Re: New Here...Deciding about Helmet

[Guest guest]

Hi Amy

My son was banded at 6 months with 7 mm asymmetry. His twin sister had 3 mm

asymmetry at 6 months. We repo'd her while Aidan was wearing his helmet.

When he graduated last week he had 3 mm asymmetry and she still had 3

asymmetry. In other words, she did not " outgrow " it despite our repo

efforts.

The choice to get a helmet is a personal one. We all feel hesitant at first

but I swear, give it a few weeks and you will not thing twice about it ever

again. Aidan's little head looks so much better I can't help but think " what

if we hadn't " every time I see him.

Good luck!

Deb w/ Aidan C

New Here...Deciding about Helmet

> My son is almost 8 months old and is supposed to get his helmet in a

> few days. He has mild plagio...has rounded out some with

> repositioning but he's crawling and standing now so it's difficult

> to keep him in one sleep position. My dilemma is that only one

> person has recommended the helmet (a neurosurgeon) and everyone else

> ( 2 pediatricians, family members and friends) don't think it's

> severe enough to warrant use of the helmet. The measurements taken

> at the casting were a 7mm difference. My fear is a common

> one...that if we don't do it that the plagio might get worse or when

> he's older he will have self esteem issues or even medical ones (not

> sure about this in mild cases). Any advice about helmet use for

> mild cases...has anyone not used the helmet and seen an improvement

> by age 2 or 3?? Are the potential negative side effects worth it in

> mild cases (discomfort, skin breakdown, or effecting brain growth)??

> Any advice would be great!

>

>

>

> For more plagio info

[Guest guest]

mom to 6ages 12,7,5,4,2,8moshttp://64.216.130.105/hilly

New Here...Deciding about Helmet

My son is almost 8 months old and is supposed to get his helmet in a few days. He has mild plagio...has rounded out some with repositioning but he's crawling and standing now so it's difficult to keep him in one sleep position. My dilemma is that only one person has recommended the helmet (a neurosurgeon) and everyone else ( 2 pediatricians, family members and friends) don't think it's severe enough to warrant use of the helmet. The measurements taken at the casting were a 7mm difference. My fear is a common one...that if we don't do it that the plagio might get worse or when he's older he will have self esteem issues or even medical ones (not sure about this in mild cases). Any advice about helmet use for mild cases...has anyone not used the helmet and seen an improvement by age 2 or 3?? Are the potential negative side effects worth it in mild cases (discomfort, skin breakdown, or effecting brain growth)?? Any advice would be great!For more plagio info

[Guest guest]

sorry my email is acting up, its hard i know i have a mild son as well we aer currently waiting on his band good luck

Hillymom to 6ages 12,7,5,4,2,8mos

Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2004 8:15 PM

Subject: New Here...Deciding about Helmet

My son is almost 8 months old and is supposed to get his helmet in a few days. He has mild plagio...has rounded out some with repositioning but he's crawling and standing now so it's difficult to keep him in one sleep position. My dilemma is that only one person has recommended the helmet (a neurosurgeon) and everyone else ( 2 pediatricians, family members and friends) don't think it's severe enough to warrant use of the helmet. The measurements taken at the casting were a 7mm difference. My fear is a common one...that if we don't do it that the plagio might get worse or when he's older he will have self esteem issues or even medical ones (not sure about this in mild cases). Any advice about helmet use for mild cases...has anyone not used the helmet and seen an improvement by age 2 or 3?? Are the potential negative side effects worth it in mild cases (discomfort, skin breakdown, or effecting brain growth)?? Any advice would be great!For more plagio info

[Guest guest]

Hi and welcome to the group.

My son had 6mm assymetry and + 2 std dev. brachy. My husband and I went back and forth a lot on whether or not to band. At times it didn't seem that bad, but other times it was all on which I could fixate.

Actually, none of our doctors recommended banding. The neuro said that it probably wouldn't round out on it's own without a helmet, but that by the time he got to kindergarten they would probably be so many kids with flat heads it wouldn't matter so much. I really didn't want my kid to be one of the kids with a flat head if I could help it. We have Aetna Insurance, and when I reviewed their conditions for coverage, he met it on 2 or 3 conditions, so I decided that if it was bad enough to be covered by the insurance company, then maybe we should do it. Also, I didn't want to come back to us years later and ask us why we didn't do anything at a time when we could have. I also figured that if we got the band and it wasn't working out we could stop the treatment. (It'd kind of be an expense change in our minds, but I was willing to take that chance just in case it did work).

received his DOC band when he was just about 10 months on 10-7-03 and he is scheduled to graduate on 2-13-04. He adjusted to his band very easily and we had no problems. Skin breakdown and rashes are probably some of the more common adverse events with the band, but if you have a good ortho who knows how to fit the band properly and you check for red spots when you first get it, skin breakdown is not very likely. Rashes can sometimes happen when they get over heated, so if you make sure your take off the band and wipe down their heads periodically, particularly when the first get it and their body temp is adjusting, that will lessen the likely hood of a heat rash. Also a little hydrocortisone can help to resolve any rashes that might start. Other side effects are usually rare, but if you have an inexperienced ortho, they could not adjust the band correctly which would result in little correct or possibly even a worsening of the

condition. This is why you would want to ensure that your ortho has pleanty of experience with cranial orthotic devices on children.

Our ped kept saying it would round out on it's own, but at this point I really don't doubt that he would be just as flat at he was before we started treatment if we had not done anything. We had tried repositioning since about 2 months, but it was difficult because he had tort, and we really didn't have any support or knowledge on how to do it correctly. At 6 months he started sitting up and rolling over and sleeping on his side or stomach, so he was hardly on his flat spot and it was not changing. So at 8 months we decided to take him to the neuro. Although our neuro didn't recommend the band, he said he would write us a prescription if we wanted one. We have no regrets about banding and are very happy we did it and are thrilled with his results. His head isn't completely round, he has a bit of a flat spot still left, but this would only be noticable by us when we are giving him a bath or something. It's wonderful to look down at his

head and see a nice round noggin.

Making the decision to band is a very personal choice. And sometimes the hardest part in this journey. In many cases mild plagio is only going to be noticed by the family anyway. However, one thing that may help you with your decision is if you ask yourself if you don't do anything, do you think you will have any regrets down the road?

Good Luck in making a decision. And just remember that whatever you decide will be the right decision for your family...no matter what anyone else says.

and /DOC/10-7-03 @10mos./Warrington, PAamynvb <amyn27@...> wrote:

My son is almost 8 months old and is supposed to get his helmet in a few days. He has mild plagio...has rounded out some with repositioning but he's crawling and standing now so it's difficult to keep him in one sleep position. My dilemma is that only one person has recommended the helmet (a neurosurgeon) and everyone else ( 2 pediatricians, family members and friends) don't think it's severe enough to warrant use of the helmet. The measurements taken at the casting were a 7mm difference. My fear is a common one...that if we don't do it that the plagio might get worse or when he's older he will have self esteem issues or even medical ones (not sure about this in mild cases). Any advice about helmet use for mild cases...has anyone not used the helmet and seen an improvement by age 2 or 3?? Are the

potential negative side effects worth it in mild cases (discomfort, skin breakdown, or effecting brain growth)?? Any advice would be great!For more plagio info