Frequently Asked Questions

We give you time: We ask that you submit your paperwork 24-48 hours in advance of your first appointment to allow our practitioners to familiarize themselves with your story and optimize your time in the office. We schedule 90 minutes for the first appointment.

We listen: We take a comprehensive medical history and discuss the primary reason for scheduling the appointment. 

We examine and treat: We do an evaluation tailored to your presenting concerns. If time allows and it is appropriate, we will treat during the first appointment. 

Not typically. Our goal is to offer therapies that will be well-received by your body. We aim to be as gentle as will be effective. With the care of infants and children, we do not need to use more than light touch to improve the movement of the joints and soft tissues. At times, the tissue we are working on is tender to the touch and can be uncomfortable while we work. People may notice change after the first appointment and any residual soreness that arises as a result of treatment typically resolves within 24-48 hours. 

We tailor our recommendations to your goals for care. 

Many acute conditions will be greatly, if not completely improved within 4-6 appointments, especially if you are consistent with your home care recommendations. With longer standing conditions, 8-12 appointments is more likely. 

We often schedule appointments weekly, although some more pressing concerns like acute pain or a baby who is unable to feed or is not gaining weight may require 2 appointments in one week. 

Our goal is to help you solve your problem. Sometimes we recommend a consult with a practitioner in our practice to get another perspective on your concern and other times a treatment with two practitioners is necessary to help us meet your goals.

Our practitioners have been at the forefront of identifying and collaborating to restore function for babies and others with tongue tie for several years. We network with practitioners throughout New England to optimize care. We typically see babies for 4-6 treatments, ideally 1-2 prior to frenectomy and 3-4 as the tissue is healing and remodeling. We are thoughtful about what it takes for bodies to heal and recommend strategies to support good nutrition and emotional support in addition to the manual therapy and rehabilitative exercises needed to ensure the efficacy of the procedure.

How can manual therapy help?
Touch facilitates change in the body on many levels. Touch can be soothing and calming, and therefore, very healing. That’s why parents massage their babies and why it is particularly effective when parents do massages and exercises daily. Parental touch is reassuring and frequent interaction between parents and baby builds trust and improves baby’s development.

Specific manual therapy techniques and knowledge of the babies’ anatomy can facilitate even more change. Gentle palpation of muscles and soft tissue called fascia can tell us if a muscle is being overused or is underdeveloped. Gentle palpation of a joint can reveal if it’s moving too much or too little. The level of training of the person palpating will reveal more and more information about the state of the body and manual therapy can help facilitate changes that can improve baby’s ability to accomplish important activities like breathing, eating, moving their head, neck, arms, and legs so that they can fully experience the world around them and continue to develop their motor (movement via muscles) and cognitive (thinking) skills.

A comprehensive biomechanical and neurologic exam may reveal the reason for the infant’s challenges with breastfeeding and provide a resolution.

In the case of tethered oral tissues:

  • Manual therapy can improve the flexibility and range of motion of the tethered tissues (lips, tongue, cheeks) in preparation for the surgical or laser release of the tethered tissues
  • Help to maintain flexibility in the mouth, neck and body as the tongue and lips heal
  • Normalize and integrate full functionality after the procedure

What are biomechanics?
Biomechanics are the way our joints move, dictated by the health of the ligaments, muscles, and bones that comprise the joint. Our joints should have healthy, full range of movement, and good stability. Can you move your arm in a full circle? Does it pop, click, or hurt when you try? A full, painless circle is great biomechanics; anything else is dysfunction. If a baby’s temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is not able to move properly or is unstable when it does (because of how the head was handled during the birth process, perhaps) then their mouth may not be able to open as wide as it needs to when they want to eat. It may even be uncomfortable or painful for them or you might feel or hear a click when they try. This is one biomechanical reason that an infant may have difficulty nursing or feeding by bottle.

What is neurology?
Neurology is how the brain communicates with the body. If the brain is injured (as in a person who has had a stroke) and cannot communicate well with the body, you may see difficulty with speech or using a limb effectively. There are many serious issues that can interfere with the brain telling the body what to do, but there are also several less serious, easily treatable situations where biomechanics may affect how the brain interprets what is needed and that can interfere with how the brain communicates with the body. For example, if the mouth can’t open widely to feed, the brain will try something else, like asking the baby to tip backwards from the waist hoping to make more space and then the muscles that allow baby to tip backwards will eventually become stronger than the muscles that should open the mouth. Subsequently, the muscles that should be opening the jaw lie dormant, waiting for the brain to task them. If the biomechanics of the TMJ are corrected and the brain senses the mouth can open, it will once again communicate with the appropriate muscles and they will begin to be restored to good function and activation.

We have chosen not to accept assignment (reimbursement) from any insurance company.   This choice reflects our desire to offer excellent, effective, and personalized patient care.  Our fees are based on the time spent with your practitioner, that time can include any of the services our practitioners offer, either upon request or at the practitioner’s recommendation. You are welcome to use HSA or FSA cards or to submit to your insurance company on your own.  Upon request, we can provide you with invoices that have the necessary information for you to submit to your insurance company.  If you choose to submit invoices to your insurance company, we will not negotiate your contract with them, we leave that up to you.

“I have had 3 children and all different experiences with feeding them but the one thing that was consistent was the help, support and encouragement I received from the staff of Kidspace. My first born was born with a tongue tie and torticollis although we tried for 9 months she never latched and I decided to pump breastmilk for her for 21 months. I did not have support elsewhere or family who knew how to help me but the staff at Kidspace helped me reach my pumping goal and helped with every challenge along the way from low milk supply to food allergies and so many obstacles that came along with pumping. I was saddened by the fact that she was not able to nurse and they offered me the emotional support I needed to heal from that.  My second born went straight to breast which was a new experience for me completely. I still remember Dr. Vallone sitting with me to help get her latch deeper, to help me relax while nursing. I had a fantastic nursing relationship that time around. My third child and most challenging, was my son who was born with a cleft palate and the inability to nurse. It was decided from the birth that I would pump. They have helped me in so many ways with him, I am so grateful they were already part of my team by the time he was born. I knew exactly where to go, who to turn to for help and support. I am currently 15.5 months into exclusively pumping for him and I would not have made it this far without people I can count on for help when issues arise. Kidspace is more then just a medical office, they are a family who values breastfeeding in all forms that that comes in. They are always encouraging, warm, and exactly what every mother new and old is in need of.”