This pressure or irritation on the nerves then causes malfunction and interferes with the signals traveling over those nerves. Between each of the bones in your spine are spinal nerves.

Chiropractic care and Craniosacral Therapy for babies is extremely gentle, involving little adjustments using light finger pressure, no more than would be used to check the ripeness of a fruit.Ī subluxation occurs when one or more of the bones of the skull and spine (vertebrae) move out of position and create pressure on, or irritate spinal nerves. These treatments assess your babies spine and cranial dural system, looking for any imbalances that may be present. At 1-3 months the posterior fontanel closes, the sphenoidal and mastoid fontanels (side of skull) close around 6 months and lastly the anterior fontanel closes around 12-18 months.Īlternative treatments such as Craniosacral Therapy and Chiropractic care are effective, and can both treat and significantly improve Plagiocephaly. The correcting plagiocephaly requires an understanding of the cranium, the different skull fontanels start to naturally solidify and come together. Plagiocephaly can also compromise brain function, leading to an under-functioning of the central nervous system and therefore decreased performance throughout the body ( Citation ). Your baby may also prefer to lay in one direction or you may notice that they do not look both ways evenly and there is a restriction or hesitancy when moving their neck. You may notice things such as difference in eye height and shape, difference in ear position, difference in fullness of cheeks and lips, difference in the shape of the corner of the mouth and nose, a prominence of the forehead. With any of these head shape deformities there is often also a facial asymmetry. Because young babies can’t move around or sit up yet, laying in one position at all times can create this flat spot on the skull. As babies get older, they may begin to develop a flat spot on the back or side of the head.

Babies’ skulls are softer at birth so that they can shift and move through the birthing process as needed, and most babies’ heads will return to a round shape shortly after birth. Head shapes of babies may vary depending on how a baby is born and the positions they are in during their first few months of life. Plagiocephaly only becomes a concern when there are gross asymmetries in the child’s head. No two babies are alike, and that includes head shape. Statistically, over half of babies to some measure experience one of the two forms of Plagiocephaly Congenital or Positional. This condition can occur due to congenital causes (present at birth) or develop throughout infancy from positional or deformational causes (babies spend around 700 hours on their backs not including baby containers such as car seats and strollers). Some children have mild plagiocephaly while others can have severe cranial distortions. Plagiocephaly, like most conditions, has a spectrum of severity. Plagiocephaly, also known as “flat head syndrome,” is a condition which causes a baby’s head to be misshapen or have a flat spot.

Misshapen babies heads