Torticollis?

Hi C. ,

My daughter had it as well. I had twins and the p/t
told me it is often common depending on how they were laying in the womb. She went to p/t for 8 weeks when she was
6 months old. She also gave me exercises to do at home as well. She is fine now. The p/t was mostly playing and getting her to stretch. I was right there the whole time. I did mine through Miller's Children in LB. Good luck .. I was worried as well, but found out it is common and she will improve. Let me know if you have any other questions.

T.

My 5 month-old son was diagnosed with it at 2 months. His pediatrician recommended some stretches and a wait and see approach, but we were uncomfortable with that so went ahead and asked for a referral to PT. I'm so glad we did, because it turned out the pediatrician was telling us to stretch his neck in the wrong direction! (you need to do both rotational stretches and stretches from ear to shoulder, and our doctor had the ear to shoulder stretches wrong).

After a couple months of PT, stretching at home, tummy time and repositioning he is 100% better. His range of motion is now equal on both sides and he turns his head in both directions when he sleeps. However, the back of his head is still slightly assymmetrical from the past torticollis, so this week we're going to Cranial Technologies in Pasadena to explore the possibility of a DOC band. Good luck and feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Hi C.,
My cousin's daughter was born with it and went to PT for several months. She's perfectly fine now, a beautiful, happy, healthy little 4 year old girl. It will get better, don't worry! There's no sign of it whatsoever now.

my son had it and i just did a lot of tummy time and it went away.

The neck issue may only be the beginning of your journey. My 14 year old still "suffers" from the condition, originally and loosely diagnosed as craniosynostocis (sp?) which was preceeded with a vague diagnosis of torticollis. (He is a now a teenager who is horrified to wear braces on his teeth.) Tens of thousands of dollars later, we ended up with Dr. Gordon McComb at Children's and an entire cranio-facial team at UCLA, including our most recent m.d./ortho, Dr. Jacobson (orthodontist to the stars). Our fantastic pediatrician had to be convinced and now is a "believer" that the assymetrical head shape issues are related to the neck and cranial development of children (ear tubes, head brace(s), orthodontia work, etc.) It makes sense, that all these parts are connected. But be aware that insurance companies will pay for surgeries but not "experimental treatments" such as less invasive procedures including orthotic devices your Ortho may recommend. It was heartbreaking to watch parents with fewer choices elect surgical options to correct the resulting malformations around their child's brain, as opposed to the far more expensive (not covered by insurance) ortho/cranial devises available for the more affluent.
Please contact me if you see this diagnostic path/pattern developing. It will be all right. My son is adorable and even did some professional acting for a stint. But the ordeal is overwhelming, financially and emotionally - even intimidating at times. It may help to know someone who's been through the same thing.
p.s. I apologize for all the spelling errors!

Hi C.,

My daughter (now 17 months) was diagnosed with torticollis at the age of 2 weeks. Unfortunately, many pediatricians are uninformed about the condition, and go for the "wait and see" approach, which causes parents to lose valuable treatment time. I really suggest that you join the Yahoo! group "Torticollis Kids." You can search old posts for information on what to do with your newly-diagnosed baby; all the moms on there are very knowledgeable and supportive.

For us, we did weekly physical therapy, along with a home program of stretching, until she was about 10 months old. We also really focused on strengthening the weaker side of her neck. Torticollis is typically not considered resolved until a child is walking well -- you will see improvement prior to that, but also regression as your baby hits major milestones, is sick or teething, etc. It can be a frustrating process, so hang in there!

My daughter is basically resolved at this point, though some children do require a minor surgical procedure to loosen the tight SCM muscle.

Good luck!

My youngest daughter was diagnosed @ about 4 mos as well. However, due to our issurance at the time (we were on medical) we weren't able to get her into PT until she was almost 11 mos. Our insurance switched to SAG-producers and we were able to expedite things at that point. My very best advice to you is to do it NOW! The longer you wait, the more resistance your daughter will have. It's SO easy to fix at a young age when they aren't crawling or walking. Our daughter is definitely getting better, but she is still in PT @ 17 mos and it is very challenging. Also, due to the fact that the torticollis wasn't being addressed for so many months, her habit of sleeping with her head in the same position all the time led to it growing asymmetrically- so on top of everything else, she is in a helmet to correct the way her head is growing.
I am certainly not telling you all this to freak you out. We are seeing great results from everything and we are on the extreme side of the whole deal. I am quite positive that you would have great success with a little bit of PT. Torticollis is basically a frozen muscle. It is common and easy to resolve when treated correctly. I wish you the very best.

I would check with a chiropractor. She is not too young. I can recommend one down in Long Beach near seal Beach or one in the Fairfax area.

Hello,

Yes, Our son who is now 14 months old has torticollis. We started taking him to a wonderful pedeiatric physical therapist in Beverly Hills.

She had me do stretches and various holding positions when he was younger and it would go away but once he would teeth or get a cold it would come back so you do the same exercises until it goes away again. He just got the thumbs up that we do not have to return but to keep an eye on it and stretch when I see him tilting his head.

Overall, it has improved to the point you don't notice it and his jaw is filling out now as well.

Just do the stretches as part of play time any chance you get and all will be well.

Good Luck!