Ethan was diagnosised with Positional Plagiocephaly and Torticollis Wednesday at his two month well check. Nothing major, but what this basically means is that he has a tendency to look left all the time, thus causing his neck muscles to want to get tight and not look to the right. (There can be other reasons for torticollis, but E. does not have those) This has caused the P.P., basically a flat spot on the left side of Ethan's head. This can become a problem because his brain plates (?) can slide around and distort his facial features.
Since I'd never even heard of such a thing and got very concerned as Dr. Walters was asking which side Ethan tends to look to the most and had me try to get him to turn and look at me, I decided to share a little bit about it with you.
We went to our first Physical Therapy visit Thursday afternoon. Katie did an assessment of Ethan, taking pictures, observing his movements, etc. She said he does not have a bad case of torticollis and that it is a habit he's let himself get into. I was shown some exercises to "reintroduce" the right side of his world to him. None of the exercises are very hard (exp: hold Ethan to my chest, turn his head {gently} to the right and keep it in that position as tolerated.) nor do they take very long, but they are important in getting Ethan to quit being lazy and start seeing ALL of the world, not just what passes by out Jackson's window in the car. (Obviously Jack sits to the left of Ethan)
We will be going back to P.T. about once a week for a few weeks, but should not have to go long term.
I am so grateful the doctor even noticed his slightly funny shaped skull. If left untreated, it could become a lot worst. It was something I'd never heard of, never even thought to check. Now all you mama's and papa's know about torticollis, too, and won't have to worry if the doctor starts asking funny questions at your baby's well check.
Ethan's shirt provided by Karen Walcott. It was perfect for him to wear to his first day of Physical Therapy. It says "Bootie Camp"
Friday, January 23, 2009
Ethan Starts Baby Boot Camp
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Thank goodness your doctor has sharp eyes! It's wonderful that Ethan will get the therapy he needs early. I know it must have been a scary diagnosis {for you} at first, but from what it sounds like, he'll be on track again soon!
Wow! Good doctors are a blessing! That's great that the P.T. home exercises are easy! Good luck. He's so cute!
I bet you loved hearing that he has a mild case. I think this condition has grown ever since doctors started asking for babies to sleep on their backs instead of their tummies. This is a Stacy theory, not a fact! Turn your head, little E!
It seem they caught it very early. Kaiden had this same problem but we didn't catch it until he was around 6 months old and he even had to wear a corrective helmet b/c the right side of his head was going flat. You can check out his b-day slide show on my blog to see his fat cheeks in his little helmet. But he's great now just make sure you don't get lazy on doing the exercies b/c it was sometimes hard for me to stay ontop of them. But we were never recomended to a PT, that would have been nice! Best of luck and sorry for the long comment!
I hope PT is great for baby Ethan...he looks great, momma...you're doing an awesome job!
Love the shirt. I'm glad your doctor caught the problem early on. Hopefully a few weeks of PT will fix him up. He's so cute!
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