Torticollis - Scare at Dr's Appt

We just got an unexpected scare at the dr's office today with our DD. We went for a sick visit since our DD had projectile vomited twice this am after successive feeds and came out with a totally different worry!

Our normal dr was off today and we saw the on call physician. We suspect our DD has reflux issues due to the way she cranes her neck and arches her back all the time after/during feeding. She also began vomiting about two weeks ago periodically after feeding. So, this on call dr started asking if our DD liked to hold her head towards a specific direction. We told her she typically wakes up facing towards the right side in the mornings. She proceeds to tell us our daughter has torticollis and she may need physical therapy. She also mentioned babies heads can get deformed from this and sometimes need a helmut to reshape it.

I left scared out of my mind and immediately started looking information up online. After researching many resources, I truly don't think my DD has torticollis and don't understand how this on call dr could make such a decision after spending 15 mins tops with us. She's not in any pain whatsoever and has no issue moving her head right to left. In fact, she even napped this afternoon with her head facing opposite of what she normally does. Don't we all have a "favorite" sleeping position anyways??

I'm glad our two month appt with our normal pedi is next week. I'm certainly going to bring this up and get her opinion on the whole thing.

Has anyone else had experiences like this?

Best,
Lisa

 

my daughter has torticollis and we have done several physical therapy sessions. she has done great. they just do a series of stretches and you'll do some stretches at home also. it will straighten itself out fairly quickly.....don't worry!!! pm me if you have any questions!

 

One of mine also had torticollis. We did PT for about 3 months and she is fine now. It's not as bad as the internet makes it out to be. But they DR is right that their head can be mishapped and need a helmet to correct it. Mine did not but she does have a slight flat spot where she was always laying on her head. Most pedis will recommend a PT evaluation and the PT will make suggestions about therapy or stretches to do at home. Good luck. It's pretty common in twins so don't freak out as much as the doctor made you!

 

My brother was born with Torticolis they did PT on him but his was so severe they ended up doing surgery on him...

I hope your daughter is fine, :hug:

 

I hope that everything is okay with your daughter :hug: I would definitely ask your pedi about it at your 2 month appointment. Good luck!

 

ditto what the pp said. Nothing to be too alarmed about. Mine were triplets, and just by way of continual smooshing one was bound to end up w/ this. We always thought it was cute that when we took pics, the one always tilted his head and "leaned' into his brother... His was pretty bad in that he had very little use of his left side to begin with. We called ECI... He needed the helmet only for 6 months...and of course the child doesn't remember physical therapy or the helmet days. It did make for cute pics, and interesting conversations.
At the mall one lady (snarky rude tone-I guess she thought I'd dropped my boy on the head or something...) asked "why does that baby have a helmet on his head?" My sister kindly enough retorted back " so that we can tell them apart!" :rotflmbo: Still love that moment... My mantra for most unwanted phases... "this too shall pass" and it generally does...
good luck w/ whatever you find out. btw, he's 8 now, and you wouldn't know any of this by looking at him, watching him function, etc...

 

My DD has has a slight head tilt. It's mild and I'm not even sure if she has an official diagnosis. Our pedi asked me to make sure she gets plenty of tummy time to strengthen her neck. She started to get a small flat spot on the back of her head. The pedi asked us to re-position her to take the pressure off of her head. The flat spot disappeared in less than a month. So far we haven't had PT and she is doing better now that she is getting stronger in her neck. Our pedi will check it again at her 4 month appt in a few weeks. take care, Beth

 

DD was always looking right until we finally noticed it at 3 months... We realized even at the hospital she was looking right. She has a flat spot on the right side because of it now but nobody seems to notice it but me, and it's been getting much better in the last 4 months. We didn't need physical therapy. We put her in the other side in the crib, repositioned her a lot, did some exercises, put interesting toys on her left side etc...

 

One of my daughters has torticollis and we are currently doing therapy for that and cp. She is now turning her head much better and the side that was a little flat has rounded out almost completely. Most times, unless you're looking at the right angle you can't really tell.

 

Both my girls had torticollis and PT did wonders. I went once weekly with them to PT, and did it 2 or 3 times daily at home. Their heads also rounded out nicely and we have no lingering issues.