GA does NOT make your tongue stick out!

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GA does NOT make your tongue stick out!

Posted by Shelbyscout on May 26, 2001 at 23:12:37:
There seems to be a widely held misconception that a genioglossus advancement causes the tongue to stick out or to press up against the teeth. This is not the case. The GA procedure flattens out the back of the tongue, in the throat, while the front part of the tongue stays in the same position.
It may help to think of it this way. Think of the tongue as the letter L rotated so that there's a straight line with the stick part of the L pointing down at a 90 degree angle. The dotted line represents the genioglossus muscle.
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...........|
Picture this as your tongue--the long flat part is the part of the tongue that you see in your mouth, and the stick going downwards is the part that is in your throat. Actually the part that you can see is only a small part of the whole tongue. Anyway, the genioglossus muscle attaches to the bottom of the little stick part (dotted line). So pulling it forward makes the L into a J shape (sort of).
______
........._/
This movement pulls the back or base of the tongue forward without affecting the top or flat part of the tongue. This is what helps open the airway.
I hope this clears up some of the confusion (if it's understandable, that is) :).
Shelby :)

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