Re: Left Muscular Torticollis/Plagiocephaly

[Guest guest]

Go see a professional physical therapist. My Ped. gave me exercises to do at

home, but I knew I needed professional help. Sure enough, the exercises the

Ped. gave me were totally outdated and I learned so many useful tips from the

PT. Also, do as much tummy time as possible and try to reposition the head

while the baby is sleeping. Do as much intervention as you can now since you

only have a few months now to see if it will straighten out on its own at all.

>

[Guest guest]

Our son was diagnosed with left torticollis at ~4-5 weeks and we were referred

to PT. Since we were pretty early with catching it (I found a bump on his neck

muscle and an ultrasound was done), we just " graduated " from PT a couple weeks

ago. Our PT was great. We had stretches and exercises to do and they worked

great. We still had to get a helmet. Our son was 18mm off. Even when he had

full motion to the left he still laid on the flat spot since he was sleeping on

his back. Our PT said that b/c it is more comfy to sleep on the flat spot

rather then the other round side of the head, alot of babies do it. No matter

what we did he would still turn his head to the right. We started our helmet at

5.5 mos. Our orthotist said she like to start around that time because babies

have more neck strength by that time and it is easier to adjust to the weight.

Not sure how valid that it, but we had a good experience with the helmet. He

only had to wear it 2.5 months for 23 hrs/day. We just wear it at night now and

hopefully we will be done with that at his appt tomoorrow.

Good luck. A PT would probably be a great help to your son.

Robin

SW Ohio

>

> My son just got " diagnosed " with Left Muscular Torticollis/Plagiocephaly. He

is 16 weeks old however was 5 weeks early so for the treatment I guess they are

considering him to be 11 weeks old. They gave us 3 exercises to do at home 3

times a day 30 seconds each. He has a 12 mm difference in his head and said if

he were 6 months old he would qualify for a helmet. So I have a couple of

questions. Is the exercises going to prevent a helmet? If not why do they wait

until 6 months to wear the helmet if it could be helping now? Is there any way

to avoid the helmet or is it just part of the treatment they get?? Any advice

on what to expect would be helpful! Thanks in advance

>

[Guest guest]

I too have a 4 month old son who was diagnosed with left tort at 2 months.  We have been in PT since 2 months old.  We go to a CT for a consultation on the helmet this week.  I was told " No " the  helmet will not help his tort but help re-shape his head since it has a flat spot and is not round but more skewed. We do the stretches at home and he goes to PT once a week.  He hates them and cries the whole time, very hard on Mom!!!! I know its best for him and he has to do them.  I do notice his tilt and ROM is worse when he is tired and he is also teething and when that is bothering him  you would never know he was in PT he completely regresses. I am not sure why they want to wait till he is 6 months old, the helmets are not heavy, our neighbor when through this and I saw and felt the helmet, I was also told that they do much better the sooner then can get in them.  CT told me the prime age was between 4-6 months, we will be getting ours by the time he is 5 months so I hope he won't have to wear it too long. Re-positioning may be able to help, I know for us it really helped with  his ROM but his head did not get better I think a lot of it has to do with habit at this point.

 

Hope that helps.... The helmet is a road I did not want to go down but I know its best for him, I read on here all the time that its harder on the parents then the child.  I still get emotional thinking about it.. I have heard too that you have a better chance of insurance covering it having been in  PT and with tort.  We will soon find out.

 

Anyone with Aetna PPO?? Just wondering how it went for you getting it approved?? 

On 5/5/09, rlbgerhardt <rlbgerhardt@...> wrote:

Our son was diagnosed with left torticollis at ~4-5 weeks and we were referred to PT. Since we were pretty early with catching it (I found a bump on his neck muscle and an ultrasound was done), we just " graduated " from PT a couple weeks ago. Our PT was great. We had stretches and exercises to do and they worked great. We still had to get a helmet. Our son was 18mm off. Even when he had full motion to the left he still laid on the flat spot since he was sleeping on his back. Our PT said that b/c it is more comfy to sleep on the flat spot rather then the other round side of the head, alot of babies do it. No matter what we did he would still turn his head to the right. We started our helmet at 5.5 mos. Our orthotist said she like to start around that time because babies have more neck strength by that time and it is easier to adjust to the weight. Not sure how valid that it, but we had a good experience with the helmet. He only had to wear it 2.5 months for 23 hrs/day. We just wear it at night now and hopefully we will be done with that at his appt tomoorrow.

Good luck. A PT would probably be a great help to your son.RobinSW Ohio

>> My son just got " diagnosed " with Left Muscular Torticollis/Plagiocephaly. He is 16 weeks old however was 5 weeks early so for the treatment I guess they are considering him to be 11 weeks old. They gave us 3 exercises to do at home 3 times a day 30 seconds each. He has a 12 mm difference in his head and said if he were 6 months old he would qualify for a helmet. So I have a couple of questions. Is the exercises going to prevent a helmet? If not why do they wait until 6 months to wear the helmet if it could be helping now? Is there any way to avoid the helmet or is it just part of the treatment they get?? Any advice on what to expect would be helpful! Thanks in advance

>