What you need to know about Myo

​What you need to know about Myofunctional Therapy Recently you may have heard us talking about the benefits of myofunctional therapy. Myofunctional therapy is an exercise-based treatment modality. It's just like doing physical therapy, only for symptoms and conditions related to the face, mouth and jaws. If your tongue rests low in your mouth, or if you’re breathing through your mouth, then this is a strong sign that you need myofunctional therapy. Myofunctional therapy is a program that utilizes a specific sequence to engage the muscles of the face to encourage nasal breathing, lip seal and an elevated tongue. In order to achieve facial balance we must focus the teeth, joint and muscles. By doing this we increase facial awareness, build facial muscles and coordination of the muscles of the mouth and face. The ripple effect throughout the body could result in better digestion, correct posture, a decrease in headaches, reduced TMJ symptoms, facial awareness and decreased sleep apnea. The four main goals of myofunctional therapy are: ● Nasal breathing day and night ● Full Lip Seal ● Tongue resting on roof of mouth ● Proper Swallowing pattern Often we develop poor oral habits and dysfunctional patterns of muscle function used for swallowing, breathing, and chewing. Through treatment sessions we help people learn to use their oral and facial muscles more efficiently and achieve optimized oral-facial rest posture. We teach normal oral function related to tongue placement, breathing, chewing, swallowing, establish normal oral rest posture of the tongue and the upper & lower jaws. This can help with orthodontic treatment, sleep apnea, breathing disorders, snoring, TMJ pain & dysfunction, posture, and overall facial tone. Once Dr. Provencher has determined the focus for treatment, an initial assessment consisting of photos and videos are taken and then an individualized treatment plan is provided. Most sessions will be delivered via our telehealth platform! Like any therapy, compliance is key! The better you comply the better the results. Specifics will be outlined in the treatment sessions but it typically takes 5-7 minutes three times per day. Occasionally a passive exercise for 30 minutes daily is included and this will help with facial awareness and mindfulness, a great one to do while watching tv, reading a book, making dinner, going on a walk or scrolling social media! What age is ideal for treatment? When we treat children, we are preventing problems later on in life but when we’re helping adult patients they work through and correct the symptoms of their myofunctional issues. Adults can get amazing results and make life changing progress. You are never too old to start myofunctional therapy. We offer a mini-myo program for kids to eliminate oral habits and increase their proper facial function. The exercises are simple and fun to do but they will make you improve function with small and consistent steps. Kids and teens find the program fun!