Re: Wondering what our next step should be

[Guest guest]

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I think it's great when you are on tort patrol! You've helped me a

ton!

Dane's mom

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-- In Plagiocephaly@y..., rella1234@a... wrote:

> In a message dated 3/26/2002 6:08:59 PM Eastern Standard Time,

> rmanias@a... writes:

>

>

> > You will

> > probably be hearing from who is the tort police.

>

>

> Ok guys, now I am soooo embarrassed for being the miss-know-it-all

(boy have

> I got you all fooled

> Hi Concerned Mom,

> I have a ton of questions: You said your child had been out of

the helmet

> since January- how many months was she in it total? When you

notice the head

> tilt- is it constantly? Or is she for the most part midline? Did

you go

> through physical therapy for the tort and was she ever totally

straight, at

> least for the most part? Also, does the neck muscle feel tight to

the touch?

> Is she reverting back to using one side only? It sounds like

maybe the

> torticollis is not fully resolved if she is constantly tilted, and

if you are

> seeing some facial asymmetry (by the way, was the facial asymmetry

resolved

> in January, and you have seen it come back?), it could be in my

laymens mind

> a few things:

> 1) the muscle is still very tight, causing not only the tilt, but

pulling

> facial features down with it.

> 2) The prominent cheek sounds plagio related- so both things could

be

> happening here, tort not resolved, the pressure on one side could

be causing

> plagio (more pronounced cheek, etc).

> I would say a re-evaluation certainly wouldn't hurt at this age.

If it's

> noticeable to you in the mirror- chances are that you are

not " seeing " things

> as we sometimes do with our critical eye. Perhaps (among

many of our

> other tort gurus lurking here!) could hook you up with her

therapist,

> Karmel-Ross, the absolute expert on the subject, with a phone call

or email

> her a pic for a professional opinion. You are such a great mom to

be so on

> top of this, the fact that you are re-visiting something that was

over and

> done with says you are very aware and want the best for your

daughter- and

> your right- while you still can do something about it. My

suggestion to you

> would be to check that muscle out yourself as well, use light

massage strokes

> in upwards motion on the facial areas (cheek, eye, ear)- you

probably need to

> continue stretching exercises to give that area some much needed

slack. How

> is she developing physically? Is she using both sides of her

body?

> Encourage her to reach for things, and the " carrying " hold (will

attach link)

> will help to seperate her neck from the shoulder-its such an easy

hold and

> they don't even know its happening to help them! With a 14 month

old,

> depending on how mobile she is, you really have to get creative to

stretch

> them. Also, try to prop her head midline as much as possible, in

the car

> seat, etc (easiest when sleeping I know!). I will also attach a

link for a

> TOT collar that is used to help kids learn that midline is the

correct

> posture. You can also consider a chiropracter and a cranio sacral

therapist

> to help. These are all just suggestions, and its important for

you to check

> with a nuerologist about what's happening here: some tort does

not resolve

> with therapy and an operation is required (these are successful,

don't

> worry)-

> it could be that the tort was never fully resolved and it just

came back- we

> still see our son tilt on occassion, but not constant. Perhaps

the

> torticolliskids@y... could offer you more suggestions as well.

> Call your ped for a referral to a nuerologist asap, you should get

the ball

> rolling now. Good luck and I hope you get the answers you need!

Please feel

> free to email me anytime as I would be more than happy to help you

with any

> tips I have!

> All the best,

>

> ' Mom (tort resovled, DOC grad)

>

> <A HREF= " http://www.orthoseek.com/articles/ifs-

left.html " >Stretches/ Holds</A>

>

> <A HREF= " http://www.symmetric-designs.com/index82.html " >T.O.T.

Collar</A>