Stretch It Out: How Physical Therapy Helped with Torticollis | Cincinnati Children's

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Emily Davidson, Chloe’s mom: "My child loved physical therapy, so as a parent it was a little scary and it may feel like a failure that my 4-month-old has to go to physical therapy, but the whole experience was fun for her, she likes the attention."

When Chloe was 2 months old, her pediatrician suspected she may have torticollis, a condition that causes the head to tilt. With early intervention, it can be corrected. Left untreated, it could cause an abnormal head shape and decreased range of motion.

Mom: "It was just something to look out for and at her 4-month-appointment, I was referred to physical therapy because it hadn’t improved."

Molly Mays, physical therapist: "She was tight on her left side of her neck, so she would tilt this way and turn this way a little bit. And it caused the back of her head to be flat here. And without being addressed, she probably would’ve gone more into those patterns and the tightness would’ve gotten worse, and the weakness and the flat spot to the point where she may have needed a helmet."

Mom: "So, we started physical therapy during lockdown. All of our appointments had to be over telehealth and Molly did a really great job of showing me, you know, the stretches I could do with her and I was trying to use my phone to show her what we were doing."

Mays: "So, I was teaching her, really only with my voice and a baby doll of how to do what Chloe needed to get stronger."

Beginning physical therapy during a pandemic wasn’t ideal, but Chloe, mom and her physical therapist figured it out. Together.

Mays: "Yeah, it’s definitely challenging to do telehealth for physical therapy. We’ve gotta be hands-on. There’s certain measurements that we need to take, which is why when we were cleared to come back in person. She was considered a priority, so that we could measure her, really specifically, make sure that she was on track. But also, in between those in-person appointments, checking in through telehealth and just fine-tuning some of the things we were working on that way, was totally appropriate, too."

Mom: "As we kept doing the telehealth appointments every week, I noticed she was straightening up more. The flat spot on her head is nearly gone. So the whole experience has been very positive. She met her goals last time but she needs to be meeting them consistently, so I need to see if she will meet them again today and if she does, then she graduates. If not maybe we have a few more. So, we’ll see."

Mays: "Yeah, she’s done really well."

Mom: "You did it! Yay, Chloe!"