouth, eliminate mouth breathing and correct faulty head/neck posture. I chuckled and put out the disclaimer that I was a physical therapist.  Her response was “Well, you should get trained”.  So I did.  

I spent 15 months flying to courses across the country.  I returned from these courses with not only a few extra pounds, but a ton of knowledge and a grateful heart.  I know that I am doing EXACTLY what I was put here to do.  I know that my own kids’ “issues” are now very typical and very treatable.   I also started to think about the kiddos that I treat as a physical therapist, and their parents, their grandparents, and how this type of therapy could have a profound effect on their lifestyles.  I now have the ability to provide a treatment plan to teach my friend some exercises that will let her eat chips with me without jaw pain, and stop snoring so she can sleep in the same bedroom as her husband.

I never dreamed that my work as a pediatric physical therapist would lead me to where I am today.  Many years ago, I took my first course with Mary Massery, a breathing guru and honestly one of the most talented and well researched PT’s I have ever met.  That course is titled “If you Can’t Breathe, You Can’t Function.”  I would just add, if you can’t breathe, you can’t sleep and you certainly won’t function!  The good news is, we can change this.  We MUST change this.  

We, as a society, for many reasons, are not sleeping well and breathing well.  Our mouths are not being used the way they were intended to anymore.  We eat quicker, easier, and softer foods to accommodate our lifestyles.  We are more rushed, more anxious and less rested.  We are worried about the way we look, but don’t have time to “fix” the issues.  We just want to make it “look” like we have it together-- like everyone else.  We put braces on our teeth to make them pretty and straight, but don’t fix the underlying issue that made the teeth look like that in the first place.  We give a kid an inhaler, tell them to use it when they exercise, but we don’t take time to work on why they are not breathing well in the first place.  We put earplugs in our ears at night or sleep in another room because our loved one snores or grinds their teeth, yet we don’t fix the problem.  We all know someone who has a CPAP machine at their bedside.  The sad thing is that we have learned to accept these issues because they are “normal” and because everyone appears to perpetuate a very similar story in our circle of friends.  

This blog is simply to begin to talk about my family’s story and, in large part, my own story.  This is my life.  I’m certainly not saying that I know everything about breathing, sleeping, jaw dysfunction or ankyloglossia.  I pray that I never know it all.  I’m also not saying that I now have perfect children.  The honest reality is that I thought I could be my boys’ physical therapist, and well, not so much.  They do not recognize my wisdom or expertise in any areas other than cooking and laundry. And really, to them, I am not exactly enlightened.   I am Mom, not a PT with a lot of certifications behind my name or years of experience under my belt.  Just Mom.  And that’s certainly good enough.  I have been lucky enough to find another therapist for my boys.  We have a plan and are getting there!  

My hope is that someone other than my immediate family will read this blog.  If I am able to fix one infant, one child, one athlete, one husband, or one mama by writing this blog, then it will all be worth it.  Click here to find some of the “red flags” that I ask about in a physical therapy evaluation.  If two or more of the items on my checklist apply to you or your kiddos, email me or call me at (225) 366-8016.  Similar to a shoulder that needs some therapy at some point, your mouth does too.  Let’s get your mouth working with you, not against you, to improve your breathing, sleeping, and overall health.

Acknowledgements:

First and above all, thank you to my family and friends for their unbelievable support and encouragement.  You believe in me when I don’t believe in myself and you let me grovel when I miss a baseball game, family day, date night, or wine time. I have the best Team around.

Thank you Sarah Hornsby, RDH, for starting me down this rabbit hole and beginning me on my journey to help my boys.

Thank you Mary Massery, PT, DPT, DSc, for giving me an amazing foundation regarding breathing and postural support.  I want to be you when I grow up!

Thanks also go to Michelle Emmanuel, OTR/L, and TummyTime Method Founder, for reaffirming my clinical skills and validating that what I’m seeing in the clinic is correct… and for giving a name to it!  I also want to thank you for not only welcoming me into a community where sadly few PT’s exist, but for your immense social media networking.  Because of you and Linda D’ Onofrio there are not many people that should still feel like they are on an island.

Thanks to the entire AOMT team for not only beginning my education in the field of Myofunctional Therapy, but also providing me with a talented group of colleagues that will remain lifetime friends.  

And finally, a thank you must go to my dear friend and colleague, Courtney Gonsoulin, CCC-SLP.   Oh, the places you will go!  After 17 years of working together, we still think it’s fun to problem-solve the hardest patient of the day.  You have built an amazing team at Speech and Feeding Specialists of Louisiana that I’m grateful to be part of.   I never want to do a day of work or raise kids without you.  

Best,