Can You Move Your Tongue Like This?

What’s Tongue Dissociation & Why Does It Matter? 👇

In myofunctional therapy, we focus on making sure the muscles in your face and mouth work smoothly and in balance. One key goal is tongue dissociation—basically, training your tongue to move without relying on your lips, jaw, cheeks or other muscles for extra help.

Many times people unknowingly use their jaw to move their tongue when they talk, chew and swallow, which overworks muscles that shouldn’t be doing the heavy lifting. This can lead to TMJ pain, muscle fatigue, speech issues, and picky eating. In some cases, people use their entire face (yes, even their eyebrows!) to compensate for poor tongue movement.

In therapy, we practice isolating tongue movements—up and down, in and out, and side to side—then applying that control to proper speech, chewing, and swallowing patterns.

The next time you walk by a mirror, open your mouth and try moving your tongue side to side without letting it touch your teeth or lips. Did anything move besides your tongue? 😉