Infants with Torticollis

This article explores the effect of perinatal injury of the sternocleidomastoid muscle on general postural and movement development in the first year of life. The focus is on infants with no obvious generalized movement problems and no observable on-going muscle pathology. Residual, strong torticollis retained past four months of age appears to have a profound effect on internal sensory maps or body image formation, as well as on the midline axial postural stability and patterns of surface loading necessary for movement and balance development. Torticollis also appears to diminish the infant's ability to organize postural responses, especially ventral trunk muscle activation in response to backwards displacement. The article explores these clinical observations and describes one senso-rimotor approach to therapeutic intervention for these infants.