Magic helmet time!

Since her birth, we had noticed Abby preferred to look to the right but didn't think too much about it. We finally asked the doctor at her 4 month appt and found out she has torticollis. That's a shortening of the neck muscle on the left side, which pulls her ear to her left shoulder and causes her head to tilt. The doctor feels her positioning in utero prevented that muscle from developing correctly. So, the end of August we started physical therapy to stretch it out. After 6 wks, we have noticed a big difference! She still has a slight tilt but therapy will eventually correct that and she'll be good to go.

Because of this (and also my positioning of her in her crib), she slept almost exclusively on the right side of her head. And, developed a flat spot. So, we decided to start helmet therapy to round it out. We took her to Rochester last Tuesday and picked up her "magic helmet".


Here is her "before" picture:


Over 4 days we slowly increased her wear time and now she will wear it 23 hrs/day for the next 13 wks. She doesn't seem to mind it much but it does break my heart a little to see her in it. I know it's for the best and is just a small inconvenience in the grand scheme of things. We'll get her fixed right up in no time!