anyone have a child with torticollis?

my daughter was just diagnosed with a very mild case of Congenital muscular torticollis , it's a very mild case, she has no problem turning her head eather side, but she prefers right side, we started PT 2x a week , it's not bad, the PT and the doc said it's so mild that even if she doesn't get PT it'll correct itself , but we don't want to take any chances. otherwise she is perfect, when they evaluated her they said she is very advanced for her age ,so we are happy about that.
just wanted to ask around and see if any other moms have kids with the same problem .thanx

Re: anyone have a child with torticollis?

My oldest had it when he was a baby. He is 5 now. He also received PT, probably 2x a week as well (I forget) and all was fine. We also did some things at home. Turned his head (gently obviously) the opposite direction and held for a 5 counts. Also put something very fun & colorful on the wall over the changing table so he would always look at it. And changed him so that he was forced to look that way but turning the opposite direction from the natural inclination he had due to the torti. His was pretty mild too but of course it never hurts to help them along.

ETA: Due to the torti, he hated tummy time. I mean really really hated it so I was always inclined to not do it as much. As a result he ended up on his back more and had some flattening in the back of his head. Again,nothing major but obvious IMO. But that all corrected itself too once he got more strength in the muscle with the PT services.

Message edited 1/9/2008 11:48:06 AM.

Re: anyone have a child with torticollis?

At 5 weeks I was bothered by DS favoring one side more than the other and brought it up to my ped. Thankfully he is very supportive..his motto is "if it bothers you then it bothers me" so he gave us stretching exercises to do. Fast forward to about 3 months and the nurse practitioner tells us DS is fine and we can stop...big mistake Next appt the doctor sends us to a PT (who I absolutely adore) and we have been with her since then. DS had a very minor diagnosis of muscular left torticollis when we started and as of last week we heard the words we have been waiting for "no more torticollis"
We still do some strengthening exercises with him and we try to play on his left so that he understands it okay to go that way. We have to keep this up until he is walking. Fortunately these things are fun for him as opposed to the screaming at the beginning.

ETA: We went to PT once a week and now we go every 3 weeks for updates. We slept DS on his tummy (personal choice) and didn't have flattening issues which are common with this diagnosis since they are so comfortable in one position.

Message edited 1/9/2008 2:06:40 PM.

Re: anyone have a child with torticollis?

yes , R has the same problem , I mean she 'll stay on her tummy , she likes it, but gets tired of it very soon, also has flattening of her head, but I was told that will correct itself later on, so thanks for telling me , made me feel better.

Re: anyone have a child with torticollis?

DD had a mild case also. she prefered one side to the other and her head was slightly flat on one side.

Being a first time Mom I absolutely freaked.. took her to the Dr. when I saw her flat head..he said don't worry about it.

I decided to take her to physically therapy. We went 2x a week for a month. I did the strengthen exercises with her... the whole 9 yards.

After a month her muscles got stronger and we didn't need to go.

My husband still laughs at how I freaked out...

It will be fine.

Re: anyone have a child with torticollis?

My son also has a slight case. No flattening issues and we are about to start PT. Yesterday an evalulator came to my house and she showed me some stretches to do. I will do those in the meantime before the PT starts.

Re: anyone have a child with torticollis?

My ds had it and we got pt for it...it was great bc the pt showed me what to do --- my osns head started to get flat bc of it so i also got a noggin nest...thanks to some of the mommys on this board. Oh and you would never knw now that there were any issues!

Re: anyone have a child with torticollis?