Please help....Torticollis stretching/exercises

Re: Please help....Torticollis stretching/exercises

• SMask

  August 2012

  
  

  My LO was diagnosed with it at 1 month.  He is now 5 months and doing really well.  PT told us about 2 more months and we should be done.  We also do stretches at every diaper change and LOTS of floor and tummy time. 

  Report0 Reply
• Loading the player...
• ktpaladino member

  August 2012

  My LO is almost 4 months and we have been doing PT for a month now. He doesn't really tolerate the exercises later in the day so I try to do all of the work in the mornings when he's really happy. He does not mind doing the head tilt at all but the rotation one has been more tricky for us. There are a few things I have done to help this. The first is I bought him a reall cool musical light up toy that hangs on the crib rails. I hung it by his head and he's mesmerized by it. This forces him to lay on his back and keep his head turned in the desired direction for long periods of time. The second thing I do is rotate his head in the desired direction when he falls asleep on my chest. The last thing I did was turn the changing pad around on his changing table so that he turns his head in the desired direction to look out towards me. There are neck pillows you can buy to put in their car seat that cradle the neck, like the 'C' shaped neck rolls that people buy to sleep on airplanes. My LO did not tolerate it but yours might. It keeps their neck nice and straight while in the car seat. Don't beat yourself up if you can't get all the exercises in multiple times a day. Just do the best you can and you will see an improvement. Everything seems to get a lot straighter as their neck gets stronger. Do lots of tummy time to help with lifting and strengthening the neck, or buy a Bumbo seat so they can practice sitting and holding their head up on their own. GL!

  

   

   

  

  Report0 Reply
• Lesleyjking member

  August 2012

  Yes, she was dx with this and right sided flat head around 2.5 months. We turn her head to the left and press her shoulder down for 15 seconds each diaper change- at the beginning when we let go her head would ping back to center-thats how stiff it was. Now we rarely exercise it like that as its so much better, instead we constantly have toys to the left etc so she is always looking that way. Her head however is still somewhat flat, but def getting better. Now she likes to sleep on her belly and has her head turned the way of the stretch most times.

  K hated it at first too. What I did is Id bounce a toy or snap my fingers-anything, to get her attention to look to the left as I pressed her head and shoulder down. She didnt even realize I was doing it half the time becaues I was making such a  spectical with whatever I had in my hand for her to look that way. You wont hurt your lo, and your lo wont like it at first but its got to be done- just 15 seconds is what we were told.

  Kingsley Kennedy Wolff born March 16, 2012!!!

  Report0 Reply
• WaitingOnNo2

  August 2012

  My DS had Torticollis and they showed us a laying position that helped strech him out.  We'd lay him like that and turn on a cartoon for him on t.v.  And don't worry about the crying-they don't like it, it's not comfortable, but it will help them in the long run.

  Honestly, we stopped doing PT after 2 appointments because it was a waste of time and we just did the exercises at home and had the pedi check him every 2 weeks for progress.

  

  Report0 Reply
• CJPowers member

  August 2012

  My DD was diagnosed with Torticollis at her 2 month apt. We started going to PT right away and have been going for 2 months. We have seen a drastic improvement. She also has atypical Torticollis because she tilts and rotates her head to the same side (left). Usually they tilt one direction and rotate to the other direction. She absolutely hates the streatches, but it must be done! I don't want her yelling at me when she is 10 saying, " mom why didn't you streatches my neck!" one way she tolerates it better is cradled in my arm to streatches the tilt and I hold her in front of a mirror. Slit pulls her ear away from her shoulder. After 2 months do therapy she went from only being able to rotate 5 degrees to the right to turning about 50 degrees independently. The tilt is much harder to correct in most babies but she is getting better. You should do a lot of tummy time like people said. Also, turn her so she has to look into the room from her crib and changing table the desired way. Also, carry her, don't leave her in a car seat for long. This will help prevent flattening. Good luck. It's stressful on us moms in the beginning but you get used tout and your LO will get stronger.

  

  Report0 Reply
• buzzbee24 member

  August 2012

  My LO was diagnosed with mild congenital sternomastoid torticollis(cramped in womb) and flat spot at 3mo. We've been going to outpatient PT once a week since. We do the stretches 6 times daily and the state I live in provides free ( to all residence in home PT to any qualifying child with a condition -torticollis automatically qualifies) so we start that on Monday. I figured you cannot be aggressive enough in treating the condition(and I won't turn my back on the opportunity to double efforts!), so we will do both in home and outpatient each week. LO fusses during stretches( fussing is worse as the day goes on) but we work through it. As long as you are doing the exercises as instructed, you will be ok and not hurt LO. PT told me if the fussing is inconsolable afterwards then LO maybe experiencing discomfort and/or pain and to immediately call Pedi, but that hasn't been the case. The fuss stops the minute I stop performing the stretches. So I agree with poster above that I think LO just doesn't like the feeling of being confined during them. We do ear to shoulder stretches are both sides held for 30 sec, 3 reps, head to side with chin touching shoulder 30 sec, 3 reps. encourage LO to look to the right side since he is a lefty looker as much as possible by moving toys or anything he's interested to the right. Also, we do the "football" hold when carrying him which also stretches the muscles. For the flat spot, we keep him off of his head as much as possible. Tummy naps during the day (supervised) and sleeps on his side at night off of the flat spot. I sewed velco to the back of a few sleepers and a rolled up receiving blanket to keep him from rolling on to the flat area.

  It breaks my heart when he fusses and cries during exercises, but the alternative, the problems that can occur down the road can be avoided so, we work through it. If he really fights back too hard and starts straining to counter my moves, we stop and try it again shortly after. The football hold really helps, he doesn't mind that at all, plus I'm sneaky and try to do a few stretches when he falls asleep on me...it works! Tummy time is key! We've increased tummy time to 45-60 minutes total a day and he just started rolling, so now he REALLY loves tummy time...that helps. The flat spot is already starting to round out and it's pretty amazing it has improved as quickly as it has. PT will still be a while. They wanna see him until he starts crawling and walking to make sure he doesn't favor that side and become off balance. And I will continue the stretches for as long as I can. Tort can make a return when LO is sick, teething, or entering a new milestone. The favored side is what's comfortable to them and they will revert back if not diligent( so the PT told me). I wish I knew just how long this whole process will take, but in just a months time, I am seeing and improvement in rotation, tilt and flat spot. Just gotta stay on top of things and work through the fuss.

  Good luck to all of you!
  

  Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml

  Report0 Reply
• Aprilmomx2 member

  August 2012

  As many pp said, start slow, just a few seconds until they fuss is all you need.  My ds got used to the stretches quickly and has improved a ton over the past few months!  TV, toys, anything to get his attention off what he was doing helped a ton! 

  Do you bottle feed?  One thing that I did was stick a bottle in his mouth, he would let me turn his head any way I wanted as long as he had a bottle in his mouth, we really got some good stretching done this way!  It took some coordination on my part if my husband wasn?t there to help but it was worth it to not hear him scream! 

  Good luck, just remember, the more you do the stretches, the better it is in the long run!

  

  Report0 Reply
• jaylee212 member

  March 2014

  Thank you so much for asking this question, and all the responses!  My LO just got diagnosed at 5 months and she still hasn't rolled over, so i was really feeling like a failure (FTM here!).  But it's nice knowing that i'm not alone in this! 
  

  Report0 Reply
• Stephanie2167 member

  March 2014

  Baby B has torticollis. We've been doing the stretches for about a month and we've seen a pretty big improvement. I'm waiting on our referral to the Physical Therapist. She hated the stretches at first and could hardly hold her head up during tummy time but now she tolerates both really well.

  Keep at it.

  

  
  

  Report0 Reply
• melaport member

  March 2014

  Call and speak with your physical therapist.  He/she will be able to provide you with the most specific assistance as he/she has evaluated your child.  Babies do not like the stretching but there are various ways of doing things and what works for one baby won't work for another.  If you aren't comfortable they will sense that & it makes it worse.  The physical therapist should be working with you to make sure that you are comfortable with what you are doing and not feeling like you are going to hurt your child.  

  Report0 Reply