Nikki commented:


> Can anyone verify that clipping a frenulum is virtually painless?  When I
> was a teenager I had the muscle that attaches my lower lip to my gum
> clipped
> (can't remember the name of that thing).  I did not consider it to be
> virtually painless, it was actually the opposite--very painful  (and I have
> a HIGH tolerance for pain).  So I wonder how clipping the frenulum equates
> with my experience on the pain scale?
>
>

Well, since the babies won't tell us how painful or painfree a frenotomy is,
we have to go to the older kids.  My daughter's best friend had her's clipped
(for HORRIBLE malocclusion) at the age of 13.  Her's was so bad that the
orthodontist refused to put braces on her until the frenulum was clipped.
Her pediatrician did it, and of course, I was all ears as to how it went --
especially knowing 13 year olds -- "No problem at all, Mrs. Barger," she
said.  "He lifted up my tongue, clipped it, and put a gauze on it.  It didn't
bleed at all -- oh, maybe a little -- and it really didn't hurt.  No big
deal."

So there you have it from a teenage girl.  Of course, she also went on to get
her tongue PIERCED, so perhaps her pain tolerance is pretty high too.

I wouldn't think that a frenulum that attaches the lower lip to the gum would
be painless -- that's a pretty hefty frenula; nor would I think that an upper
labial frenulum would be painless to clip.  But a lingual frenulum?  I don't
think that in most cases it is a problem.  Certainly easier than piercing
tongues, ears, navels, and doing a circumcision.

Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC -- Wheaton IL
Lactation Education Consultants
www.lactationeducationconsultants.com

             ***********************************************
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