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

At this appointment, they tested Kellyn's range of motion, strength, and various other movements.  They seemed pleased with her progress and said her torticollis looked minimal.  They said her range of motion was great and her strength on her left side of her neck was almost equal to her right side.  The physical therapist believed that her reminiscent tilt was a combination of habit and a slight weakness in the left side of neck.  They still felt that Kellyn was definitely was not a Botox or  surgery candidate. After sharing this information, the physical therapist showed me some new exercises that I could do with Kellyn.  To see the new exercises we learned, check out this post.

From what I've gathered from other mothers, torticollis can take a long time to treat.  Some children may always experience a slight tilt, and it may temporarily worsen when they experience growth spurts, illness, or tiredness. My concern was that Kellyn may always have a slight head tilt and that this long-term tilt would gradually cause facial asymmetry over the course of her life.  The physical therapist and nurse practitioner assured me that I did not need to be concerned about this.  They shared that tight neck muscles contributed to facial asymmetry and that Kellyn no longer had tight neck muscles.  Phew! That was such a relief to hear. I'm so happy how her facial symmetry has improved over the course of her treatment, and I was really hoping that it would stay that way.

As I had mentioned before, I usually do about five sets of torticollis exercises with Kellyn on a daily basis.  Each set lasts approximately fifteen minutes.  I asked the physical therapist and nurse practitioner about these exercises and they felt like I could reduce her sets down to two to three sets per day.  This was such great news!  It has been very stressful and exhausting for me to complete all five sets daily.  Three sets seems a lot more manageable.  I'm so pleased with how our appointment went today.  I would definitely recommend this Torticollis Clinic at Children's National Medical Center to any parents who live within driving distance of Washington DC.