Congenital Torticollis Treatment: Chiropractic, exercises and stretches

The most important thing to remember is to have your child checked by an expert, like your Pediatrician or Pediatric Chiropractor. It is critical that you know that your child has been diagnosed with congenital torticollis before attempting any home treatments.

Supplementary home treatment for torticollis

Once you know your child has torticollis these stretches, exercises and tips can help! To begin, you must know which SCM muscle is tight and which motions are restricted (side bending and rotation). If this all seems confusing to you read part one of this article for a more in depth explanation. For ease of explanation I will use baby “Jacqueline” as an example. Baby Jacqueline’s head is stuck in right side bend and is stuck in rotation to the left. To begin, use toys to direct your child’s attention into the restricted rotation direction. For baby Jacqueline we would use noisy toys or light up toys and direct her attention towards the right. This is also a good time to encourage her to sleep on her left side because she is probably sleeping on her right primarily. Tummy time is very important in general but also for a torticollis baby, because it helps strengthen all of the supporting muscles and promotes range of motion in the neck. To stretch the tight SCM muscle, the football hold is a good stretch. In the image below (while it might look a little silly), the child’s right SCM is being stretched. If the child is able to sit on her own, put her on an exercise ball and hold her for support, then tilt the ball to the right, this will force her to strengthen her left SCM and counteract the tightness in the right SCM.

Chiropractic treatment for congenital torticollis

A Pediatric Chiropractor is a physician trained in diagnosing and treating ailments that affect children without medication or surgery by using manual techniques. That being said, they also know when to refer to a medical doctor if necessary. Your Pediatric Chiropractor will assess your child’s condition and explain to you which muscles are tight and which motions are restricted and then treatment can begin. To start, soft tissue massage is done to the tight muscles to help them relax and for greater comfort during an adjustment. Next, gentle pediatric specific techniques are used to adjust the baby’s upper back and neck to free up some motion that is restricted. Research has shown that chiropractic manipulation can significantly improve head tilt. Your Chiropractor may also implement Kinesiotape to help relax the tight muscles and activate the weak opposing muscles. According to this study, Kinesio taping after an individual treatment can reduce the amount of overall treatment time. Lastly, your Chiropractor will send you home with detailed explanations of stretches and exercises to be done at home (like the ones above!). At each appointment or when necessary, these will be progressed to the next step until your child’s condition has resolved.

In the pictures (above and below), you will see a before and during photo of a child that came into my office at 6.5 months with congenital torticollis. The treatment described above was completed with this child and her parents were diligent about following her home care recommendations. In the during photo, below, you can begin to see the improvements in her head tilt. Since then she has completed care and her condition has been completely resolved. I will try to post an after picture as soon as I receive one.

Looking for a local pediatric chiropractor? Check out the ICPA’s directory. Visit us to learn more about Pediatric Chiropractors and Chiropractic for children.

Neha Shah, DC - Chiropractor St Charles IL specializing in pediatric and prenatal care.
White Oak Family Wellness
405 Illinois Avenue #2b
St. Charles, IL 60174
(630) 442-0057

www.whiteoakwell.com