Have Any of Your Children Had Torticollis And/or Flat Head?

Yes, my little guy Henry had torticollis and plagiocephaly (misshaped head). Not a big deal...we had therapy for his neck and did get the helmet. He looks great now. I say go through with it. You can also go to yahoo groups and look up the plagiocephaly group...they will be able to help you. Make sure you do research so you are well informed. ITis good to catch these problems before 16mths when the bones fuse together in the skull. Good luck to you.
A.

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My son had torticollis and we had breastfeeding issues as well. It was my chiropractor that first pointed it out to me. We did PT, but then had my chiropractor adjust my sons neck and within 2 weeks he was not having issues latching and he was able to move his neck more. He is 2, we still see a chiroprator and he's very healthy!

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GO SEE A GOOD CHIROPRACTOR!!! My daughter was diagnosed with torticollis when she was 3 months old by her pediatrician. I immediately took her to my personal chiropractor, and he adjusted her twice that week, and then once a week for the next 3 weeks. She is now adjusted only once every 3 months or so (when I go in for my appointments). It made all the difference! She was sleeping better, her spitting up got a little better, and she could turn her head both directions again!!! My chiro is in Naperville - Dr. Richard Whitney ###-###-####). He is excellent with children and adults!!

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My niece has torticollis, and she had to do PT for months. She never had to get a helmet. She is 2 yrs old now, and not after affects, except she is a little more touchy/sensitive compared to other kids, which the PT said is normal with babies who had torticollis.

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My daughter has torticollis. We did therapy for awhile. I asked about the helmet because the doctor didn't suggest it. All he said to me was 'have you looked in the mirror. maybe she got that from you'. I don' t have a flat head. My daughter is 2 and hasn' t had therapy for awhile, but she has all the mobility in the side that this was on. Her head is stilll flat on one side but she' s very happy. My husband wanted me to ask about the helmetonly cause kids can be cruel and when she gets older she might not like how one side of her face is flat and the other is oval. That may be vain but I would be the same way. I would at least try it if you have the option and see how it goes.

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My daughter had the same problem, we did theropy for 4 months once a week. She was delayed a little from it but eventually cought up. She did not need a helmet. I took her to easter seals and I love dit there..Good luck..

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hi C. i work for a pediatric orthopaedist that deals with torticollis. you can do home excercises and in extreme case, formal p.t. is required. email me if you have questions or want the practices name.

take care
jess

My friend's 10 month old son has been wearing a helmet for the last month or so. They have had no problems with it at all. Believe it or not, the little man leaves it on.

for slight toricollis and flat spot, we were in PT for 9 months and we chose to not do the helmet, but repositioning for sleep. When we put her to sleep we put a tightly rolled up washcloth under the flat part of her head so she couldn't turn that way. she would work her way out of it, so you have to be diligent with this. But it's way cheaper than the whole helmet therapy. And lots of tummy time is very important. she's now 17 months and you can't even tell.

I'm a pediatric PT. It's good that you are receiving PT(or did they just do a consult?). If his torticolls is indeed mild then it should resolve fairly quickly if you are consistant in doing the exercises. As far as the helmet it is hard to say without actually seeing the degree of flatness that he has. At his age it does still have the potential to reshape itself depending on the severity. Where did your PT recommend that you go to see about getting the helmet? I would recommend an evaluation through Cranial Technologies. The evaluation is free and in my opionion they only recommend the helmet if it is truly necessary. www.cranialtech.com
They are located in Oakbrook Terrace. Just out of curiosity who was the PT that you saw?

My son had Torticollis. It was caught early- at his 2 month appointment- but even still suffered some mis-shaping of his head. He did not have a helmet because it was not severe. Physical therapy resolved the torticollis, but everytime he learned something new or was sick, I would notice his tilt again. I would be more than happy to answer any questions about torticollis that you have! Good luck!

Hi!
My son had torticollis and a flat spot on his head. Our pediatrician gave us exercises to do and took an X-Ray. We ended up at Children's Hospital for a consult. Everything turned out to be fine with his skull, but they said he had a moderate flat spot. They gave us the option of the helmet and we decided not to do it. At 6 months old they said the flat spot would stop getting worse and start getting better if we kept him off it as much as possible. We started putting him in the exersaucer more and once he got mobile things rally got better. We don't even notice it anymore(he's 15 months old). My niece had the same thing and my sister-in-law decided to get her a helmet. She said she did really well with it and it has really helped her head "round out". She also said it really doesnn't bother her to wear it. If you have any further questions feel free to e-mail me directly! I know how stressful it all is and would be happy to help!!
Good Luck!
L.

Helmet?!! I didn't do anything and my doctor didn't suggest anything, as well. The doctor told me it was normal and would eventually round out. It did. My son is 14 and I can't tell he had a flat side as a baby. Actually, by the time he was 1 yr old (probably before that) he had a perfectly chubby round little toddler head.

M.

Will try to keep this short…. At one month we started to notice a flat spot on my son's left side. His pediatrician suggested that we do some mild repositioning. At three months it was getting worse and our pediatrician suggested that we try aggressive repositioning and keep him off his head as much as possible. At six months he had a huge improvement and we were told to continue to reposition, but not as aggressively. At eight months the correction had slowed down and she suggested that we see a specialist to have his head measured because it was possible that he may need a helmet and that if this was the case, that he needed to start wearing soon. At nine months we went through Children's Memorial and saw a cranial specialist, had his head scanned with the StarScan (available at the Westchester and Glenview offices' only) and an examination by a PT. Thankfully, his measurements were low enough that they did not recommend us getting a helmet (although we could have if we still wanted to), and the PT diagnosed him with a very mild case of Tort. We chose not to do the helmet and he has been going to physical therapy for the past month and they have noted a huge improvement already. My suggestion… have your pediatrician refer you to a cranial specialist and get your son's head scanned ($300 - not covered by insurance) so you know what measurement's you are dealing with and then make your decision. Try to do it as soon as possible. If a corrective helmet is recommended you want to start as soon as you can and getting in to see the specialist can take several weeks. We saw Dr. Vicari in his Glenview office and I could not come up with a negative thing to say about him or his entire staff if I had to. They are wonderful. My son still has a bit of flat spot and it is possible that it may never completely go away, but we are okay with this. This is the question you have to ask yourself and then make your final decisions.

Good luck to you!!!

C.,
My advice would be to check with your doctor. My son had a flat head on one side and a strong favoritism to one side. He only turned to the left, when he sat up, he went up the left side. He did an army crawl and only used his left arm. A PT did mention the helmet to me, and I was very nervous about that. I spoke to my doctor and he said to wait. He didn't think the flatness was bad enough, but also when they start crawling and walking they aren't laying down as much and the problem often resolves itself. This has been the case for my son who will be two in May. I hope that helps!
A.

my daughter who is now 2 yrs old had this when she was an infant. she would only turn her head one direction even after all the turning i would do she would move it right back. She was at the point of when she was sitting up she only sat on one butt cheek. it can also effect their trunk and the way they will sit and crawl and walk We started the PT and it went great we did did for 4-5 months and she crawled and walked,they really helped her with the head the movement of the head and the neck and the stretching. We also put the helmet on her. she wore that for 6 months. she did great with it on she after a day or so did not even know it was there. i was more worried for her. it did not hurt her in any way if anything it helped her cause when she hit her head it didn't hurt (ha ha) she is now two years old and you would never know by looking at her that she tilted her head and that her cheeks were different sizes. the head misshape was more dominant in her cheeks and her ears (which the doctor showed me i did not even noticed until she made me look down on the top of her head.) But like i said you cannot even tell know. i think the helmet was a good decision for us. the place we went to was Cranial technoligies and it was around $3000 for the helmet all the appointments and the two molds that they made of her head. they were located in Glenview but i know they have another office some where else. If you have more questions please feel free to ask, my email is ____@____.com.
thanks

C.,

My son had this when he was 4-6 months old. Our pediatrician also recommended a specialist and a helmet. I read up on this on the internet before we saw the specialist so that I could ask a million questions. When we got there, the doctor advised us that my son's flat spot was not bad enough to get a helmet and he wanted us to go to physical therapy to work on the torticollis. My son went to physical therapy for 1 year. They worked with on special exercises to loosen the neck muscle. It worked GREAT. My son is now 20 months old an you cannot even tell he had a problem. I highly recommend reading up on this and being prepared. They say that the best thing for this is TUMMY TIME!!! Let me know if you need anything else, or if need support!! ____@____.com