A Question About My Son..

My son had tortacollis when he was born. The doctors did not send me to therapy. I found a physical therapist that specalizes in kids. We started therapy and it was great! The therapist I saw was Jeff Hammontree. He is at TCC. He teaches there. What does the pyloric stenosis have to do with torticollis?
I hope things go well.

Hello S.,

Two things I would check out are: having his vision checked, if that is possible at that age. Also, possibly seek some advice from a qualified chiropractor that specializes in young children. Honestly I don't know anything about pyloric stenosis, but a friend of mine had a son who would lean his head to one side, she eventually got his vision checked and after getting glasses, he no longer did it. Although, she also began taking him to a chiropractor. Just two possible ideas worth a check.

S.,
A quick response for you. I too am a physical therapist and the advice given by a physical therapist earlier (Tara P) is the best advice to give. I do not recommend taking small children to a chiropractor. Follow up with the neurologist and the orthopedist as necessary. Obtain a referral for physical therapy and find a pediatric physical therapist in your area. You can check the yellow pages or call PT clinics in your area, they will let you know if they have or know where to find a pediatric physical therapist. The neurologist should be able to tell you if there is a link between the torticollis and pyloric stenosis, but I am not familiar with their connection. You can also look on WebMD or Mayoclinic.com. Best of luck.

Hello Stephanee, My youngest son was diagnosed with pyloric stenosis at 1 month, he is now 20. We had no further complications after surgery. We were told by the doctor that is is hereditary and occurs in the 1st born child. (He was my 2nd but my husbands 1st) No family history of it and my husband was 2nd born. Boys at around 1 month and girls at around 6 months, We were never told that it could cause any other problems such as what you are having. I myself don't see a connection with pyloric stenosis and torticollis but I am not a doctor. One has to do with the pyloric muscle in the stomach and the other is neck muscles. We were told to watch for him throwing up bile, that if he started that then he would need another surgery and that it could happen at ANY time in his life. We were told that if my son ever has kids that his 1st born will probably have the same thing. I found a web site you may want to check out www.torticolliskids.org I took a quick look around the site and it seemed to have good information from parents of children with the condition. Check it out, you may find some very helpful advice in there. Hope you can find the information you need and good luck, I will say a prayer for your son.

My son had pyloric stenosis surgery at 2 1/2 months old. Actually, he almost died of starvation because of it because my pediatrician at the time was an idiot, but that's another topic in itself. Anyway, he's 14 now and perfectly healthly. No side effects or remnants of the condition. I don't recall torticollis being mentioned as a possible condition connected to the pyloric stenosis. And it never hurts to get a second opinion. I hope everything goes ok for you.

hi, I haven't had any experience with this, but you might try finding out where your Family to Family Health Information Center is in your state. You can go to Family Voices website: www.familyvoices.org and click on the map on the right to find yours. If not, National Family Voices might be able to help--they are a wealth of info for families of children and youth w special health care needs. Ours in Louisiana provides health info to families and helps them navigate health care systems...

Family Voices, a national grassroots network of families and friends, advocates for health care services that are family-centered, community-based, comprehensive, coordinated and culturally competent for all children and youth with special health care needs; promotes the inclusion of all families as decision makers at all levels of health care; and supports essential partnerships between families and professionals.

Hi S.....my younger sister and our cousin both had pyloric stenosis. They both had the surgery and had no other complications from that. I would think that if there was a connection with the pyloric stenosis and the torticollis it would have shown up before 5 mos. of age. Best wishes to you, I do hope everything works out for you and your little boy!
B.

Hi,
I'm a pediatric PT who works a lot with torticollis. Torticollis in babies has 2 main causes...he can be born with it from the way he was positioned in the uterus, or he can develop it after birth due to the way he is positioned every day. Many babies who have stomach problems, especially reflux, end up developing torticollis because their stomachs hurt, causing them to arch backward a lot and to turn their heads to the side, particularly if they refuse to lie on their stomachs. I also try to warn a lot of parents I meet if I see their babies slumped in a carseat or swing, because if they always slump to the same side it can cause torticollis. The muscle that gets too tight is the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle which turns the face to one side and tilts the head to the opposite side. It can cause the baby's skull and face to grow a little bit asymmetrical (crooked) and can make it hard to a baby to sit straight, use both hands together, or learn to crawl. This can lead to scoliosis (worst case if not treated). In most babies it is mild and can be easily treated with physical therapy, however I highly suggest a physical therapist who sees mainly pediatrics because they will usually know many more tricks to help you. A therpist who just stretches the heck out of the baby's neck will often cause more stress than help. You should get a good home program with positioning suggestions and fun "exercises" you can play with your son. At this age it's so important for him to have lots of happy tummy time. Sometimes a helmet will be worn to help re-position the skull bones if the head is becoming mis-shaped, but it doesn't sound like your son has one, so that's a good sign. I'm really not sure, but it sounds like the orthopedist really has nothing more to offer and probably just wants a neurologist to make sure there is nothing else wrong that needs to be treated too. The GI doctor should help control the stomach problems so that the torticollis can get better. I hope this helps. There should be lots of info. available on the web, but some of it may be scary.

I've been struggling for months with the same thing. My son is 16 months and has a BM every day, but it is hard as a rock and very painful for him to pass. We just talked to our ped a few days ago about this and she said take him off milk altogether. She said that some kids just can't handle milk at all. She told us to try soy milk but if he doesn't like it then its ok. So he is off all milk except at bedtime and we are already seeing a big difference. His stools are now coming out normal for a baby. And he doesn't seem to have pain at all anymore. So I don't want to tell you what to do, but if I were you I'd really talk to the dr about milk. As a matter of fact my oldest son (now 6) went through this when he was about the same age. Very common, I guess. Hope this helps. Good luck.

My neice had torticollis and my son had brachiocephaly(flat head). My guess is that she has a flat spot from the torticollis right?? When their head deforms from that it's pretty standard to have them sent to the neurologist to make sure it's not effecting the brain. My son's neurologist appt went ok (can email you details) I insisted on a helmet (that my neice had done too) it helps reshape the head back. Also, she overcame the torticollis with dedicated therapy and a chiropractor!

My son also has pulmonic stenosis what is pyloric stenosis? If it's the heart like my son I don't see how that's related to the torticollis. Babies usually get torticollis from birth trauma and more often laying predominately on one side.

Keep us posted.