What Is Cleft Lip and How to Fix It?

A cleft lip is when there is separation on one or both sides of the lip, it is there at birth. It happens during the early development stages in the womb, when the left and right sides of the face and the roof of the mouth don’t fuse together. If they do not join correctly then this can cause an opening in the lip. It is estimated that over 4,000 babies are born with a cleft lip.

If a child has a cleft lip and it isn’t treated promptly, it can lead to development, growth, and feeding problems. Some other things it can affect are hearing, speech, ear infections, and obviously facial appearance. It is usually corrected between three and six months of age, but it can be later. Once the surgery is complete there is usually very minimal scarring and the child can go ahead and live a completely healthy and happy life.

As medicine has advanced, so have surgeries. This means that cleft lip surgery has improved within just the past couple of years. Depending on how bad the cleft lip is will determine how many surgeries there will be. Some things require you to wait until your child is nine months old, while other things may not be fixed until 7 to 10 years of age. Final corrections will be made between 15 to 20 years old. So, this can be an ongoing situation, but most of the time there won’t be too many complications.

If you are looking for somewhere to get a  cleft lip surgery nyc. You will want to have a doctor that makes you feel comfortable and answers all of your questions. It is normally best to go to a doctor that is in a big city because they have a lot more competition, so since they want business, they must be good.

It can stressful whenever your child has to undergo any type of surgery, but this is one of the better surgeries that they may have to endure. Fixing a cleft lip is a standard procedure so even though you may feel overwhelmed or worried, there is no reason to be. The surgery will last anywhere from two to six hours and your child will undergo a general anesthetic.

The doctor will go over everything that you need to know about the procedure. There are certain things you must do to prepare for these surgeries, and they are different than most due to the fact that the demographic is all children. You must avoid foods and non-clear liquids once you reach a certain age, while other children can have formula or breast milk up to four or six hours beforehand. No worries, the doctor will tell you everything that you need to know before your surgery. All you need to do is follow their instructions precisely and you shouldn’t have to worry about thing.