Baby Helmet For Torticollis

The perfectly round head of my c section baby had turned into a crooked wonky egg shape with a flat spot.

Baby helmet for torticollis. I would kiss brandon s head and cry. Flat spots torticollis and helmets oh my. Multiple births and torticollis greatly increase the incidence of plagiocephaly. Trying to decide whether to give your baby plagiocephaly treatment with or without a helmet is by no means an easy task.

I could go on and on about torticollis after the long journey we went through but instead i ll leave you with this. What is the first step to get a helmet. Deformation of the head also occurs because infants are kept in car or bouncy seats for long periods of time for convenience or to decrease reflux. If you find your baby s torticollis isn t improving with stretching talk to your doctor or physical therapist.

It was a cycle of crying. I cried a lot. Torticollis causes the baby s neck to turn in a twisted position which makes the baby s head to tilt one way and the chin to point the other way. The sooner a baby gets it on the more effective and quickly it will work 4 6 months being the optimal age.

You did the right thing by keeping your baby on their back and wearing the helmet means you re an even better mom for caring enough to make sure your child has the brightest possible future. Baby helmet therapy requires active growth to bring about correction and 4 to 7 months is the ideal age to start treatment. Our tri state and philadelphia orthopedists can fit custom baby helmets as a safe solution for correcting this deformity. Maybe you ve seen a baby out in the store or mall wearing what seems like an infant sized football helmet.

When torticollis is persistent after the initiation of treatment rubber straps can be fixed to the outside of the helmet and attached to the side rails of the crib. We were both pretty frustrated with the dr s wishy washy opinion. Most likely this is a therapeutic device worn to help correct a misshaped head. Conflicting attitudes and opinions from gps hvs the press private clinics and other parents can often serve to heighten the anxiety no matter how honourable the intentions behind their advice might be.

While the infant sleeps the straps can be tightened to stretch the shortened sternocleidomastoid muscle. There is less improvement available as the child ages to a maximum cut off of 14 months for the start of treatment. Torticollis is a condition involving the neck muscles that caused our daughter to primarily look to one side and tilt her head. Stretching exercises to treat torticollis are most likely to work well if they start when a baby is between 2 to 6 months of age.