After reading all the earlier discussion about clicking, with just
passing interest, I was surprised to note that Lisa Marasco's detailed
post about her own and her son's breastfeeding/clicking/bifurcated uvula
history suddenly rekindled an old memory within me.
I remember frequently hearing myself (as I was waking from sleep)
rhythmically clicking my own palatal/mid-tongue junction as a small (6+
year old) child, and beyond. Perhaps a remnant of my short (so I was
told) breastfeeding history, or could it be from my bottlefeeding habits?
Do bottlefed babies ever click when they take a bottle? I remember
hearing my own sleeping toddlers sometimes making the sound, sort of
accompanying the "REM" stage of sleep.
It is still a very easy sound for me to make and feels very natural to
me. Out of curiosity, I just felt my neck about an inch above my Adam's
apple when I tried it and I feel that muscle tense each time that I do
it, even though I am moving my mid/posterior tongue ever so slightly.
It seems to be my soft palate that is making the clicking, just at its
junction with the hard palate. As I slow it down to analyze it, it
happens at just the moment when a mild vacuum formed by a slight movement
of my midtongue is breaking at that junction.
My uvula does not appear to be bifurcated, but I know that my tongue was
clipped very early, as was the custom in the '30's. I have always had
some consciousness of the upper surface of my uvula/soft palate due to
postnasal drip, mild allergies, and the need to make a "snuffaluppigus"
maneuver as the habitual way to clear it out.
I have never heard any dental people comment on my palate, but out of
curiosity, I hope someday that someone with an insightful eye can look at
my palate and see if there is anything unusual.
I have always assumed that everyone has a big bony bump in the center of
their posterior hard palate. Maybe that's why all your references to a
"high palate" make me scratch my head. Can someone tell me? I guess I
need to do more reading on the formation of the palate! (I do have very
large torah inside my lower jaw. I don't know if that's associated.)
My curiosity is just aroused. Sorry that you now know far more about my
oral cavity and my nasopharynx than you ever wanted to know!
Jean
******************
K. Jean Cotterman RNC, IBCLC
Dayton, Ohio, USA
***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
|
