molecule00
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THE ONLY COMPLETE GUIDE FOR A DIY ANTERIOR LINGUAL FRENECTOMY
Correct me if im wrong but this should be the first diy tongue tie release guide on org so get ready to learn. I wouldnt recommend this procedure only if youre a total retard but other than that it was super simple.
And as an important detail keep in mind that this is a guide ONLY for an ANTERIOR lingual frenectomy meaning that if you wanna release a POSTERIOR tongue tie youll have to get better anesthetics and other gear plus its much harder in the sense of visibility. So do not cut past the visible frenulum!
The diagnosis is pretty simple and here you can see how fucked up I was.
You should also measure your incisal distance with Tongue Tip on Palate and Entire Tongue on Palate
but overall you should be qualified if it limits your function.
My TTP was 25mm, ETP was 15mm and fully open mouth was 59mm.
That makes my TRMR (tongue range of motion ratio) 25/59 = 42% and anything below 50% is considered significant restriction.
My personal concern was my ETP cus it made it impossible to have proper tongue posture.
Surgical Scissors
So youll need small scissors that are as sharp as possible so your options are to either buy real
surgical scissors or make them diy from cheap nail scissors. I chose the latter.
I bought this generic pair for 4 euros. Nail scissors dont have a blade type edge so youll have to make it yourself.
I first filed a shallow bewel only on the outer edges and then used a 3000 grit sharpening stone to sharpen
them till they were able to grab my finger nail.
Hemostat (Tweezers)
Then youll need something to squeeze the part youre going to cut in order to minimize bleeding and to make
sure youre numb all the way through. I just used cheap flat tip tweezers but you can also get a real hemostat.
Tongue Retractor
In order to put the frenulum under tension when cutting you need something to hold the tongue up.
I just drew a basic retractor in CAD and 3D printed it but again you can buy a real one if you have the money.
Miscellaneous
I would also highly recommend getting nitril gloves, cotton pads and q-tips as well as a small mirror with
an adjustable stand cus you will need good visibility
Pharma
For the local anesthesia I used OTC 5% lidocaine rectal cream cus that was the only one I could get here.
Just try to find the strongest cream you can and it should be fine
Optimally you should get some chlorhexidine for the surgery prep and recovery to avoid infections
but this isnt as vital as the others. Personally I still wouldnt take the risk so just get a small bottle cus its cheap.
Lastly you will most likely need pain killers for the first few days like I did so just make sure you have them in stock.
So youll need small scissors that are as sharp as possible so your options are to either buy real
surgical scissors or make them diy from cheap nail scissors. I chose the latter.
I bought this generic pair for 4 euros. Nail scissors dont have a blade type edge so youll have to make it yourself.
I first filed a shallow bewel only on the outer edges and then used a 3000 grit sharpening stone to sharpen
them till they were able to grab my finger nail.
Hemostat (Tweezers)
Then youll need something to squeeze the part youre going to cut in order to minimize bleeding and to make
sure youre numb all the way through. I just used cheap flat tip tweezers but you can also get a real hemostat.
Tongue Retractor
In order to put the frenulum under tension when cutting you need something to hold the tongue up.
I just drew a basic retractor in CAD and 3D printed it but again you can buy a real one if you have the money.
Miscellaneous
I would also highly recommend getting nitril gloves, cotton pads and q-tips as well as a small mirror with
an adjustable stand cus you will need good visibility
Pharma
For the local anesthesia I used OTC 5% lidocaine rectal cream cus that was the only one I could get here.
Just try to find the strongest cream you can and it should be fine
Optimally you should get some chlorhexidine for the surgery prep and recovery to avoid infections
but this isnt as vital as the others. Personally I still wouldnt take the risk so just get a small bottle cus its cheap.
Lastly you will most likely need pain killers for the first few days like I did so just make sure you have them in stock.
So this is basically how you perform the surgery and then theres the video for a lil demonstration.
1. Rinse mouth first with saline and then with chlorhexidine.
You will never get the mouth sterile but antiseptic will do better than well
2. Dry the lingual frenulum and start applying coats of lidocaine cream with q-tips.
In order to avoid the product from being washed away or diluted cus of saliva you should
hold the frenulum with a cotton pad. I think i did like 5 layers and I think thats bout the minimum.
Just make sure you apply it far back enough and like a lil extra so you dont get any unwanted surprises mid cut.
3. Squeeze the middle of the frenulum aka the part youre going to cut with tweezers.
You need to really give it all you got and get all the blood out of that region.
If you cant squeeze with max force then you need more lidocaine.
4. Now this was the exciting part cus once you start the cut you cant stop until youre done.
So make sure you can see what youre doing from the mirror and pull the tongue up with the retractor hard enough so that the cut is smooth.
You should not have to use much force at all while cutting so make sure the scissors are sharp. When you reach the base
of the tongue you might have to widen the diamond shaped wound a bit so that the random pieces of flesh arent the restriction
but other than that you should be done once the straight cut has reached the tongue.
5. Use a cotton pad to apply constant pressure on the wound for 5-15 minutes so that the bleeding stops.
I think it took like 10-15 minutes for me. You should also try to immediately test your tongue mobility to see if you need to cut more cus if you dont you might be in for a nasty surprise on the following day.
If youre concerned about the pain I would say the operation itself wasnt that painful. The very back of the frenulum made my whole face twitch and I could feel that it wasnt as numb but it was all managable. So just be generous with the lido
1. Rinse mouth first with saline and then with chlorhexidine.
You will never get the mouth sterile but antiseptic will do better than well
2. Dry the lingual frenulum and start applying coats of lidocaine cream with q-tips.
In order to avoid the product from being washed away or diluted cus of saliva you should
hold the frenulum with a cotton pad. I think i did like 5 layers and I think thats bout the minimum.
Just make sure you apply it far back enough and like a lil extra so you dont get any unwanted surprises mid cut.
3. Squeeze the middle of the frenulum aka the part youre going to cut with tweezers.
You need to really give it all you got and get all the blood out of that region.
If you cant squeeze with max force then you need more lidocaine.
4. Now this was the exciting part cus once you start the cut you cant stop until youre done.
So make sure you can see what youre doing from the mirror and pull the tongue up with the retractor hard enough so that the cut is smooth.
You should not have to use much force at all while cutting so make sure the scissors are sharp. When you reach the base
of the tongue you might have to widen the diamond shaped wound a bit so that the random pieces of flesh arent the restriction
but other than that you should be done once the straight cut has reached the tongue.
5. Use a cotton pad to apply constant pressure on the wound for 5-15 minutes so that the bleeding stops.
I think it took like 10-15 minutes for me. You should also try to immediately test your tongue mobility to see if you need to cut more cus if you dont you might be in for a nasty surprise on the following day.
If youre concerned about the pain I would say the operation itself wasnt that painful. The very back of the frenulum made my whole face twitch and I could feel that it wasnt as numb but it was all managable. So just be generous with the lido
The recovery was quite smooth and I had no problems. For the first two days i did 800mg ibuprofen every 12 hours and then lidocaine a couple times. For the first two weeks I did saline rinses after each meal and chlorhexidine rinses twice a day to keep the mouth clean.
NOW HERE COMES THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS WHOLE THING
You have to do tongue mobility exercises and stretches at least daily for at least 2 weeks post op or the wound WILL heal incorrectly.
You will lose a lot of the gained mobility unless you do them since the tongue will just go to its old natural position
and heal much more restricted. So just ask ChatGPT for a simple tongue exercise routine and really do them hard to keep most of the mobility.
On the first week the wound usually opened a bit while I did the stretches which means it wouldve healed more restricted otherwise.
You should start the exercises immediately post op so use lidocaine on the first sessions.
Now from the recovery photos you mightve noticed that I still have a tongue tie. An infact I do have a small restriction but that was totally predictable cus it was pretty much impossible to cut that deep and low without any previous experience. But just cus I have it doesnt mean anything what matters is function. And Im happy to say that Im able to have proper tongue posture now aka mew and my measurements are average or slightly above. My TTP went from 25 to 38mm
and ETP went from 15 to 29mm so the difference is mind blowing. My TRMR went from 42 to 64% which is right around average if not above.Here you can see the difference between before and after more clearly:
(in the green is a 5mm grid that i calibrated with a ruler i had in the photos)
(YOU MIGHT HAVE TO OPEN THEM IN BROWSER IF THEYRE DISTORTED)
If you found this post informative please rep me and tell me what did you think of it
