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.

Last Chiropractic Appointment for Torticollis

So today was Kellyn's third and final chiropractic adjustment.  I don't necessarily think its what the chiropractor would have recommended, but that's what my husband wanted.  He was never super comfortable with the idea of Kellyn going in the first place.  And Kellyn's torticollis is doing pretty well lately, so he figured it was not worth the small risk of something potentially bad happening from the adjustment.  And I'm fine with this decision.  I plan to watch her over the next few weeks to make sure she doesn't experience any big regressions.  I also want to make sure that her improvement continues on in an upward trend.  If we notice Kellyn's torticollis worsening, Ryan and I will discuss whether or not we want to start back up with chiropractic.

My beautiful baby girl bundled up and ready to go to the chiropractor.

Kinesio Tape for Torticollis: Round 2

So Kellyn's first application of Kinesio Tape did not seem to improve her torticollis.  It was applied to the affected side of her neck (the side she tilts to) and in a method to encourage muscle relaxation.  After taking a little over a week break from the Kinesio Tape, our physical therapist from the early intervention program tried a different technique on Kellyn.  She applied the tape to the unaffected side of her neck to encourage muscle facilitation.  This makes sense since the unaffected side of Kellyn's neck has weaker muscles.

This is the second application of Kinesio Tape on her neck for torticollis.

1st Chiropractic Adjustment for Torticollis

As I mentioned before, Ryan and I have been considering supplementing Kellyn's physical therapy with chiropractic treatment. Before Kellyn got diagnosed with torticollis, I would have never imagined I would be taking my baby to a chiropractor. However, torticollis is a stubborn little condition that improves very gradually. So, after two months straight of daily physical therapy exercises, I was ready to take it up a notch. After hearing such awesome reviews about chiropractic from other "tort parents", I started wondering if perhaps it could work for Kellyn. After praying, researching, watching YouTube videos of pediatric adjustments, and having a consultation with the chiropractor, we finally felt comfortable scheduling the chiropractic appointment for Kellyn.

Kellyn's torticollis presentation one day after her first chiropractic adjustment.

Consultation with Chiropractor

We recently had a consultation with a chiropractor who has experience working with babies and children.  She came highly recommended to us by our daughter's outpatient physical therapist.  My husband and I have been considering supplementing Kellyn's PT with chiropractic since we have heard a lot of positive feedback from other parents of babies with torticollis.

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Treating Torticollis with Alternative Medicine

So its been a little over a month of treating Kellyn's torticollis with physical therapy.  And she has certainly made progress, but she has not improved to the degree I would have expected considering how much time I spend daily working with her.  I truly believe that physical therapy is the best and most effective treatment for torticollis.  However, I am getting at the point where I would consider adding in some alternative medicine approaches to complement her physical therapy treatment plan.  If there is additional things I could be doing to help my daughter recover faster, I want to do them. 

I have heard of a variety of different alternative medical treatment approaches for torticollis.  Chiropractic, acupuncture, accupressure, massage therapy, osteopathy, cranial sacral therapy, and heat treatment have all been listed as various alternative methods of treating torticollis.  I have read numerous posts from parents who have had great success using several of these previously mentioned alternative medical approaches.  Each time I read about their experiences, I get excited about the possibility of my daughter also improving from these alternative treatments.

kudryashka © 123RF.com | kudryashka