
10:03 pm

September 6, 2011

Responsible adults know that it is important to support a newborn's wobbly head. However,
in about two percent of infants, that particular trait is symptomatic of a
bigger problem. Congenital muscular torticollis (CMT), or ‘fixed wryneck', is a
condition where the infant's neck is twisted or bent and the head tilts
abnormally to one side.
CMT results from shortened or excessive contraction of the sternocleidomastoid
muscle in the neck. The involuntary muscle movement causes the baby's head to
tilt to one side. This problem can be caused by a variety of factors, including
the fetal position inutero, insufficient amniotic fluid, prenatal muscle
injury, lack of space inutero, or birth trauma. None of these causes is
preventable, so parents should be assured that they have not caused the problem
for their baby.
The frank breech birthing position is the most common contributor to CMT, with
about 34 percent of these breech birth infants affected. The extension of the
knees and cervical spine are believed to cause the sternocleidomastoid muscle
to stretch during the delivery.
The
tilt of the baby's head can go unnoticed for a newborn, so CMT often goes
undiagnosed until the infant is a few months old. During this time, the
condition can be exacerbated by the infant's sleeping position. Because so many
babies are now lying on their backs to protect them from Sudden Infant Death
Syndrome, the baby's neck and upper back muscles do not receive as much
stretching as the tummy position affords.
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