Flat Head Syndrome

As I have mentioned in prior posts, Sadie was born with torticollis & we have been going to therapy for the past month trying to strengthen her neck muscles. We can definitely see improvement, but we still have a way to go for her to have full movement on both sides. Unfortunately, since she prefers her left side, she has looked that way & slept that way since she was born. Because of this, she now has plagiocephaly, which is an asymmetrical head shape with flattening on one side. Basically, she looks normal in the front, but in the back, you can tell that she lays on her left side all of the time & that side has become flat. Severe cases can cause your eyes & ears to become uneven & sometimes your head can start protruding in the front. Luckily, her head shape looks normal in the front & her eyes are even, but her left ear is being pulled forward since her head is growing that way. I can't really tell too much, but it was enough for our pediatrician to call for a second opinion. Yesterday we went to Medical City of Dallas Children's Hospital to visit the Craniofacial Center. They had a pretty neat baby scanner that took digital images of Sadie's head from all directions where we could get exact measurements on the computer. Here is a look at the machine:

They had her put on a little hat that covered her hair for the picture. I don't know why they made me take off her cute bow?!

Luckily her Dad kept her calm by holding the pacifier in her mouth while they did the scan:

After that, they had a professional photographer that took a lot of pictures of her head from different angles. Finally, we met with the nurse practitioner who went over everything with us. The bad news is that she definitely has plagiocephaly, but is in direct correlation to her torticollis & nothing more severe. They are hoping that since we are doing therapy, spending a lot of time with her during the day doing exercises, stretches & re-positioning, that we will be able to correct her head shape on her own. Apparently, the human head continues to grow until they are 2 1/2 years old, but they recommend 6 months for active growth when they are young. Basically, we have 2 more months to try & correct her head shape without medical intervention. And I hope we can do this since she is getting stronger neck muscles & starting to look right more often. Also, she is starting to roll & can sit up for longer stretches of time. Bryan & I were prepared to take the next steps already, but looks like we have a little longer to be patient. We will probably take her back in one month just to have more scans & pictures taken to see the progress, but I am hoping we will continue to see improvement on our own!