Torticollis/PLAGIO

[BoyorGirl]

Hi there, I am looking for any support from Moms who have had babies with torticollis which resulted in plagio (flattened head syndrome). I have been told this can be common in premature babies as their heads are more soft, although my baby was full term. At our 2 month old Drs visit, we spoke with our doc how we were noticing our son tilting his head to the rt in his car seat constantly, but the biggest thing we wanted to address was that his eyes were asymmetrical! Looking at our baby dead on it was not that noticable, but when we held him up in front of a mirror you could really see that his rt eye was far more pronounced then his left eye! Almost like it was open wider and the orbit itself was bigger. We were referred on to a physio specialist who taught us how to do stretches with our baby to loosen the tighten muscle from torticollis! She said that as long as we keep doing the stretches and keep our baby off the flat spot that resulted from the torticollis from him having his head always in one position, everything else should resolve, including the asymmetry of his eyes! Well, we have now been doing the exercises excessively for 2 months, tummy time, repositioning etc, the whole bit and although we have seen improvement with his neck muscles, only slight improvement from his eye is apparent! It has opened up a bit more but still the asymmetry remains! It is so frustrating and though I know it is not a life or death issue, I am at a loss cause I feel I have been putting 100% into this everyday! Has anyone experienced something similiar? Will the eye asymmetry resolve over time with physio etc or should I seek another opinion?? possible helmet for plagio? Although I feel his flat spot has improved greatly.

 

[Sam182]

I wouldn't think he needs a helmet if that flat spot is getting better. My son had plagio which has resolved itself now. It does take time (about 6 months for us) but you will get there. My son's eye was asymmetrical which is now sorted. Everyone has some form of asymmetry to their face so it may not end up perfectly symmetrical but it will get better x

 

[dizz]

We've still got quite a pronounced flat spot - and a very stubborn girlie who resists all attempts to reposition her when she's sleeping. While it breaks my heart to see her head so wonky, I've just got to hope that time and her hair growing in covers it. We've got no real alternatives since there's no way we can afford the helmet treatment anyway.

 

[New2Bumps]

Ethan had plagiocephalis but not from torticollis. He had a very very flat spot and if I looked at his head from above I could see his right forehead more pronounced and his ears off centre. We saw a specialist who said that there was nothing causing it in our case, just that as he was prem and in the cot for so long that caused it and as he grew and started to spend more time sitting up (i.e. not lying down all the time!) that it should fix itself.
Well it did fix itself! If I feel his head now I can still feel the flat bit but that's because I know where it is. His hair is cut quite short and you can't see it.
I wish now I'd have taken photos as it really was quite bad and now it's perfect to the eye!
With torticollis as long as you do the excersises to get rid of that problem then the misshapen head should fix itself. Apparently the skull doesn't fuse until 2yrs
I'd say by 2 it was pretty much fixed.

Good luck!