Re: Seeking advice on where to start??

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Since my son had very similar things going on with him at that age, I wanted to ask if you have been given a dx of torticollis (tight neck muscle)? Does your daughter have a head tilt that seems to always tilt towards one side? If the right back is flat, does she have any problems turning her head in the left direction? From what I have learned through my experience, is that some Doctor's don't give a dx for torticollis, they address the flat spot, which is actually caused by the tight neck muscle.

If torticollis is suspect, therapy to stretch out that tight muscle needs to begin asap. Its not uncommon for Docs to disregard both plagio and tort, as you will find by reading posts from countless parents. I tell you this so that you will become as informed and educated on these topics so that you can make your own assessment of what's happening and decide what route is best for your child. If you educate yourself on what the cause may be, you can address this issue with your ped specifically, and he may take note if your not backing down and talking to him on his level. Put a call in to your ped and get an appt. to ask about tort if you believe this is the cause. My son also had the forward ear, and my Doc told me it was an optical illusion. We decided the DOC band was the only way to prevent it from worsening as we had no success repositioning- as you know- its not easy (even worse when they physically have no other option but to turn the only way they can due to that tight muscle constricting movement). Now my Doc constantly praises how good his head looks, even though she had no part of it except for handing over that referral! You have a great window of opportunity to get fantastic results if you get things started now. A lot of us have come up against the "overreacting new mom" situation, go with your gut- they say mother knows best for a reason! Push, push, push, to get to the bottom of this now- and you'll never regret it later! Good luck- please keep us posted, and I will attach a few links to let you know what 'torticollis' looks like and see if there are any similarities (keep in mind though, some kids with tort tilt, some don't, some have good range of motion, some don't). Please also check into torticolliskids@... for more tips and great advice. Feel free to email me anytime if I can help you in anyway. Hang in there!

' Mom

Torticollis info

[Guest guest]

Well, it sounds like you are doing all the right things so far. Three months

is still very young and you could still get some improvement with

repositioning. However, if you are having trouble with the repositioning or

you think she may be getting worse then it may be time to think about seeing

a specialist. There are several types of specialists that typcially see

plagio babies. We saw a neurosurgeon. You can also see a cranial-facial

specialist. I think a consulation with a specialist might help you to better

understand what you are facing and what options you have. We have a number of

members from the Boston area who have sought treatment locally and found some

excellent specialists. Hopefully one of them will respond. If not I would

suggest putting a post out there with a subject line that says something like

" looking for good specialist in Boston area " . Someone would surely offer

suggestions then!

Good luck as you try to sort everything out and make the best decision for

your daughter. I'm certain that your mommy instinct is probably already

telling you what you should do. I would go with that instinct - it is rarely

wrong! Please keep us posted on what you decide to do!

Marci (Mom to )

Oklahoma

[Guest guest]

you are definately not a neurotic mom - it doesn't hurt to see the

specialist now - then you can get an experts opinion on where you stand, how

likely it is to resolve with repositioning, and set a time frame to monitor.

Many of the experts will take over head shots with a digital cam as well as

measurement so that you can compare status between the visits and more

easily determine the next course of action. Best of Luck - (PT)