Torticollis Update (or Lack Thereof) Pictures

Kellyn has recently turned three-years-old and I am happy to share that she no longer has torticollis.  She hasn't had it for quite some time now. When she first received her torticollis diagnosis, I recall frantically scouring the internet looking for pictures of older children who had been previously treated for torticollis. I wanted to see if they fully recovered or if their stubborn head tilt always persisted. And I wanted to see if any torticollis-induced facial asymmetries had gone away.  If you are a parent starting this torticollis treatment journey, I hope these pictures of my daughter give you hope.  Kellyn keeps her head up straight and her face is symmetrical. You would never know she had torticollis. Going to physical therapy and regularly doing the exercises at home really works.  Believe me, I know torticollis treatment is a long and frustrating journey, but it's so worth it. We are grateful to God for such a great outcome.

Always love a perfectly midline picture.

Re-Scan After 6 Chiropractic Adjustments

After six chiropractic adjustments, Kellyn was due for a re-scan of her back to see if her prescribed treatment had made a difference.  The Rolling Thermal Scan is the official name of the scanning assessment tool that the chiropractor utilized.  The device is rolled up the back and it assesses nerve compression caused by vetebral sublaxations.  As a person unlikely to trust anecdotal evidence (especially when it comes to alternative medicine), I was excited to have an objective measure to evaluate progress.   I honestly was feeling a little skeptical that the adjustments were going to cause any significant change in the scan results.  However, I was pleasantly surprised by the Rolling Thermal Scan results.

'Before' and 'After' results of the Rolling Thermal Scan

Restarting Torticollis Exercises & Chiropractic

So a year has passed since Kellyn was first diagnosed with torticollis. I mentioned previously that her PT was pleased with her improvement and gave us the OK to stop doing her torticollis exercises at home. However, I'm still not entirely satisfied with Kellyn's head positioning. I notice that she has a habit of slightly tilting her head on a regular basis. In addition, I have noticed her restarting her bad habit of curving her body into a c-shape. For the amount of time and energy poured into her treatment, I would have thought her head tilt and trunk curvature would have been entirely eliminated. Therefore, I decided to start doing her torticollis exercises with her again. I dedicate about ten minutes each morning to her exercises. Now that she's a very active and mobile toddler, its a lot more difficult to get her to cooperate with the exercises. I basically get her distracted with TV and run through our little torticollis exercise routine.

This slight right tilt is Kellyn's normal. It's obviously very mild, but enough for me to notice.

How to Help Baby Learn to Crawl

I am anxious for my daughter to start crawling because her torticollis is likely to improve once crawling is established.  Her physical therapist has taught us several different exercises that encourage crawling. Here's one of those crawling exercises below.

Video Tutorial:

Early Signs of Torticollis

Kellyn was officially diagnosed with torticollis at seven months.  Unfortunately, she was showing signs of this condition well before that.  If I had known what to look for, I could have had her diagnosed way earlier and her condition would have been much easier to correct.  Torticollis treated before four months has the best prognosis.  That's why its so important for new parents to be mindful of the signs and symptoms of torticollis, so that they can catch it and correct it as fast as possible.

At the time, I never thought anything of her head tilt.

Torticollis Pictures: 7 months of PT

It's crazy to think that Kellyn has been doing physical therapy for her torticollis for almost seven months.  That's equates to almost half of her life considering she'll be 14 months in a little over a week.  I feel like her torticollis progress has plateaued over the past few months.  In my opinion, the head tilt doesn't look more pronounced, but it also doesn't look much better than it did a few months ago.  That's a little frustrating to me since I dedicate a good chunk of time daily to her torticollis exercises.  I just want to know that the hard work I'm putting in is actually making a difference.  On a positive note, her motor skills are continually progressing.  Over the past few weeks, she went from taking a couple steps to taking several steps. We still have tons of spills and I would not officially qualify her as a walker yet, but she's certainly on her way.  Anyways, check out her progress pictures below.

Pretty accurate representation of her current head tilt. Happy about her great progress
since the beginning, but frustrated that progress plateaued in the past few months

Discharged from Outpatient PT

Yesterday was one of Kellyn’s outpatient physical therapy re-evaluations for her torticollis. The physical therapist officially discharged Kellyn from the program! After about five months of outpatient physical therapy, we are finally done. All the hard work is finally paying off. I’m so excited, relieved, and thankful.

Hat's off to Kellyn for getting discharged from outpatient physical therapy!

Video Review: Snuggin Go & Torticollis Support Kit

Below is a video product review of the Snuggin Go and the Torticollis Support Kit.  If you prefer a written review instead, check out this previous post reviewing these products.

Supported Crawling Position #2

I'm anxious for my daughter to start crawling in hopes that her torticollis will improve.  Other parents have reported that achieving this skill has made a difference in their child's torticollis.  Anyways, this is a pretty simple exercise that will allow your baby to become more comfortable being on the hands and knees crawling position.  It will also allow your baby to partially balance her body weight with one hand just like she would during crawling.  In the space below, I have included both a video tutorial and written instructions detailing this exercise.

Video Tutorial:

New Torticollis Exercises

I just wanted to do a post on some of the new torticollis exercises we learned for Kellyn at our most recent appointment at the torticollis clinic at Children's National Medical Center. Please note that my daughter has right torticollis. Since her torticollis is mainly attributed to her lack of neck strength on her left side, they are having us focus more on neck strengthening exercises.  I'm so thankful that they provided me with some new ideas, since Kellyn (almost twelve months) has outgrown many of her previously learned exercises.

I'm impressed with how her head righting has improved so much since the beginning of treatment.

Torticollis Clinic Follow-up Appointment

Today we had Kellyn's three month follow-up appointment at the torticollis clinic at Children's National Medical Center in Washington DC.  It went really well!  I love this place because the physical therapist and nurse practitioner who run the clinic specialize in torticollis treatment.  Since torticollis is not very common, it can be hard to find medical professionals who possess in-depth information about this condition.  I'm able to pick their brain about all my torticollis-related questions (and I have a lot), and they were able to answer all my questions.

Kellyn at the torticollis clinic appointment

Tilt Regression (Milestone & Illness-Related)

Unfortunately, Kellyn has had a cold, congestion, and wheezing for the past few weeks. In addition, she's had a slight head tilt regression, which is a little disheartening. However, there is a silver lining to this torticollis regression. I think its largely attributed to her progression with her developmental milestones.  Just in time for her upcoming first birthday in exactly one week's time!

So excited that Kellyn finally learned to crawl on hands and knees!Huge milestone for her.

Rolling Back-to-Belly

In addition to torticollis, Kellyn also had mild trunk curvature.  This trunk curvature made it difficult for her to roll onto her right side.  When she rolled, she usually favored rolling onto her left side.  Kellyn's physical therapist wanted her to become comfortable rolling to her less favored right side.  So here's how the exercise I do to help her become more comfy rolling onto her right side.  I have include both a video tutorial and a written tutorial below.  Please note that the written tutorial offers a bit more hands-on guidance and support for your baby doing the roll.  The video offers less hands-on support and is geared more for babies who can roll independently with a little extra encouragement.

Video Tutorial:

Side Lying Stretch

I started doing this torticollis exercise once my daughter became too mobile and wiggly for the side lying stretch using the Boppy pillow . This version of the neck stretch seems to work much better for her now.  Below is my video demo of this torticollis stretch. I have also included step-by-step written directions for this exercise.  Please note this stretch is designed for the right sided torticollis.

Video Tutorial:

Video: Chiropractic Adjustment for Torticollis

I wanted to share this video of my daughter receiving a chiropractic adjustment to treat her right torticollis.  At the end of the adjustment, the chiropractor also answers some general questions that may arise for parents considering chiropractic care for their child.  I know many parents (myself included) feel apprehensive about having their child adjusted.  Parents considering this treatment option want to make a well-researched and informed decision.  I made this video to help give parents an idea of what they possibly could expect at this type of appointment.



I spent several months of doing physical therapy with Kellyn before I seriously considered supplementing with chiropractic.  After months of twice weekly PT sessions and torticollis exercises at home, I wasn't seeing the level of improvement that I had expected.  I had spoken to several parents who shared great success with doing both physical therapy and chiropractic.  After speaking to these parents, researching chiropractic myself, and praying about this option, I felt the peace I needed to move forward with this treatment option.

Disclaimer: All treatment options, including chiropractic adjustments, should first be discussed and approved by the child's pediatrician and physical therapist.

Torticollis Pictures: 20 weeks of PT

So my daughter has been in physical therapy for her torticollis for twenty weeks (over four months). In comparison with the last set of pictures posted after eleven weeks of PT, I think there has been a very subtle improvement in her torticollis. I think she's holding her head a bit more midline and her range of motion to the right has improved slightly. Her trunk seems more straight and her facial symmetry is continuing to look great.

Caught a moment of her keeping her head midline.

Torticollis Physical Therapy Re-Evaluation

Here's a video post about my daughter's physical therapy re-evaluation for her torticollis.  She has now been in physical therapy for four months.  As her mother, it's more difficult for me to notice Kellyn's improvements since I am with her everyday.  I really value hearing the physical therapist's more objective judgment of Kellyn's progress.

Strengthening Exercise for Torticollis

With my daughter's right torticollis, the right side neck muscles are tighter and stronger than the left side.  In addition to stretching the right side of her neck, we also do exercises to strengthen her left side. Both types of exercises are important in helping to lessen her torticollis.  The exercise below works to strengthen her weak, left side neck muscles by forcing her to work against gravity.  I have included a brief video tutorial AND written instructions in the space below.

Video Tutorial:

Pulling to Stand Exercise

Here's an exercise to help my daughter become more comfortable with pulling to stand (pulling up).  We're hoping as her gross motor skills develop, her torticollis will improve.  We want her to get comfortable with transitioning from tummy to knees to supported standing.  Below, you will see my video demonstration of this exercise, as well as a written explanation with pictures.

Video Tutorial:

Side Lay-to-Sit Strengthening

This torticollis exercise is a great two-for-one exercise.  Since Kellyn has right torticollis, it helps her strengthen her weak left side neck muscles by working against gravity.  In addition, it helps her learn to more easily transition into different positions.  This will help her with her motor skill progression.  In this post, I will share both my video demo AND the written step-by-step instructions (with pictures) for this exercise.

Video Tutorial: