Laryngomalacia, Stridor, and Silent Reflux

Difficulty in breathing for a newborn can be scary for parents. I believe that our work should be done at birth so that every newborn can breathe well, nurse well, digest well, poop well, and nap well.

A twenty-one-day-old boy presented with laryngomalacia, stridor, silent reflux, gas, and indigestion. The parents did not want to medicate their baby with daily pepcid for four months and contacted me for a more natural approach.

He had trouble breathing when sleeping, laying on his back, and in his car seat. Often the tissues around his mouth would get blue, and his parents would nervously have to get him moving.

As the back story, I saw infants with stridor and laryngomalacia in the Lancaster infant research from 2006–12. Initially, I had never heard of these two conditions, but I found that our work could effectively normalize infant physiology.

Medical professions have no answer, but understand that a birth defect can congenitally create the floppy tissue over the voice box. I am suggesting that fascial strain from birth trauma may be the root cause.

Mom started the delivery at a birth center, but after 60 hours in a hospital was induced and gave birth vaginally. I would expect that his fascial trauma occurred during that long labor.

He had a zero-second brain cycle and fascially looked good except for a strain pattern that ran from his diaphragm, stomach, and lower esophageal sphincter up into his larynx.

When I started therapy, I did find this fascial restriction was his Achilles heel. When mom held his Adam's apple and I held his solar plexus, I felt a major shift in his body.

I feel that, with continued care, I am hopeful that health will return. In my world, he needed to be worked on at birth so he could leave the hospital as a happy and healthy newborn.

Dr. Barry Gillespie

Dr. Barry Gillespie founded Gillespie Approach–Craniosacral Fascial Therapy, which provides patients with a freely moving brain, spinal cord and fascial web, all critical to optimal health. Dr. Barry Gillespie also created the Baby Brain Score and discovered effective therapeutic techniques for newborns and infants.

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What Parents Don't Tell Their Pediatrician

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A Large Traumatic Infant Onion