Wednesday, October 22, 2014

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.

Rolling Thermal Scan results of a toddler with torticollis. The results are before and after the toddler's chiropractic adjustments.
'Before' and 'After' results of the Rolling Thermal Scan

Friday, September 5, 2014

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.

Toddler with mild torticollis sitting on a toybox
This slight right tilt is Kellyn's normal. It's obviously very mild, but enough for me to notice.

Monday, July 7, 2014

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.

Toddler reading a book
Happy to spend more time playing instead of doing her dreaded torticollis exercises