Posture Pilots - Tongue Edition

By: Nick Sienkiewicz, DPT, CSCS

Posture Pilots - Tongue Edition

Last week, I began a discussion on posture focusing on your feet as the foundation for solid postural maintenance. This week, we’re diving into arguably the second most important body part for posture: the tongue! First, let me reiterate that there is no perfect posture. Our body’s posture is fluid, as humans are built to move. Nevertheless, we also should be able to sustain a variety of postural positions without difficulty or discomfort. It can be puzzling to fathom how your tongue can dictate your body’s ability to withstand prolonged positions effectively, so I hope to make sense of that for you today!

Our muscles prop us up against the forces of gravity. Your tongue is just another muscle that supports this daily endeavor. When we need to sustain postures for longer durations, it is more economical to utilize smaller muscles primarily for this purpose. That way, we do not blow through bodily energy stores by attempting to leverage large muscles, like the glutes, to hold us upright all day. As a result, smaller muscles with greater capacity for lower-threshold endurance, such as your foot intrinsic muscles and tongue, truly steer our posture in the right direction. On top of that, our body parts are all interconnected via a vast network of fascial tissue, which allows communication and coordinated action between body parts. The Deep Front Line of fascia actually connects from toes and plantar fascia all the way up to the tongue (or down from tongue to feet depending how you’re looking!). This has been shown with cadaver studies. When researchers tug on the plantar fascia, you can actually visualize simultaneous movement of the tongue! This fascial line is critical to postural efficiency, and we should look to the base (feet) and peak (tongue) of the network when intervention is needed. Like a house, a strong foundation and sturdy roof are crucial to the health of the home. These components keep the “meat and potatoes” of the house together and standing upright. In this fashion, robust feet and a functional tongue are fundamental to our body effectively countering the forces of gravity on a daily basis.

Human tongues have become weaker and weaker in recent generations, largely due to modern nutrition and lifestyle. The tongue should press into the roof of the mouth at rest during quiet breathing. Many individuals struggle with this position, and possess a low hanging tongue, which results in a “drooping” body that follows suit. The tip of your tongue should rest on the roof of your mouth just behind the upper front teeth. To find the proper location, say the letter, “n.” Where the tip of your tongue touches during pronunciation of “n” is approximately where you want it to rest when not speaking or eating. Then, the remainder of the tongue should press up and flatten out along the entire roof of the mouth. Most modern humans, especially in industrialized countries like the US, have palates that are too narrow. This makes it challenging to keep the tongue in the appropriate position. These factors go hand in hand. Tongues have gotten weaker because mouths have gotten smaller. Mouths continue to get smaller because tongues are weaker. It is a chicken and an egg situation. It truly doesn’t matter which event came first in our evolution as modern humans. What we should be focusing on today is proper tongue posture and palatal expansion. Even if fully grown as an adult, your palate still has potential to expand and widen. It just requires near constant upward pressure from the tongue to push the bony structures back outward. On the flip side, a palate with adequate width is a welcoming resting spot for the tongue, so it promotes sufficient tongue strength and endurance as long as we are cognizant that it should be positioned up there. In some instances, further intervention may be required. Seeking a provider who is open-minded about palatal expansion may be necessary. This is a small tangent for today’s discussion, but something that is becoming increasingly important for humans nowadays, so I believe it required mentioning.

When the entire tongue is properly positioned along the roof of the mouth, it encourages balanced posturing of the head and neck. This creates a ripple effect into the thoracic spine and ribcage to maintain a stacked cylinder of the trunk. Another aspect of the Deep Front Line is the pelvic floor, which acts as the base of your torso and helps maintain appropriate pelvic position. Many people struggle with pelvic floor issues, both men and women, without even realizing or knowing. Pelvic floor problems most definitely influence our posture. Treatment of these types of issues can be challenging, as individuals often have difficulty sensing pelvic floor engagement and/or relaxation. Well, since the tongue, pelvic floor, and feet have a direct fascial connection, we can leverage the tongue and feet to enhance control of the pelvic floor muscles. In doing so, postural awareness and management are leveled up significantly. Focusing on pressing our tongue upward into the palate not only facilitates fascial tension throughout the entire Deep Front Line, but it also opens up the airways in order to coordinate posture with respiratory function. The tongue pushing up into the roof of the mouth promotes nasal breathing, which is how humans are meant to breathe at rest. With optimal respiration, postural maintenance becomes effortless. Maintaining positions for extended durations can be tiring, but when you have good tongue posture and strength, your entire body will not fatigue as quickly when stationary. Hence, your tongue plays a major role in the structural aspect of posture, as well as dampening the energy demands of maintaining prolonged positions.

I hope this helps make sense of the importance of your tongue and its position inside your mouth as it relates to our posture. I encourage everyone to pay close attention to where your tongue is resting regularly throughout the day. For many, tongue weakness and poor postural control can be managed simply with awareness because once alerted to the issue you can rectify efficiently. Others will require more thorough interventions, such as myofunctional therapy, or even specific devices to help improve this process. If this newsletter resonates with you, please reach out to us at ProForm. This has be something I have been working on myself for years now, so I am happy to help guide others on this journey too! 

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*Disclaimer: This is not medical advice. The information is meant to be educational in nature. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent and/or cure any disease or health condition. Simultaneously, the information is not stating that any supplements or methods mentioned can replace medications or any interventions prescribed by your healthcare provider. Please speak with your own healthcare provider before beginning any new supplements or making changes that may affect your health. By utilizing any of this information, you are assuming responsibility for your own health decisions and actions.