Contents
Childhood torticollis: explanations and treatments
It’s a childbirth trauma
This anomaly is often discovered late because the child does not have pain. It is the parents who notice that their child is breastfeeding and sleeping with his head always turned to the same side, or the doctor who notices that the posterior part of the baby’s skull has gradually flattened: doctors speak of plagiocephaly (Read also ‘He has a funny face‘).
Two essential x-rays. The doctor asks for a neck x-ray to rule out a congenital anomaly of the vertebrae (rare) and an x-ray of the hips, because in 20% of cases, congenital torticollis is associated with a hip defect (poor fit of the femur in its cavity) .
Simple treatment and quick results. About fifteen rehabilitation sessions with a physiotherapist are necessary to stretch the neck muscle and restore its flexibility. Parents also have a role to play by speaking to their child on the opposite side of the retraction or by changing the orientation of their crib, so that the baby turns their head towards the light or the door. If the child is taken into care before the age of 6 months, usually everything is fine in a few weeks, a few months at most. However, the skull can remain flattened for several years before regaining its rounded shape.
The rebel cases. If the torticollis was detected later or if it is severe, it may persist until the age of 12-18 months and require surgery under general anesthesia, to lengthen the retracted muscle. The child must then wear a collar collar for a month and a half, then follow rehabilitation sessions again to continue stretching this muscle.
Your child also has a sore throat
It is the most common form of torticollis in children over one year of age. He suffers from an ENT infection and the muscles of the neck retract on the side of the inflammation (tonsil, pharynx) in reaction to the gene. The doctor will prescribe an analgesic to calm the pain and treat the inflammation in the throat.
Your child is feverish
Contagion. Following ear infection, gastroenteritis, bronchitis or chickenpox, a germ has passed into your child’s blood and developed near the vertebrae or a spinal disc. Sometimes accompanied by fever, this stiff neck is always painful.
Treatment: antibiotics and neck brace. The diagnosis is made by a blood test to confirm the infection and possibly a bone scan, an imaging technique with the injection of a radioactive product that will bind to the bone lesions. The infection is treated with antibiotics, but the child must continue to wear a neck brace for six weeks, to immobilize his neck in the correct position.
Your child has fallen
Always painful, this stiff neck can appear after a simple somersault, a sudden movement of the neck or a slap.
A mild sprain. If the neck x-ray does not reveal an abnormality on the spine, only painkillers and wearing a collar for a few days will be necessary.
A more serious dislocation. Sometimes it is more serious: when turning, the first vertebra hangs on the second, doctors speak of rotational dislocation. The child must be quickly hospitalized and laid down for a few hours or a few days in cervical traction to reduce rotation. He will then have to wear a neck brace for six weeks. If the rotation persists or if it has caused a rupture of a ligament, a surgical intervention, under general anesthesia, is then necessary to block the mobility between the two cervical vertebrae.