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.

3 Exercises to Promote Indendent Standing

Standing is a building block skill that eventually leads to babies learning to walk.  And once baby masters walking, it's likely that the torticollis will improve.  This motivates me to do everything I can to help Kellyn master these skills.  In this tutorial below, I'm going to demonstrate three easy exercises that encourage independent standing.  These exercises should only be started when child exhibits the ability to bear weight on feet while being supported.  As always, please consult with your child's physical therapist before trying any of these exercises.

Video Tutorial

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.

Torticollis Clinic Discharge

Kellyn had her third appointment with the torticollis clinic at Children's National Medical Center today.  And the physical therapist and nurse observed Kellyn's head positioning while walking around.  They also tested her neck strength and range of motion.  They thought she looked great and that she could be discharged from their clinic.  And the best news of all is that I no longer need to do her torticollis exercises.  Praise the Lord!  I will gladly welcome back the extra twenty minutes into our day that was previously consumed by these exercises.

Happy to spend more time playing instead of doing her dreaded torticollis exercises

Exercises to Promote Walking

Lately, we have been working on exercises to promote walking.  As I've mentioned before, once walking becomes well established, we expect Kellyn's torticollis to improve.  Therefore, we are working on both torticollis exercises and motor skill development exercises.  In the video and written tutorial below, I have described two simple exercises to encourage walking.

Video Tutorial:

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:

Cruising Exercises for Baby

Before a baby walks, she will first develop the ability to cruise along furniture or household objects. Kellyn's physical therapist believes that once Kellyn starts walking, her head tilt will decrease. Therefore, I have been working with Kellyn on cruising exercises to develop the precursor skills to walking.  Below is a video tutorial and instructions for three different cruising exercises to promote future walking.

Video Tutorial:

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!

Range of Motion Exercise #3

Due to Kellyn's right torticollis, she has limited range of motion turning her head towards her right side.  This exercise will help increase her range of motion looking towards her right.  I like this exercise because I could sometimes get away with Kellyn not even realizing we're doing a torticollis exercise.   When babies are young, they often get pretty captivated by an interesting toy.  And since young babies are often too young to crawl, they can be pretty content just staying in one place and looking at something interesting.  Unfortunately, by the time your baby is mobile, this exercise may become near impossible to do since baby is unlikely to stay in one place for you.  I am including both a video demonstration and a written explanation of this exercise.

Video Tutorial:

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

Toys to Use During PT Exercises

Most of us can probably agree that our babies don't enjoy their torticollis exercises.  When our babies get upset, we naturally feel upset too.  Thankfully, I finally discovered the key to getting through a good set of torticollis exercises is distracting your baby with some cool toys. The goal is to get your baby so involved with playing that they barely realize they are actually doing their exercises.  Also, make sure to only allow your baby to play with these special toys during torticollis exercises only.  If you leave the toys out so that your baby can play with them anytime, then the novelty of the toys wears off.  I can't promise that cool toys will make every exercise session perfect, but it certainly helps make the experience more bearable for everyone involved.

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:

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:

Torticollis Exercises on an Older Baby

I understand why most people say its ideal to catch torticollis before baby reaches four months old.  Torticollis treatment is often easier and faster, the earlier you catch it. My daughter is now eleven months and it is so much more difficult doing her torticollis stretches and exercises. She is very mobile and strong now and can easily wiggle out of many positions I attempt to put her in. The stretches are especially challenging, while the strengthening exercises are slightly easier to accomplish compared to the stretches.

Just realized one of her socks is missing. Whoops :)

PT Re-Evaluation #2 Update

Kellyn had another outpatient physical therapy re-evaluation for her torticollis and it went really well!  She's nine months old and has been in physical therapy now for three months.  So basically 1/3 of her little life here in this world has been in physical therapy.  Considering the various things she's been through since birth (esophagus surgery, NICU stay, X-rays, numerous doctor's appointments, and physical therapy), she is one tough little cookie.  Anyways, check out my video update on the outcome of this re-evaluation.