Monday, June 14, 2010

An update on K's physical therapy

Just a little update-K had physical therapy today and the therapist is getting ready to cut us loose! We had been going every week for the past 7 months and then last month she cut us back to every other week and now she wants to see us a month from today. If all looks well, then we'll be officially done with physical therapy.

To catch everyone up-K was born with congenital torticollis. (It sounds much worse than it actually is). Congenital torticollis can appear during the last trimester of pregnancy when the space inside the womb gets pretty tight. This causes the baby to lay to one side resulting in a tightened/shortened neck muscle.

Most often this is detected because the child will hold it's head at an angle to one side. In K's case, I became concerned because it looked like she had a little flat spot on the back of her head towards her left side. Her pediatrician suggested that we get an evaluation from a PT and she was diagnosed with a mild case of congenital torticollis. In some cases the head flattening is severe enough to warrant wearing a helmet to actually reshape the head and if left untreated this can actually cause disfigurement (all from a tightened muscle).

We were fortunate that K's was not severe and that we caught it early. We've been able to work with the therapist and do exercises at home that have lengthened K's neck muscle. The really amazing part of this process has been that I've actually watched the tightness move from K's neck down her left side. There is now just a little bit of muscle tightness left in her left knee area.

As happy as I am that we are almost done with PT, I'm really going to miss our therapist, Miss Leah. Not only is she a fabulous pediatric therapist but she has also passed along hints and helps from her own parenting experience.

I took both girls to the pool today. It was K's first time in the "big pool"-she loved it! I tried unsuccessfully to get a few pics with the camera on my phone so I'll try again next time with our regular camera. You won't be disappointed-there is not much cuter than 2 little brown girls in bathing suits:-)

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