Diagnosed with Torticollis and Metatarsus Adductus

For the last several months, Avery has been titling her head mainly to the left side, at first I just thought it was no big deal that she just slept on it wrong or that she just preferred that side, I even thought it was pretty cute that she always posed that way…but after a week or so of her tilting her head to one side, I got a little more concerned by it and even asked the mothers at play group what they thought about it. After I got home I wanted to see if there was anything on the internet about infant’s head tilting.

What I found was called Torticollis. Torticollis is a twisted neck, referring to the head being tipped to one side, while the chin is turned to the other. Congenital torticollis (present at birth) may be caused by malpositioning of the head in the uterus, or by prenatal injury of the muscles or blood supply in the neck.

Symptoms:
Enlargement of the neck muscles (possibly present at birth)
Asymmetry of an infant's head from sleeping on the affected side
Elevation of the shoulder on the affected side
Stiffness of neck muscles
Limited range of motion
Headache
Neck pain
Head tremor

In many pictures, Avery is tilting her head.

Here, see for yourself! (Napoleon)

After reading about this, I just knew that was what Avery had. It is nothing severe or anything to be worried about, but something needed to get done about it the sooner the better. I called her doctor’s office right away, but I decided to just wait until Avery’s next appointment which was just a week or so later. During her appointment her doctor said she looks fine, and he felt her neck and it seemed just fine. He told me some babies just prefer one side to the other but it will correct itself and if it gets worse then will be treated. So I left the office feeling somewhat glad that he said Avery didn’t have Torticollis, but still in the back of my head I was still feeling that something was not right.

Now a few months later she is still tilting her head to just one the side, so I took her in this morning to see the doctor (which I really do like her doctor he is pretty good and very nice!) and he examined her again and found that sure enough, she has Torticollis. Nothing to be really worried about like I said, but she has to go to a Physical Therapist so they can work on her neck and shoulder area for a little awhile to stretch those muscles. He also showed me a few techniques to do from home. Avery did not enjoy that however!

Today she was also diagnosed with Metatarsus adductus, which is that her right foot turns inward. She doesn’t need a brace for her leg or foot, but she has to also have Physical Therapy on her foot to train and stretch the muscles to turn out.

Poor Avery! My baby is all twisted up!! She will be fine in the end but she has to go through a little bit of Therapy which she is not going to be too happy about! Luckily, she is so young that she won’t remember any of it!