I'm 32, so obviously, limited expectations. Mostly doing this out of a general tendency towards functional/evolutionary-based health interventions, some degree of curiosity about (and interest in) whether my facial structure will improve, and a hope that this might have a positive effect on some bruxing I do at night. I don't have issues nose breathing, or sleep apnea, or a particularly weak chin or anything. Just want to try this out.
I wanted to spell out my experience attempting to mew, to get a sense of whether I'm doing things right or risking negative effects. (I've seen some posts with people worried about the effects of the practice.) I've tried for two days, and here's where I stand:
- My tongue seems to comfortably fit so that the tip is a little short (maybe 2mm?) of my front teeth. The tip isn't actually pressed against the palate, but very near the tip is (because the tip is parallel to my palate, essentially, since I'm not poking it in; this feels right.)
- I have trouble getting my whole back tongue up against the roof of my mouth, because after the front ridges, my palate becomes much more concave, meaning that there's essentially a cliff from the front ridges to the hard palate, and my tongue has to bend to conform to it. It's not long enough to bend and cover the whole palate back to the soft area, but I suspect if the palate flattens out or my tongue lengthens a bit, this will become more comfortable.
- That said, if I apply light suction, I get roughly half of my tongue on the roof of my mouth, without too much pressure. Not trying to "hard mew" here, and happy to have this take time once it becomes a habit.
- When I do that, the sides of my tongue are a little constrained by my side teeth/molars. I could A) touch my teeth together, limiting the space my tongue has, and probably (can't really tell) forcing it to double in on itself a bit, or B) keep my teeth slightly open. In this case, part of my tongue is squeezed lightly between my molars, and after a while, I feel this on my tongue. (Mildly unpleasant, but not terrible.)
- I'm leaning towards B above for now, in the hopes that my palate will widen and make room for me to close my teeth at the same time, eventually.
- This is also because trying A requires much more focus, intensity, and sort of feels like I'm clenching my jaw to counterbalance the light pressure of the tongue on the roof of my mouth.
- When I do this for some time:
- My palate gets a little tender feeling, but not uncomfortable. Think this makes sense as a result of pressure.
- I feel a little bit of pressure around the horizontal midline of my face (around the cheekbones, and a little pressure behind my nose). Almost feels like my cheekbones are lifting somewhat.
- I feel a small amount of pressure on the ridges next to my molars, which to me indicates that I'm placing my tongue correctly there.
Does that all sound right? Anything to correct or look out for? Is this an irrelevant practice at 32?
Thanks!
Posted : 20/07/2021 2:30 pm