International Forum on
Quality and Safety in Healthcare
Copenhagen 2023

Bella Center, May 15-17, 2023

Nancy will be presenting her electronic poster in person.

Abstract Title: Infantile Torticollis and Plagiocephally: Fix it at Home
Presenting Author: Nancy Ellen Neiditz

Torticollis Treatments

Nancy Neiditz has treated well over 1,000 infants and toddlers since 1995. In 2010, based on her quick and painless success with Torticollis, she created “Torticollis, a Gentler Approach”, an USA accredited physical & occupational therapy continuing educations course. She drew on her Feldenkrais®, Anat Baniel Method for Children®, yoga & dance training. Her newest course, “Torticollis & Plagiocephally: Fix it at Home” aims to empower families internationally to work with their infants when fewer resources are available. She has 2 programs, one for professionals, to learn to work quickly and painlessly, and one for caregivers. Her discovery over the last 28 years empowers families themselves to rectify the abnormal movement patterns also impacting the flattened head shape of the infant.

Current Findings

In 2022, in the public clinic, Nancy saw 59 Torticollis patients. Of these patients, 88% reached my objective criterion: maintenance of midline position 85% of the time & ability to rotate the head freely in both directions. The remaining 12% who did not complete the program did not receive a final evaluation. Patients completing the program took an average of 5.9 ± 4.3 days (Mean ± SD) to reach objective criterion.

To determine if the infants continued to show improvement after discharge, a survey was sent to caregivers whose infants were successfully discharged. Twenty-one people answered with positive responses. The responders were asked to score their responses on a 1-5 scale, with 1 the lowest and 5 the highest compliance & effectiveness. See graph below & note that the abbreviations on the graph are described in the questions below.

The following questions were asked on the survey:

  1. How easy was it to comply with the home program? (Comply)
  2. Improvement of the tilt at 1 month? (Midline 1)
  3. Improvement of the tilt at 3months? (Midline 3)
  4. Improvement cervical rotation at 1 month? (Turn 1)
  5. Improvement cervical rotation at 3 months? (Turn 3)

2022 Torticollis Survey Results - Nancy Neiditz, PT for Kids

Nancy has different infantile Torticollis workshops, for professionals and for caregivers. The 5-hour professional course delves deeply into the etiology, different types of infantile Torticollis, diagnosis & treatment:

  1. Etiology of Infantile Torticollis and aspects of Plagiocephally & Craniocynostosis.
  2. Gentle handling techniques of the infants to keep the baby calm & comfortable. The more they relax, the quicker they develop these new head & neck postures.
  3. In depth study of motor development 0-12 months.
  4. In depth study of anatomy of the neck.

For caregivers including daycare providers she customizes a course that teaches families:

  1. General causes for Torticollis & Plagiocephally.
  2. Positioning & activities that will mitigate the faulty posture & improve head shape depending on the age and severity of the infant.
  3. Full exercise program to do throughout the day.

Nancy travels extensively to work with caregivers and babies around the globe. She is fluent in Spanish & Italian, and has a working knowledge of Yiddish, some French & Turkish.

Contact Nancy
Why Does the Baby Wear a Football Helmet?

Why Does the Baby Wear a Football Helmet?

Apr 10, 2018

No, they’re not practicing to become a line backer for the Giants! They probably have plagiocephally, a fancy name for flatness on one side of the head. It generally occurs as a result of in-utero crowding and/or infantile Torticollis.

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