Neurologist

Nicky saw his Neurologist on Tuesday. He did a really awesome job letting the Doctor poke at him and in fact when the Doctor was speaking to us, Nick sat on my lap talking back to the Doctor. He has really discovered his voice lately. Nick has Torticollis (aka. twisted neck) that is causing Plagiocephaly (flat head). The Tort is making Nicky's head tilt to one side and makes it uncomfortable for him to really turn it both ways. The Tort is most likely caused from his position in the womb and Physical Therapy will be prescribed. Plagiocephaly is basically a flat head. The Tort makes it impossible to change Nicky's head position during sleep, allowing the back or side of the head to flatten.





In this picture you can see how round the top or front part of his head is while the back and right side has flattened. To solve this problem, Nicky will be fitted for a band (helmet) that he will have to wear for several months.

The right side of his neck has the Tort. Normally his ear is tilted closer to his shoulder. My biggest concern is the ridge he has, located about halfway up the back of his head.

This top view you can see how the top part of his head bulges out above the bottom part.

As we were wrapping up our discussion with the Doctor, my mom instincts were going off because neither our family doctor or Neurologist has ever felt Nick's head to make sure his plates are forming correctly. I spoke up to the Doctor saying, "So, the plates in Nick's head feel OK." Finally, he took Nick and actually felt his head. This is what the doctor said, " Oh, Um maybe he should have a head X-ray." Gee, OK, thanks doctor! You only had to be prompted to actually do something. So today he had a spine x-ray (for the tort) and the head x-ray to check for Craniosynostosis. It was a blast, with a screaming baby and frizzled mother. Needless to say we took a two hour nap when we got home.

So now we wait. If everything looks great, Nick will have physical therapy and be fitted for a band. If there is signs of Craniosynostosis (head plates fusing together to soon) more than likely surgery will be needed. Either of these, although not great are more of a physical and not a mental issue. There shouldn't be any problems with him developmentally.