WRONG SITE:Re: One brave Dr. posts on another board - and pi$%ed me off!

[Guest guest]

Duh - I don't know where my head is lately. The site I found this on

is not babycenter.com, but I cannot remember which one it is because

it is bookmarked on my PC at home (I'm at work)! Bummer because I

want to check to see if Dr. responded. Oh well I'll let you know when

I figure it out..

Rhonda

> I was cruising around the plagio area in Babycenter.com and came

> across this posting by a doctor, posted on 6/20/03, and it ticked

me

> off:

>

> I'm a pediatrician who recently calmed a panicked mom who

> read your advice and thought she needed to see a

> neurosurgeon immediately for this very common, benign,

> self-limited condition. Please correct your erroneous advice

> to consult a neurosurgeon for flattening that persists

> beyond 6 weeks. All flattening does, since babies stay

> primarily on their backs until closer to 6

> mos.

> Ellen K Hamburger, MD, FAAP, 06/20/2003

>

> Granted, she'll never waste her time to go back to see if anyone

> responds to her, but I felt it my " Plagio Group Duty " to at least

> give her my two cents worth! Here it goes:

>

> To Dr. Hamburger: Yes, head flattening is common, but it is

> also becoming more common and many of us are not being

> referred to specialists by our pediatricians because their

> attitude is " it will round out on its own " . Many

> of us miss crucial correction time during the first year of

> life for severe palgio because we keep getting put off by

> our pediatricians.

>

> Perhaps this is the reason why the AAP (finally) released an

> article on July 7, 2003 on the prevention of plagiocephaly

> and the pediatrician's role in this prevention and

> management of plagiocephaly. The article link is below -

> http://www.aap.org/policy/s0201.html

> Again to Dr. Hamburger:

> " ...this very common, benign,

> self-limited condition. Please correct your erroneous advice

> to consult a neurosurgeon for flattening that persists

> beyond 6 weeks. All flattening does, since babies stay

> primarily on their backs until closer to 6

> mos. "

>

> Well, maybe your panicked patient feels that her doctors are

> not noticing anomalies in her child's head that so many

> other people are getting treatment for and it scared her (?)

>

>

> As a mother of a 9 month old who is currently being treated

> for severe plagiocephaly with a cranial remolding band, I

> can say that I had to bring this to my son's doctor's

> attention every visit until finally I got a referral at 4

> months. As a parent it is frustrating. We read over and over

> that it will " round out on its own " but if not,

> then what? Not every child rounds out on its own.

>

> I am glad that I chose banding treatment for my son and that

> he has seen SIGNIFICANT improvement in just 2.5 months time.

> And I do not find these boards to be " erroneous "

> with their information. People should be able to ask a

> doctor about something that they have read, without getting

> in a panic over it. And anyone who takes anything they read

> on the internet at face value, should not. Nothing can

> replace the advice of our medical professionals. All we are

> asking for is a little more compassion and greater

> enthusiasm for prevention and the management of

> plagiocephaly, in our young ones.

>

> Thanks,

> Rhonda

> www.collingillespie.com

>

> Rhonda, 07/07/2003

>

>

> I guess my other reason for posting is that she was the last one to

> post on June 20, and I didn't want some poor soul looking for info,

> reading HER post as the last one to stick in their minds...Not good.

> ARGH. Too bad she didn't post her email - I would have sent her a

> *link*!

>

>

>