When a tongue tie is released, there will be a diamond-shaped wound under your baby's tongue. A yellow or white coating will usually form within about 24 hours, and last 1-2 weeks before flaking off. There is often a period of unsettledness in the day or two afterwards. Healing then continues to take place, but should not bother your baby.

It is very important to remember that the lingual frenulum is a normal structure in the human body. A tight restrictive lingual frenulum that affects a baby's feeding ability, is a tongue tie. When this area is cut, it will heal itself and form a new lingual frenulum. Like any healing tissue on the body, when we cut ourselves, there will be a period of time where some firmness is felt whilst healing takes place. As the wound heals post-division, a firmer patch will develop under your baby's tongue, typically most noticeable if felt 1-3 weeks after the original cut was made. 

Tongue tie release is not a quick fix to feeding problems, but may be part of the approach to help develop an improved feeding technique. When problems arise over this period post-procedure, it can unfortunately be assumed by some health care professionals that the tongue tie has either reformed or has not been fully cut. This can create undue stress and anxiety for parents, and this is due to lack of understanding of how a tongue tie wound heals and what is normal. I often see babies being referred for repeat procedures, which are likely unnecessary. There are some cases (around 2-3%) who will benefit from a re-division, but it is important for a skilled breastfeeding assessment to take place before considering this. The normal process of wound healing post-procedure, must also be well understood by the person assessing. A sweep of a finger under the baby's tongue is not sufficient in determining if further surgical release is needed as a reforming lingual frenulum will be palpable. If this were the case, we would be forever re-dividing and not allowing the wound to heal itself and refashion over time, usually ending up soft and allowing good tongue movement.