The Knee Bone's Connected to the Thigh Bone...

Did you ever hear that song when you were a kid? As a PT this song has always stuck with me and I use it to drive home a point to my clients. The point is that if one muscle is tight or weak it will affect the other elements in the body that it borders. So keeping that in mind lets talk more about torticollis. Torticollis is the tightening of muscles in one side of the neck which causes the head to turn and tilt to one side and have difficulty turning and tilting to the opposite side. That preference for one side will result in pressure one one side of the skull and since a baby's head is very soft a flat spot can develop. This is called plagiocephaly.

So relate that song to our neck. What happens when you develop a crick in your neck or sleep wrong and wake up with neck soreness? That issue can often times radiate into the shoulder and upper back and can also cause tension headaches. It makes it difficult to look over our shoulder (think turning to look behind you when you are driving). It can make moving your arms to get dressed painful. It can affect rolling over in bed.

Now lets extrapolate that to your baby. Some causes of torticollis are positional especially positioning in utero. Other times we just don't know why it develops. But when it does it makes skills like lifting the head/developing head control; rolling over; reaching against gravity with the arms difficult. It can also cause tightness in the trunk on one side which can prevent rolling over and cause poor sitting posture. And if I may step into other arenas than PT, I will mention that issues with torticollis can affect feeding, play and sleep..." the thigh bone's connected to the hip bone."

For these reasons and probably a few more, PTs are stressing that there is no reason to "wait and see" if your baby outgrows torticollis. Every month your baby is gaining a multitude of skills, so wait and see immediately puts your baby behind. Its just plain unnecessary. In PT we will teach you how to gently stretch the neck (which is easier the younger the baby is). We will know to check the trunk as well. We can help with positioning strategies and ways to hold your baby to help their body relax. We will advise you of fun toys and ways to play with your baby to help them gain gross motor skills. We will educate you about controlling container use which often delays skill development.

When I have an issue with plumbing, I call a plumber. I don't try to handle it myself because I don't know anything about my kitchen sink. But I know I don't want a clog in the line to snowball and cause a back-up somewhere else. As a parent you are not expected to understand everything about the human body and development. A PT is there to guide you and give you confidence. A PT evaluation is easy to get and can give you peace of mind and a little education about what to do with your new bundle of joy.