Symptoms of torticollis in newborns

Torticollis in newborns is also a relatively common symptom. There are many causes and classifications of it. The most common one is physiological torticollis. This situation will gradually improve with the good development of the child. However, there are also muscular torticollis and ocular torticollis, etc. If this situation occurs, you should go to the hospital for examination in time and receive good treatment and correction in time.

Symptoms of torticollis in newborns

1. Physiological torticollis. If a baby develops torticollis three months after birth, it is often physiological torticollis. This is because the child's neck is not strong enough after raising his head and the head is relatively heavy.

2. Muscular torticollis. Torticollis appears about 2 weeks after birth, and an obvious lump can be seen on the neck. For this case, it is currently believed that muscular torticollis is caused by tension and spasm caused by lesions in the sternocleidomastoid muscle on one side. The cause may be two factors: one is the increase in intramuscular pressure of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, which leads to muscle ischemia and fibrosis. Another is the fibromatosis theory, which refers to benign fibromatous lesions within the muscle.

3. Ocular torticollis. There was no lump in the neck at birth, and torticollis only appeared at 6 months of age. This condition may be caused by strabismus, which usually only occurs when the child is looking at things in a certain direction and returns to normal when sleeping.

4. Bony torticollis. Bony torticollis is caused by a deformity of the cervical spine. The baby will have torticollis immediately after birth, which may be accompanied by symptoms such as short neck, also known as short neck syndrome.

What to do if your newborn has torticollis

When a child develops neonatal torticollis, symptomatic treatment is required, and pathological neonatal torticollis requires timely treatment.

1. Physiological torticollis does not require treatment and will usually improve naturally by around 1 year old. Parents just need to pay attention and observe.

2. 80% of muscular torticollis can be cured through physical therapy such as functional exercise. 20% that do not improve by 1 year old require surgery to relieve the problem.

3. Because the child’s cooperation is required, ocular torticollis must not be diagnosed until the child is about 1 to 2 years old. It cannot be diagnosed before then and regular check-ups are required.

4. If the child does not feel any discomfort, no intervention is required. If cervical spondylolisthesis and pain occur, surgery can be performed to relieve the symptoms. However, to maintain the stability of the cervical spine for a long time, functional exercises are also needed.

5. In addition, the following actions are also helpful in improving infant torticollis. ?Hot compress: Apply local hot compress to relax tense muscles, about 20 minutes each time. ?Massage: Use your fingertips to loosen lumps, about 5 minutes each time. ?Passive stretching exercise: Repeat each movement 20 times. ④ Adjustment of the surrounding environment: attract the patient to turn his face to the affected side. Lights, sounds, and toys are all placed on the affected side.