Many people have told me they enjoy the FB infant stories. This particular case allows me to connect many dots in the birth world in the hopes that parents and eventually birth professionals will look at the mother/newborn dyad in a new light.
A 19-month-old girl presented with low weigh issues. She was not able to chew or eat and was also non-verbal. She also had a history of colic and reflux. She was born vacuum assisted, did not nurse for her first 24 hours, and had a lip and tongue-tie revision. On evaluation she had abdominal and shoulder strain. Both TMJs were exceedingly tight.
After two visits of CFT/IDM, she has responded very well. Having sought out many types of health care, the parents finally noticed significant differences. She was tight….the health care system does not do tight. The lower body released very well, but the TMJs were less responsive. The right TMJ was releasing, but the left TMJ was still straining hard, even after the third visit.
Now the connect-the-dots backstory. During the delivery mom’s coccyx broke. In a normal delivery the fascia relaxes to allow the coccyx to go into extension so the infant’s face/jaw can pass over the sacrum/coccyx. In our research study we found about one half the babies had nursing issues. We hypothesized that the coccyx got in the way and traumatized the infant’s face/jaw for many of these babies. But in this case the battle between mom’s coccyx and infant’s face/jaw may have been severe enough to break mom’s coccyx with unusual consequences to the infant’s face/jaw.
Severe craniosacral fascial strain in the TMJs could have possibly affected her eating, chewing, and speech. In our work we attempt to find the root cause of the issue. If I ruled the world, we would have evaluated and treated her right at the birth. The best possible scenario would have been for mom to have CFT before pregnancy with special attention to the coccyx. This is a new way of thinking for many, but one that I believe the world will someday embrace.
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