CranioSacral Therapy, Torticollis, and BreastFeeding

Infant Craniosacral Therapy for Torticollis

Thanks for checking out my updated website and blog posts.  I look forward to connecting with you through this webpage. 

One of the main things I work with for infants is difficulty with torticollis or a strained neck after birth.   When doing Craniosacral therapy, I am trained to look for and assist the infant with releasing strain patterns in the body and cranial bones that may be caused by birth related trauma or fascial tension.   If you think about the baby's environment in utero, if Mom has a uterine growth restriction, or low volume of amniotic fluid, or baby was head down, breach, or tucked up under the rib cage or against the pelvis bones with decreased ability to move around during the last month or so, then baby may not have had enough room to move around and loosen up the fascia in utero or some of the cranial, facial, or spinal bones may be shifted.  I often find there can be areas of tension in the diaphragm, dural tube fascia, cranial bone misalignments, asymmetries in the face or jaw or palate, or even tongue tie fascia tension that contribute to the off level posture of the neck, jaw, palate, or spine.  These can lead to difficulty with positioning the baby comfortably for breast feeding, especially if baby is having trouble with turning the neck.  The jaw and cranial bones may be off level, causing difficulty with creating a good seal.   As a result, baby may have significant problems with latching, suck/swallow/breath mechanics, reflux / spitting up, excessive gas / air, and other signs of discomfort.  

 Some things to look for as a new parent:

* Baby keeps  head and eyes turned to one side most of the time, or prefers only 1 side for feeding and becomes fussy or wiggly / resisting when trying to feed on the other breast.

* Baby arches neck or back or pulls off the breast often during feeding. Baby may also seem fatigued and take a long time with feeding.  

* Baby's neck is tilted or rotated with eyes looking up and to one side, or they look obviously strained or different such as 1 eyebrow is lower than the other or one eye looks "squinty" while the other is more open. 

* There is indentation across the bridge of the nose.  There is nasal congestion, or difficulty breathing through the nose and mouth is open or snoring is noted during sleeping.

* There is a tendency for baby to have difficulty with sidelying on one or the other side and tends to keep his neck and arms tense, and hands fisted.  He hates being in the car seat, and has obvious increase in crying or wiggling around seeming uncomfortable when laying in certain positions. 

*Baby may have symptoms of breathing difficulty, grunting, straining, or excessively using neck and shoulders for breathing.  

These are just some of the signs that I look for when treating babies for torticollis.  Fortunately, even just a few sessions of CST and some teaching with parents can be very helpful in relieving these symptoms.  The CST technique is very gentle and is not a "manipulation" but rather soft tissue work similar to gentle massage or stretching to help baby find ways to release these tension patterns. 

 CST is like "giving the tissues a hug" to help teach the baby to relax and let go of the strained areas.  

If you or someone you know has a baby with these signs, then Infant Craniosacral therapy could be very helpful!  Please reach out to me to schedule at the number above or my email.  Thanks!  Sheri Brimm PT