Torticollis in babies isn't just a tight neck muscle. Learn how birth stress and nervous system imbalance contribute to torticollis — and how gentle chiropractic care can address the root cause.
When a baby is diagnosed with torticollis, most providers focus on what they can see: a head tilted to one side, the chin pointing the other way, tight muscles, limited movement. And yes, those things are real.
But that's only part of the story.
Torticollis isn't simply a tight neck muscle. It's a nervous system issue.
Underneath that visible head tilt is something called subluxation — a stress pattern in the neurospinal system. That stress shows up in three ways:
Within the spine and nervous system
Fixation in those areas
Where the nervous system gets stuck sending stress signals instead of calm, coordinated ones
I like to explain it this way: imagine your computer with way too many tabs open. Everything slows down. It glitches. It freezes.
That's what happens when a baby's nervous system is overwhelmed with stress. Their body can't coordinate the way it should. Muscles stay tight. They get stuck in fight-or-flight mode.
The tight neck is the symptom. The stressed nervous system is the root.
Birth is incredible — but it's also intense.
The amount of pulling, twisting, and pressure placed on a baby's head and neck during interventions like forceps, vacuum extraction, or even C-sections can be significant. Even without interventions, long labors, difficult positioning in the womb, or getting stuck in the birth canal can create stress on the upper cervical spine.
Layered stress. Compounded tension. A nervous system that can't regulate the way it's designed to.
It addresses the visible tension but not the underlying cause
If the nervous system is stuck in stress mode, you're pushing a car with the parking brake on
So many parents tell me the stretches make their baby cry — sometimes even seem worse afterward. That's not because they're doing it wrong. It's because when the nervous system is already overwhelmed, adding more discomfort just adds fuel to the fire. The body braces instead of relaxing.
When we gently release the subluxation first, the nervous system can finally shift out of stress mode. Then stretching and positioning exercises actually work — because now the parking brake is off.
This is the part that matters most.
If torticollis isn't resolved at the neurological level, it doesn't always just "grow out of it."
That underlying stress pattern can contribute to:
Tight neck muscles affect Eustachian tube drainage
Croup or RSV because the body struggles to clear mucus effectively
Gross motor delays, fine motor challenges
Sensory processing difficulties, even attention challenges
When the foundation isn't stable, development becomes harder at every stage.
If your baby has torticollis, you don't have to choose between painful stretches and waiting it out. There's another option.
With advanced INSiGHT scans, we can identify exactly where the stress is in the neurospinal system and determine how severe it is. From there, gentle, specific adjustments help release that tension and restore balance to the nervous system.
And when the nervous system calms down? Everything shifts.
Better movement
More comfort
Improved sleep
Parents often notice changes within just a few visits — a baby who just seems more at ease.
Sometimes our little ones aren't "tight." They're just stuck in stress mode. And when we ease that nervous system tension, their bodies can finally do what they were designed to do — heal, grow, and thrive.