Torticollis

We discovered the knot (muscular fibrosis) on Riley's neck at about 3 weeks old (see pic below). She was diagnosed with torticollis at her one month old pediatrician appt.

Apparently, due to overcrowding in my belly while I was still pregnant with her, her head was positioned to one side, and the sternocleidomastoid muscle on the side was then underdeveloped, making it weak. Then, during delivery, her head was forced to straighten out, pulling and tearing this weak muscle in her neck. The next few weeks since her birthday, the muscle fibers in her neck attempted to repair the torn muscle, but resulted in a knot, constricting her facial range of motion to her left side.

So, Mom and Dad have been taking Riley to PT twice a week, working with Riley on her neck stretches, and positioning her head while she sleeps, plays, sits...

Barely able to hold her face straight at first, she's now sleeping and holding her head straight forward on her own, and now we're working on holding her face to the right side. The following pic was taken last week. :-)

At her appt. last Friday, we realized that the muscle fibers in her neck are actually becoming more oval-shaped, which is good. That means we're stretching it out!

Mom and Dad are very happy to see her progress. Surgery has been brought up a few times, as well as a cranial helmet if her condition doesn't improve... and we'd can't imagine putting her through that!