plagiocephaly/torticollis

Hello everyone!
The last time we went to see the Neurosurgeon(sept 29th) i told him that Everest favors his right side, we will lay him with his head facing to the left and he immediately turns it to the right. He gave us a script for PT for torticollis and that was about it.( I am actually pretty annoyed with him at this point but that is a LONG story and most of you probably dont want to hear it)..
So when our occupational therapist came i told her about the script and she did some stretches with him (this was the 1st week of October) and said that he is a LITTLE tight but, really isnt like most of the cases of torticollis babies they see) so we were trying different strategies to get him to the left. He WILL turn his head to the left just prefers the right.. and so he is getting pretty strong now and can "push" the towels/blankets out of the way and get his head to the right.
Now about a a week and a half ago, I noticed the right side of his forehead seemed to be "bigger", or protruding out more than the left. and I originally freaked out a little thinking his skull was growing too much or he had some sort of mass under there. But then with further inspection, I noticed the right side of his head in the back is flatter and pushed in further than the left( obviously because he lays on that side, I'd say at least 85% of the time.)
His occupational Therapist came again yesterday and we decided to block his head with the boppy pillow while he is laying and playing and it seems ( at this point anyway) to be heavy enough he cant push it away.
IS there anything else you know of that we could do to try to get him to the left more? and avoid having severe plagiocephaly?
We dont have an appt. with Neurosurgery until January, but unless we see someone other than Dr. Iantosca, i dont know what they would do anyway..
We go back to his Pedi Dec. 11th, we LOVE her and she is a great help so I will bring it up to her. Should I try to get in with her sooner? Oh we also have the NICU follow up on Nov. 4th maybe they will have some advice?

By mygirlsmom
Posted October 16, 2009 at 8:41 am
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Our daughter had both that were able to resolve on our own through excercises and stretches and making sure that we made her sleep on both sides of her head. We always rotated how we changed her on her changing table, and that was also the time we did stretches. We used different devices (rolled blankets, etc.) to make sure while in her bouncy and in bed, her head stayed in position. Sometimes, that first month, we had to go in the room like 10 times at night to reposition her, but it was worth it, b/c she came home at 1 month old with a flat head and lots of stiffness, and by her 6 month follow-up, it was pretty much gone. I have some stretches from my OT, I could send to you - did you get some from your OT?

By quadmomma
Posted October 16, 2009 at 8:56 am
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We have major issues at our house with plagio and torticollis. We tried putting mirrors and pictures in their crib on the side they need to look to-they didnt care. Try sitting him in positions where he HAS to look the other way (to see the tv, you, a musical toy) our therapists said to make the favored side really boring, like a wall or something. We slo tried the rolled blankets and nothing worked for us. Now they are all in the cranial helmets to fix the problem.

Good Luck!

By Roo_27
Posted October 16, 2009 at 9:26 am
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Does your baby have GI reflux? It is very common for kids with reflux to have a chronic right-sided turn of the head, leading to plagio and torticollis.

http://www.pollywogbaby.com/torticollis-sandifers-syndrome.html

As my daughter's GI-reflux associated pain has been reduced (by medication and thickening of her bottles), her plagio and torticollis have started to improve.

By katek
Posted October 16, 2009 at 4:02 pm
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RE: "IS there anything else you know of that we could do to try to get him to the left more?"

1. Stretches at every diaper change. There are some holds that subtly help stretch the neck.
2. Change baby from both sides of the diaper changing table so that baby will look into the room from the right side as much as from the left.
3. Feed baby from both sides of your body. If you are right handed, you probably hold baby in your left arm while holding the bottle with your right. This encourages baby to turn head to the right. I'd probably do more from the left side until baby looks both ways, and then mix it up 50-50.
4. Tummy time. Have baby spend less waking hours on back.

By mytortsupport_com
Posted November 7, 2009 at 12:02 am
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I everyone - I just found this group, and am pretty excited! I am 30 and HAVE unresolved Tort. Had surgery at 13 years, and still have several complications and questions I can't seem to find answers to... So much so that I have been working on a website called www.mytortsupport.com I'd love the groups input on adding more content, participating in the discussion groups, and any comments or suggestions you have -- thanks, and you need to know that the work you are doing to resolve your babies, is THE most important thing you can do...to help them grow up "normal" - Deanna@mytortsupport.com

By hadeed
Posted November 17, 2009 at 5:58 pm
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my daughter prefers the left side because she was diagnosed with a stroke in her left brain ventricle and her right side is weak. GI says its sandifer syndrome but neurologist says its from the stroke. We have tried everything to make her look both side but she prefers the left. Any ideas?

By stephca
Posted November 17, 2009 at 6:04 pm
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Lots of good advice above. Make sure your swing is level. That was our problem. Make sure anything you lie him on doesn't have him tilted to one side. Our son had a mild case largely because his swing was tilted ever so slightly to one side. That was embarrassing to admit.

Welcome to Inspire!

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