What is plagiocephaly, how is it caused and treated?
Plagiocephaly (sometimes called deformational plagiocephaly or positional plagiocephaly) is a very common, very treatable disorder. It causes a baby’s head to have a flattened appearance. Plagiocephaly develops when an infant’s soft skull becomes flattened in one area, due to repeated pressure on one part of the head.
How to correct mild plagiocephaly?
- Consistently change your baby’s sleep position (one day face their head left, the other right, and so on). ...
- Give your baby supervised tummy time. ...
- When you can, hold your baby upright instead of placing them in their crib, car seat, or baby swing.
- Change feeding positions. ...
What happens when torticollis goes untreated?
What happens if torticollis goes untreated? If not treated, torticollis can lead to other issues, including but not limited to, a flat or misshapen skull, asymmetrical facial features, scoliosis, muscular imbalances and impaired vision. “If left untreated, the muscle becomes very tight and resistant to stretching. Click to see full answer.
What is severe plagiocephaly?
What is severe plagiocephaly? Positional plagiocephaly is a condition in which specific areas of an infant's head develop an abnormally flattened shape and appearance. In more severe cases, the infant may have forehead or cheek protrusion on the flat side of his or her head. Click to see full answer.
What causes torticollis?
The cause is likely from the fetus's position in the uterus resulting in injury to the neck muscles. Acquired torticollis may be caused by irritation to the cervical ligaments from a viral infection, injury, or vigorous movement. Additional causes may include: Sleeping in an awkward position.
Does torticollis cause developmental delays?
So, does torticollis cause developmental delays? Interestingly, they found no links between neurodevelopment and the presence or absence of torticollis, a finding that was not replicated in the more recent study.
What is the cause of plagiocephaly?
Plagiocephaly develops when an infant's soft skull becomes flattened in one area, due to repeated pressure on one part of the head. Many babies develop plagiocephaly by sleeping regularly in one position. This condition occurs more often in premature infants whose skulls are especially pliable.
Is torticollis a birth defect?
Congenital torticollis is a birth defect in which the head becomes tilted at or soon after birth. Birth defects, also called congenital anomalies, are physical abnormalities that occur before a baby is born.
Is torticollis linked to autism?
In retrospect, feeding difficulties are common in children subsequently diagnosed with autism and may persist for a long time (23). Hypotonia may start prenatally, and the abnormal postures can lead to a neck deformity called torticollis, that develops in some children who hold their head to one side (20, 24).
Is torticollis a disability?
Torticollis, also known as "wry neck" or "twisted neck," is a disability or condition you are probably familiar with.
What happens if you don't fix plagiocephaly?
They can grow out of it naturally or correct it with therapy. It is unlikely to cause issues with their brain growth or function. However, if plagiocephaly is left untreated, children are at risk of developmental, neurological, or psychological difficulties.
Is plagiocephaly a birth defect?
Plagiocephaly describes a condition in which a baby's skull is flattened on one side of the back or front of the head. Plagiocephaly can be congenital (present at birth) or develop during infancy (positional or deformational).
Is plagiocephaly a disability?
A rare, syndromic intellectual disability characterized by severe intellectual deficit, brachycephaly, plagiocephaly, and prominent forehead in male patients.
How serious is torticollis?
The condition typically doesn't require medical treatment. Pain relievers usually resolve symptoms. If your baby's head is twisted or tilted to one side, it may be an upsetting sight. But torticollis in infants typically doesn't cause them any pain.
Does torticollis affect brain development?
Torticollis does not affect the brain, and the skull will become more rounded as baby grows and spends more time on her tummy and starts moving her own head freely. In general, providing lots of tummy time and holding baby on his tummy (or a variety of positions) throughout the day is important.
How do you fix torticollis babies?
Most babies with torticollis get better through position changes and stretching exercises. It might take up to 6 months to go away completely, and in some cases can take a year or longer. Stretching exercises to treat torticollis work best if started when a baby is 3–6 months old.
Does torticollis affect brain development?
Torticollis does not affect the brain, and the skull will become more rounded as baby grows and spends more time on her tummy and starts moving her own head freely. In general, providing lots of tummy time and holding baby on his tummy (or a variety of positions) throughout the day is important.
Does torticollis have long term effects?
All 3 types of torticollis can lead to secondary changes in shape, such as deformational plagiocephaly (DP), facial scoliosis, and infantile scoliosis, and functional problems, including unilateral breastfeeding problems and asymmetrical use of the hands.
Can torticollis cause learning disabilities?
Many forms of congenital torticollis are painless, but cause considerable problems with the child's ability to develop proper hand-eye coordination. If the torticollis affects the development of the skull, it may even cause learning disabilities.
Can torticollis affect motor development?
Torticollis can lead to atypical head shape, preference for movement to only one side, visual impairments, and general gross motor delay. It is important to discuss any of these findings with your child's pediatrician as early as possible.
What is flat head syndrome?
What is positional plagiocephaly and positional torticollis? Positional plagiocephaly, also known as flat head syndrome, is when a baby develops a flattening on the back or side of the head.
How to treat a baby with a head injury?
Treatments may include physical therapy or occupational therapy, or possibly a corrective helmet to help reshape the infant’s head. Call your healthcare provider and set up an appointment for a further evaluation if you have concerns about your baby’s development.
Why does my baby's head tilt to one side?
Positional torticollis occurs when the muscles in baby’s neck become stiff or tight, which causes baby’s head to tilt to one side. This condition sometimes affects a baby’s posture causing them to favor one side of their body.
Importance of Early Treatment
It’s always easier to learn a skill correctly first than to learn it incorrectly and have to re-learn it the right way! That’s why it’s so important to get the baby in for treatment as early as possible so that we can address the neck tightness and have your baby go on to learn to roll and crawl without compensating for her neck.
Speech and Feeding
Torticollis can also affect speech development. If a baby doesn’t have the proper trunk and head control, they might also have trouble getting the air that they need for speech production.
Vision
Strangely, torticollis can also affect the baby’s vision as the baby might learn to adapt to the world seen at a tilt. Torticollis can affect fine motor skill development as well because it’s so difficult to gain fine motor skills when you don’t have good control of your trunk and limbs.
What is Plagiocephaly?
Torticollis is often associated with plagiocephaly. Plagiocephaly is also known as “oblique head.” This happens whenever your baby has a strong preference for sleeping on one particular side. Whichever side they tend to sleep on, that side of their head becomes flat.
Motor Control
Does it seem strange that plagiocephaly might affect gross motor control? All gross motor control starts with head control. Without good head control, the baby cannot gain good trunk control.
Facial Asymmetry
Another problem you might see with plagiocephaly is that your baby might have some facial asymmetry. Part of their face may be flattened. This can affect their jaw alignment, which can lead to feeding issues. They may have trouble breastfeeding, or may not be able to open their jaw the appropriate amount to eat solid foods.
Treatment
Conservative treatment is always recommended for both plagiocephaly and torticollis. The earlier you come in for treatment, the faster you will see results! We know all the things to look for when your baby arrives. We can assess how much their head shape differs from normal, and how much progress they make between the times that they are here.
How Does Torticollis Affect Plagiocephaly?
Babies with torticollis have limitations in neck movement from left to right, which further contributes to the tendency of keeping the head to one side. Many babies born with torticollis can therefore develop plagiocephaly as a result of this condition, as their head will spend more time in a more comfortable position.
What is a torticollis?
A true torticollis is the result of a small knot in the muscle fibres of one of the neck muscles, known as the sternocleidomastoid muscle (above image). This small knot of muscle fibres has a scary name, a sterncleidomastoid tumour, but this only means that the doctor can feel a lump of knotty tissues that can be eased out with stretches ...
Why do babies turn their heads to the side?
On the other hand, babies with severe plagiocephaly will often require extra energy to turn the head to the side to which they are less accustomed to. In order to avoid discomfort, they keep the head turned to the same side as much as possible, resulting in a functional shortening of the muscles on one side of the neck.
What is the most common form of flat head syndrome?
Plagiocephaly is the most common form of flat head syndrome and presents itself as an asymmetrical head shape, with one side of the head usually being more flat than the other side. Torticollis is a condition characterised by a head tilt to one side as a result of a shortened neck muscle.
How to help a baby with torticollis?
To do this, regularly ease the head gently from one side to the other, only going as far as is comfortable for your baby. To help, make this into a game and you can encourage your baby to turn to the affected side by placing toys on that side. You can also encourage movement by feeding from alternating sides. For more tips, head over to our guide for 5 exercises that improve torticollis.
Is plagiocephaly related to torticollis?
It’s not uncommon for babies to be diagnosed with both plagiocephaly and torticollis. The relationship between plagiocephaly and torticollis is slightly unusual as causality can go in either direction. In other words, sometimes plagiocephaly can cause torticollis ...
How to treat plagiocephaly?
Treatment of plagiocephaly also often includes using a cranial helmet. A combined treatment of positioning and helmet use has been found to be more effective and faster than positioning alone.
Why does my baby have torticollis?
It may be caused by the infant spending too much time with its head turned in a particular direction. There are theories that plagiocephaly can cause this as well. The development of the baby in the early months of its life are crucial. Torticollis can impact a baby’s vision, ability to eat properly, and motor skills both fine and gross. Example of distortion of development include decrease in head control, restricted reaching on the affected side, delayed sitting and walking, crawling imbalance, and other problems.
Why does my baby have flat head syndrome?
The reason the baby may develop flat head syndrome along with torticollis, is because of the tightness of the neck muscles which causes the baby to keep the head in one position.
What are some examples of distortion of development?
Example of distortion of development include decrease in head control, restricted reaching on the affected side, delayed sitting and walking, crawling imbalance, and other problems. Parents and doctors will usually notice fairly early that the baby has restricted movement in the neck.
Is torticollis related to plagiocephaly?
Many medical experts in the field of pediatrics will attest to the fact that torticollis and plagiocephaly are related. It is sometimes difficult to make an absolute judgment as to which came first, torticollis or plagiocephaly.
