Torticollis? « Back to Group Discussions

[Abraisme]

Has anyone dealt with torticollis?  Coralie always tips her her to the left and can't actually seem to bend it the other way.  I think I'm going to take her in to the doctors and see what kind of stretches we should be doing.  It just doesn't seem right to me...

ETA:  She also seems weak when she's on her belly.  She can now roll easily from her back to her belly, but then gets really tired quickly and lays her head down.

[TalkToMeNow]

Sorry, I don't have any experience. Good luck with it! Hopefully there are exercises that can correct it easily since she is so young. 

[KaliShanti]

Yes, Enoch has torticollis and plagiocephaly. Her tort looks pretty severe so I would go to your dr and het him or her to refer you to a physical therapist. I have been stretching Enoch at home and he has drastically improved but just went today for his evaluation at cranial technologies in Dallas to see if he might need a cranial band. He does. does your little one have plagiocephaly too? It is common with tort babies.

[seraf]

Ari was diagnosed with it around 4 weeks.  We kicked it by 3 months.  A friend's baby was diagnosed at 7 months and it took much longer, but she had something extra with hers.  

Did the doc notice it at her last appointment?  I would get it checked out because it takes longer to treat the older she gets.

[Abraisme]

Awe, sorry your little guy is having so much trouble.  Coralie has a very round head, so I don't think she has any plagiocephaly.  That's a flat spot right?  I will call our pedi tomorrow and make an appointment.

Originally Posted by KaliShanti 

Yes, Enoch has torticollis and plagiocephaly. Her tort looks pretty severe so I would go to your dr and het him or her to refer you to a physical therapist. I have been stretching Enoch at home and he has drastically improved but just went today for his evaluation at cranial technologies in Dallas to see if he might need a cranial band. He does. does your little one have plagiocephaly too? It is common with tort babies.

Sara - Coralie hasn't really been to a dr. since she was 6 weeks old.  She was quickly tested for whooping cough last week, but the pedi didn't really look at her that hard.  My midwives didn't see anything at the 6 week appointment, I assume they check for that?

[KaliShanti]

My midwife did not notice it. My dh and I did then I finally made a dr appointment at two months when I noticed the plagiocephaly. Up to that poi t none of our kids even had pedis. Now I will have to drive about four hours round trip every week on e he gets his band. Ah we'll.

Anyway, physical therapy might be in order fir you. Hopefully that is all she will need. So glad she is t dealing with the plagio as well!

[seraf]

My midwives had never heard of it. They refered her for suspected hip dysplasia.

We switched which side Ari was sleeping on every night and I made sure she turned her head to the bad side to nurse a lot. I did her exercises while she slept. When a baby gets older there are more games you can add in so increase use of weaker muscles.

[Abraisme]

Thanks everyone.  Coralie has slept and nursed on the same side since birth, which may be the cause.  I will make an appointment for her early next week and get it checked out.

[MrsKatie]

I nannied for a girl with severe torticollis, which was diagnosed around 3 months.  I did all her physical therapy when I was with her and her twin brother, which consisted of stretching her head to the other side for a count of 10 seconds 3 times back-to-back.  We did that session 3 times a day.  Her tort was pretty much totally better by the time she was a year old.  It took a long time but, like I said, it was quite severe for her (much worse than Coralie's).  We also constantly encouraged her to turn her head the other way by laying her down and putting toys, etc on the side to which we wanted her to turn.  Good luck!
 

[Jaimee]

Originally Posted by Abraisme 

ETA:  She also seems weak when she's on her belly.  She can now roll easily from her back to her belly, but then gets really tired quickly and lays her head down.

I'll be interested to hear what you find out.  Avery tires quickly when he's on his belly, too, and puts his head down.  Anyway, good luck and keep us posted!

[Abraisme]

To update:  I took Coralie to the chiro and he confirmed that she does have a mild torticollis.  He showed me how to do the stretches and said that it will likely fix the problem.  I'm taking her to the pedi today for a well-baby visit (I don't normally do them), so we'll see what her dr. says too.

[drjanescott]

Abraisme, glad to hear your appointment went well. It is comforting to know that plagiocephaly/torticollis can be corrected in the early stages, and it sounds like you have a good support system and some techniques to begin implementing. I'm glad to see you all talking abou these issues, as plagiocephaly/torticollis is still something that not all mothers are aware of, even though it has been steadily increasing by about 25% each year over the ast decade! The best way to prevent/correct flat head syndrome is to keep infants off the back of their heads as much as possible, including time spent in strollers, bouncers, carseats, etc. and to periodically change the position of their head and neck so they don’t begin to favor a certain side.  Try to get your daughter to turn her head to the other side as much as possible. I would suggest the following ways to get your baby moving her head to the side she is not currently favoring: Try feeding her so that she must turn her head in the direction of the non-favored side. When approaching her, come from the side that requires her to turn her head to the side she isn’t favoring in order to see you. Place interesting and stimulating toys to the unflavored side, and put her on her tummy as much as possible. Finally, when your baby is calm and relaxed, try gently massaging the neck muscles to get her to stretch both sides equally. Talk to your pediatrician about any questions or concerns you may have. Feel free to visit https://www.facebook.com/DrJaneScott  or www.babytortle.com for more information and congratulations on the upcoming birth of your baby!

[Jaimee]

Originally Posted by drjanescott 

 congratulations on the upcoming birth of your baby!

Uh oh, Abra!  Something you want to share? 

[Abraisme]

  NO!  Ha ha..  I'm pretty sure we've been infiltrated by a spammer.  Yes, she's a 'real' person, but she clearly does a lot of copy and pasting.  Heh.

Originally Posted by Jaimee 

Uh oh, Abra!  Something you want to share? 

[jbk21]

How is she posting as a non-member of the group?!

[dashley111]

Originally Posted by jbk21 

How is she posting as a non-member of the group?!

I was wondering the same thing.

[Jaimee]

I really think it's a glitch.  There are some pending members I know I approved, some I know I didn't and yet they are all posting here and there.  I can ban people.  Would the group like me to do that?

[jbk21]

Sure.  I like the group being just mothers of Nov DDC babies.

[dashley111]

Yeah its kind of strange to have some stranger promoting her website on our DDC...

[Jaimee]

Well, since I never approved her, I just denied her request to join.  I'm thinking people can request membership and start posting.  Perhaps a weird loophole.  There were a ton of people on the pending membership page that I never received notifications for, which is also odd.  I just denied them all and they can request again if they want.