Hello Everyone,
I am brand new to the forum. However, since stumbling upon the forum and watching a multitude of Dr. Mike Mew and Professor Mew’s videos, I’ve compiled a list of questions I believe haven't been explicitly addressed in a single, stand-alone forum post or video (and if they were addressed in passing on a video or forum post, I have yet to find them). Or, in the case of this question, may have been addressed before but there is still some ambiguity.
Therefore, in the spirit of making sure these are explicitly addressed, I will break up my questions into multiple, stand-alone forum posts. My question is as follows:
What should the tongue be doing while performing the actual act of swallowing? Dr. Mew has some older videos explaining the technique. However, it seem like they were relatively ambiguous in their explanation. Granted, this is only my opinion. Someone else could have watched the videos and fully understood the process based on Dr. Mew’s explanation.
Thank you in advance for helping both myself and, more importantly, the community at large improve their facial form and function with your reply to my question.
They say when you look in the mirror, you shouldn't see movement in the face when swallowing. They also say to look straight ahead. (well, have good posture of the head). That's what they say... and I see that when my posture is straight (as opposed to bowing)... that more pressure is applied by the tonuge.
I don't believe in contrived swallowing patterns... or even the head being straight.. that is what they say. What I say is that there is precious cargo space in the nasal area... pushing high is bad. The palatal vault, once expanded to be huge can really hurt health and I know now way of reverting it.
I saw a woman holding a cardboard sign outside of Wal-Mart. She was put into a functional device that was never shaved down. Her sinuses were teeny tiny. I don't think Dr. Mew is paying any attention to this matter. Won Moon is, though. You can see what he's doing to acutally lower faces. The problem is... you can go wide and big.. but you can't revert that any way I know of. Trapped. The palate needs to be healthy. A healthy palate isn't cutting into the airway. In fact... I'm thinking that RPE on kids and even DOME and SARPE and all that may not be as good as we think... Allowing the palate to drop (slowly)... like DNA can help the airway. Braces on kids may help the airway. The palate shouldn't be oversized. The tongue is more likely to fall back without something to have friction on. That is why some OSA removable devices have a tongue pusher-downer.
I'm not a doctor... just a slow learner.
What should the tongue be doing while performing the actual act of swallowing? Dr. Mew has some older videos explaining the technique. However, it seem like they were relatively ambiguous in their explanation. Granted, this is only my opinion. Someone else could have watched the videos and fully understood the process based on Dr. Mew’s explanation.
Mike posted a video yesterday which shows at 4:46 - 4:53 how it should look like. I suppose that's what he means with micro-swallowing that he wants us to encourage by learning the tongue sweep exercise.
While I do agree with a comment that Kylie Jenner was not a good example, I find the video informative and has some animations and pictures that explain better than in some of his other videos.
Also, from my experience and common sense, be sure you are free of tension in the neck and tongue, especially in the hyoid area... or the rest of your body for that matter, to be able to micro-swallow and let your peristalsis do its job without disruption.
Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwnYPeC7nK4
You may be right that Dr. Mew has never illustrated exactly what the tongue is doing with an appropriate swallow, but in his Mew Push Swallow videos, the instructions that he gives should result in a proper swallow. In the cheesy swallow, he emphasizes putting the tip of the tongue on the "spot", right above the top two front teeth. Putting the tongue there, smiling, and then swallowing results in a pretty good swallow. However, it is the very very cheesy swallow, that results in the most optimal swallow. This involves activating the posterior third of the tongue. This is the same muscle that is engaged when you say the word "kick".
What I like to do when swallowing saliva, is to suck the tongue on to the spot and then let the saliva travel down my tongue all the way to the very back of my mouth as far as it can go, and then push the posterior back third of my tongue up hard when swallowing. This is essentially the wave action of the tongue that I have heard Dr. Mew talk about.
So basically a good swallow always starts with the tip of your tongue on the spot, and ends with strong upward action of the back posterior third of the tongue. This is my current understanding, but I am very open to any disagreements or other opinions on the matter.
@darkindigo @Ayla31 @shakti_om
Thank you all for your detailed replies. I appreciate your insight, and will review the videos your referenced in your replies.
Do you have any advice regarding this topic, @krollic?
Skull and Jaw Correction
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