Plagiocephaly/Brachycephaly

In the first few months of life, babies spend the majority of the time on their back, so it is important to ensure they turn their heads to both sides – not just keep it in the middle or turned to one side all the time.

Babies who keep their head in the middle for long periods of time may lead to flattening across the back of the head (brachycephaly).  However, sometimes babies can develop a preference to turn their head to one side all the time (e.g. when being carried, or when on their tummy or back) and often rest their head to the one side when sleeping.  If this persists it can lead to their head becoming misshapen – flattening on one side of the back of their head (plagiocephaly), facial asymmetry such as ear misalignment, forehead prominence (bossing) on one side, one larger cheek, as well as associated neck muscle tightness.

Torticollis

Torticollis occurs when a baby’s neck muscles tighten, causing their head to tilt to one side and turn to the other side.  This leads to a strong preference for turning their head in one direction and not being able to actively turn their head all the way in the opposite direction.  A torticollis is most likely to develop in utero but often goes un-noticed in the first few weeks of life.

Physiotherapy Assessment and Treatment

Our physiotherapists will do a detailed assessment of your baby including looking at their active and passive head/neck movement to determine if they have a true torticollis or more simply a head preference.

In addition to our full baby assessment, we also take objective measurements of your baby’s head shape using a Craniometer to assess the severity of any plagiocephaly, brachycephaly or scaphocephaly (flattening on both sides of the head), and to check for any rare conditions which may lead to early cranial suture closures – such as craniosynostosis.  We use multiple observational and objective measures to determine whether or not a referral to specialist clinicians at the Craniofacial Clinic is deemed necessary.

If your baby has a misshapen head, strong head preference to one side or tight neck muscles, contact us and we will happily assess your baby and provide you with the most appropriate treatment intervention to help with your baby’s head shape and give you peace of mind.