Neck Restrictions Part 1

You can use this trick to assess, treat and re-assess anywhere; from the OA, all the way down the spine, and to the sacrum, if you like!

The baby in this video already had some treatment on his neck prior to the video. I am re-assessing him here. You will see his body rotate onto the blanket while I keep his head in the direction (direct) of his original restriction pattern. (He was caught in RIGHT neck rotation. I am testing his LEFT rotation.)

• Use a thick cozy blanket and get the baby to relax and fall asleep. Keep them bundled up until you are ready to test or treat.
• Mom keeps a soother in the baby's mouth or helps hold a lonely hand. Maybe she strokes the head to let the baby know she is near.
• When the baby is on their side (depending on which direction you are testing) slowly open the blanket so you can see and feel.
• Hold the head with easy pressure as you slowly get the upper shoulder to rotated back. Going slowly will allow you to pick up on the startle reflex (indicating a restriction). Be ready to remove your hand from the baby's head if he or she startles or wiggles. Being careful with your pressure, you can maintain some pressure to add more to the treatment if the baby is relaxed and asleep though.

In the video, you see how easily the baby's body rotates into supine, while his head stays to the left (which was my intention to improve). You can also see where he starts to restrict, at his thoracic-lumbar junction and respiratory diaphragm area. That was expected because I had already noticed a problem there and the baby's mother explained he'd been slow with his bowel movements. 

Babies often have a restriction at T12-L2 when they have gas or slow bowels

When the baby is on their back and testing (or treatment) is done, go ahead and check for any shoulder restrictions (See the blog posts on arm and shoulder restrictions for some help). It's a perfect time to get the upper body coordinated with the extremities. 

Sometimes we need to recruit the parents to help the baby with their neck restrictions. Watch the next video, Part 2!