Re: what causes head/face asymmetry?

[Guest guest]

Hi Toni-

I would think that weak neck muscles could cause the assymetry in

the same way tight neck mucles would. My son had torticollis and it

was explained to me that one side of his neck was tight, and

therefore the other side of his neck was weak, from lack of motion.

If a baby's neck is too weak, it would seem, to me anyway, difficult

to move their head to the other side, in the same way it would be

difficult if it was tight.

As far as your daughter's forehead/above left eye area, is there any

chance it was from in utero? My son's upper left forehead was

pressed into my uterine wall (therefore his head was forced to his

right and torticollis developed) and he was born with a " dent " in

that spot. The dent has popped out some, but there is still a flat

spot there and his left eye/eyebrow bone is a little droopier than

his right (you can just tell it was pressed down in that area for

quite a while in utero). He did develop plagio from the tort that

made the right side of his forehead bulge, especially in comparison

to the flat spot on the left, but I believe his left side would

still be flat regardless, since he was just born with it.

in Raleigh

Mom to Jake-16.5m future DocBand (2/11/08)

>

> I took my 12+ week old daughter for her first PT appointment

today.

> Apparently she does not have typical torticollis. She has no tight

> muscles. Instead, she has weak neck muscles. I learned a bunch of

> exercises, and expect that to improve.

>

> BUT, I am wondering what, then, is responsible for the asymmetry

of her

> head and face? She has prominent bones toward the back of her head

on

> each side. At the very back, her head is very rounded (not at all

> flat). She has a flat area above her left eye, and the left top of

her

> face is retracted compared the right top of her face.

>

> Any info, anyone?

>

> TIA!

>

> Toni

>

[Guest guest]

Can you post pictures? Without seeing, I'm not sure I totally

understand what you are describing. You may find this brochure on

Cranial Tech's website

helpful...http://www.cranialtech.com/parentsarea/publications/brochur

e.pdf Some causes of assymetry are unknown. I would take her to CT

for an evaluation since it sounds like maybe she has plagiocephally.

PS: I would think tummy time could help strengthen her neck muscles

which I am sure you are already doing. Does your daughter tilt or

prefer her head one direction more than the other? If so, that is

torticolis.

>

> I took my 12+ week old daughter for her first PT appointment

today.

> Apparently she does not have typical torticollis. She has no tight

> muscles. Instead, she has weak neck muscles. I learned a bunch of

> exercises, and expect that to improve.

>

> BUT, I am wondering what, then, is responsible for the asymmetry

of her

> head and face? She has prominent bones toward the back of her head

on

> each side. At the very back, her head is very rounded (not at all

> flat). She has a flat area above her left eye, and the left top of

her

> face is retracted compared the right top of her face.

>

> Any info, anyone?

>

> TIA!

>

> Toni

>

[Guest guest]

Also, I read an article recently (provided by Cranial Tech) that

talked about symptoms of torticollis that are only intermittent and

therefore aren't considered true torticollis. But both have to do

with a weakened/tightened SCM (which is the muscle in the neck,

though I can't remember what the acronym stands for). In other

words, she can have a weak SCM, but not have torticollis, though she

may exhibit torticollis symptoms on occassion (intermittent favoring

of one side, itermittent head tilt, etc, just not all the time, like

true torticollis).

Hope that helps a little! Maybe I can find a link to this article I

have on the net for you to read. I can try later tonight (if I had a

scanner, I would upload it to the files section).

in Raleigh

>

> I took my 12+ week old daughter for her first PT appointment

today.

> Apparently she does not have typical torticollis. She has no tight

> muscles. Instead, she has weak neck muscles. I learned a bunch of

> exercises, and expect that to improve.

>

> BUT, I am wondering what, then, is responsible for the asymmetry

of her

> head and face? She has prominent bones toward the back of her head

on

> each side. At the very back, her head is very rounded (not at all

> flat). She has a flat area above her left eye, and the left top of

her

> face is retracted compared the right top of her face.

>

> Any info, anyone?

>

> TIA!

>

> Toni

>

[Guest guest]

Usually what happens is that the child sleeps in one area (say

left-back) resting on the head and flattens that area, and this also

pushes the face forward on that side. You can see a typical example in

the CT severity assessment:

http://cranialtech.com/medicalinfo/assessment/plagiocephaly.pdf

In this case the more the back is flattened you can see the result on

the face as well.

With tort the muscles have an effect on how symmetric things are too.

-christine

sydney 2 yrs starband grad

>

> I took my 12+ week old daughter for her first PT appointment today.

> Apparently she does not have typical torticollis. She has no tight

> muscles. Instead, she has weak neck muscles. I learned a bunch of

> exercises, and expect that to improve.

>

> BUT, I am wondering what, then, is responsible for the asymmetry of her

> head and face? She has prominent bones toward the back of her head on

> each side. At the very back, her head is very rounded (not at all

> flat). She has a flat area above her left eye, and the left top of her

> face is retracted compared the right top of her face.

>

> Any info, anyone?

>

> TIA!

>

> Toni

>