Foundation for Paediatric Osteopathy

tetellita · User Joined: 27 Jul 2008 Posts: 1

Hello,

I am mom to Melissa, 16 month-old, born prematurely at 34 1/2 weeks. She was born with torticollis (now gone) and she has a rare chromosomal abnormality that affects her overall development (low muscle tone in trunk, she cannot sit independently yet) and seems to cause severe reflux. She is taking Prilosec twice a day (max dose for her age) and Zantac because she has bad irritation due to reflux (she vomited old blood a few months ago, apparently because she was irritated). This was when I wanted to decide to look into an alternative treatment.

I brought my daughter to the osteopath 3 times while I was vacationing in France last week. I did not see much improvement after the first two times, although the amount of spit-up seemed lower, but the 3rd time seemed to have made things worse: she now has a lot of air in her stomach, especially in the afternoon, which causes her to spit-up/vomit heavily. If I don't burp her when her stomach is tight, she will have major spit-up. It has been like that for four days and I don't know what to think or to do: could the osteopath have made things worse? Shall I go back for more treatment?

Thanks for your advice.

Estelle

08/23 EDIT: Nancy, thanks a lot for your response. I am actually in the US and was visiting my family in France. We have got in touch with an osteopath here in the US and things have improved on several levels, including reflux. I appreciated your help on this forum, thanks again!

Nancy Nunn · Foundation Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Posts: 32

Dear Estelle

Thanks for your question and many apologies for not replying to it sooner. It is difficult to answer your questions without actually getting more information from you about Melissa’s condition, the severity of her reflux and without carrying out a clinical osteopathic assessment.

Speaking generally, whilst it is possible that the change you have seen is a result of treatment, there are many other possible reasons for her current difficulties. Without assessing her and knowing exactly how the osteopath in France treated, I can’t really comment on her response to treatment.

I am not clear from your message whether you are currently in France or whether you actually live in the UK. If you are in the UK and near London or Manchester, why don’t you bring Melissa in for an assessment? We would take more details from you about the types of symptoms she has (and how she’s progressed) and carry out a full assessment. This would then enable us to give you an opinion on whether osteopathic treatment could help her reflux.

Our clinic addresses/telephone numbers are found here: http://www.fpo.org.uk/Secondary/Misc/maps.html Osteopaths who work within the Foundation’s clinic are highly specialised and experienced in the treatment of children.

I hope this helps, if you want to discuss your daughter specifically, then please telephone the Clerkenwell Clinic and ask to speak to the Consultant Paediatric Osteopath.

Nancy
_________________
Nancy Nunn BSc(Hons) DPO
Head of Education and Clinical Tutor
Foundation for Paediatric Osteopathy

www.justgiving.com/nancynunn