Postoperative Care

Though the operation* takes mere minutes and may be unmemorable for your baby; the aftercare is very important to be able to provide the body with the best chance of healing.

Postoperatively the body will want to sew the wound back together and return the area to its original form. This is called primary intention and in this case, is not what we want to happen, because the wound could heal in a tighter and more troublesome manner. Therefore, you will be required to stretch and rub the wound area to stimulate it to heal differently.  This is called healing by secondary intention.

Healing by secondary intention is designed to encourage healing from the outside in, rather than the usual inside out. Healing by secondary intention will allow the frenectomy sight to heal without the usual tightness which occurs when a wound is healing.

To promote secondary healing in infants, our friendly staff at KIDS will encourage you to maintain breastfeeding, as the function of the mouth during the feed will stimulate movement in the operative area. However, breastfeeding alone does not provide enough stimulation for the area. Therefore, parents and caregivers will be required to perform manual stretching and rubbing exercises several times a day until the wound is healed.

We understand that this can be confronting for parents, however, our friendly team at KIDS will work with you to provide the manual stimulation and exercises you will be required to perform in the comfort of your own home. The stimulation is to be done gently, yet firmly and thoroughly, stretch, rub and press on and around the area of the wound. These types of therapies may cause mild discomfort or pain to the infant, which may result in them crying, however, we have found that they are instrumental in preventing reattachment. Therefore, we like to remind parents and caregivers that these activities are for the infant’s long-term benefit and that they must be done. As soon as they are completed you can comfort, coddle and feed your baby.

You may also be given additional exercises from your lactation consultant or bodyworker. These additional exercises are to be completed together with the recommended stretching exercises. The stretching exercises are to promote healing and minimal reattachment of the wound. The additional exercises are likely to address a different side-effect of the tongue-tie

The video below shows the technique for performing the stretching exercises correctly. You will also be shown how to perform them following the surgery.

For more information please contact our friendly team at KIDS.

* Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.