Body tilted in C, digestive disorders, frequent crying, KISS syndrome affects about 6% of newborns in France and remains little known to French health practitioners. It is the poor knowledge of his diagnosis that makes his assumption of responsibility uncertain. However, solutions exist in particular with specialist osteopathic doctors.

The history of KISS syndrome

KISS syndrome was first mentioned in 1984 in a medical article by a German doctor, Heiner Biedermann, an orthopedic surgeon and chiropractor, confronted in his orthopedic practice with children with C postures.

According to the common symptoms he observed, he decided to give this pathology the name KISS syndrome (Kopfgelenk-Induzierte Symmetrie-Störung), which could be translated into French as: symmetry disorders induced by cervical vertebrae.

“Concretely, this is a disturbance of the symmetry induced by blockages of the cranio-cervical junction, between the first cervical vertebra and the base of the skull”, specifies Dr Larcher.

Who is concerned ?

The syndrome (which simply brings together a set of symptoms) now affects 6% of newborns in France, or 50 children born with this disease per year.

“Well known in Germany, it is still very little in France where health practitioners often confuse it, and wrongly, with congenital torticollis, asymmetric congenital pelvis or plagiocephaly. This lack of knowledge means that few children are treated. This is the reason why we receive KISS kinder consultations, but also many KISS adults ”.

A syndrome still little known

According to a study carried out in 2010 in France, all health professionals combined (pediatricians, doctors, orthopedists, physiotherapist, midwives, osteopaths, chiropractor, etc.) only 2% knew of this syndrome. This ignorance is mainly due to the fact that this disease is not taught in osteopathic schools or in the faculty of medicine.

“The blockage of the joints of the cranio-cervical junction will lead to disorders affecting at the same time the digestive system, the mood, the posture and the behavior”. These are the symptoms of KISS syndrome: 

• A body tilted in the shape of “C” or “comma”;
• Head in extension, rotation and counter-lateral inclination, with a more or less mobile inclined neck;
• Hyperextension of the spine;
• Asymmetry of the pelvis with blockage of the sacroiliac joints;
• Difficulty breastfeeding;
• Nervous and / or digestive disorders: regurgitation, colitis, crying, tension, difficult nights

“It should be noted that during pregnancy, the baby very often had hiccups, a sign of almost permanent compression in the diaphragm”.

The first symptoms are not necessarily visible at birth, but rather from the 4th week.

“If no support is put in place, the child will continue to grow with this joint dysfunction, which will lead to difficulties in particular in learning to walk”.

“KISS syndrome is the only disease that combines posture, digestive and behavioral problems.” It cannot be the sign of another pathology.

KISS syndrome develops during pregnancy, in utero. “Sometimes, instead of developing harmoniously in mom’s womb, the baby will lock up its head at some point and continue to develop in rotation. This then gives rise to a difficult childbirth ”.

Several causes can lead to this blockage of the cranio-cervical junction:

• a stressful course of pregnancy;
• twin pregnancy;
• poor position of the fetus in the womb;
• difficult childbirth using forceps or suction cups;
• pressure on the parturient’s stomach to lower the baby,;
• a woman’s narrow pelvis.

“We also note that 30% of mothers who have a KISS baby have professions that lead to constraints in the pelvis such as nurses or caregivers, who sometimes have to mobilize patients of significant weight.”

Treating the child as early as possible is the best. All this in order to avoid the accumulation of secondary adaptations. But the diagnosis is often slow to be made. “The syndrome is often confused with congenital torticollis. Health professionals who have never heard of this disorder trivialize or on the contrary dramatize the situation. This leads to the realization of multiple additional examinations. Giving nothing, except to increase the worry of the parents ”.

Osteopathy sessions

The treatment consists of an “osteopathic re-harmonization” which, by definition, makes it possible to restore mobility to a joint while respecting physiology. “During the first session, we ask the parents to come with a radiological assessment of the cervical spine and pelvis in order to eliminate another possible cause of blockage”.

“We are making corrections to the blockage of the sacroiliac joint. As soon as we have released this tension from the pelvis, the baby will be able to land on his back. This release of the pelvis will generally resolve the problems of constipation, common in these babies ”.

Treatment of the digestive sphere

Second stage: treatment of the digestive sphere: both of the colon (associated colic) and of the stomach (reflux).

“We devote a lot of time in the oral cavity to release all the tensions in the mouth and to solve the problems of sucking”.

The liberation of the base of the skull

Last stage of treatment: liberation of the base of the skull with correction on the first cervical vertebra to align it with the axis of the spine.

Dr Larcher’s protocol is done with four hands with his colleague Gérard Longuet, osteopath and consists of three sessions. “The second takes place 15 days after the first and the third three months later. At the end of the 3 sessions, the child is cured. We do a check at the time of gait acquisition because falls are frequent and can re-block the pelvis.

Remember that the 2018 government decrees regulate the practice of osteopathy on infants under 6 months: this is reserved for osteopathic physicians only, unless the attending physician provides a certificate of non-contraindication.