Re: Helmut vs. Placement therapy

[Guest guest]

Welcome to our group - success from repositioning has a lot to do w/a

baby's age, tort, severity, etc.. HOw old is your baby now? The

younger the infant, the better chance you have at correction from

repositioning. Does she have torticollis? Chk out our LINKS &

FILES " repositoning " folders for tips & products. Where do you live?

Debbie

> How should we decide which way to go? We have already went for the

> evaluation for the helmut and they said he was a good candidate for

> it. Now our pediatrician wants us to get a second opinion from a

> nuerosurgeon. They physical therapist told my wife that

> nuerosurgeons hate the helmut and will try to talk us out of it.

How

> do we know which way is best for our child?

[Guest guest]

There are a bunch of factors you need to take into account. How old

is your child? How severe is his plagio? Does he have tort? Would

you be willing/able to do 24/7 repoing? We got our prescription for

a helmet from a pediatric neurosurgeon. Where did you go for the

evaluation? Sorry for so many questions!

, mom to Hannah, DOCband #3 3/30

Cape Cod, Ma

> How should we decide which way to go? We have already went for

the

> evaluation for the helmut and they said he was a good candidate

for

> it. Now our pediatrician wants us to get a second opinion from a

> nuerosurgeon. They physical therapist told my wife that

> nuerosurgeons hate the helmut and will try to talk us out of it.

How

> do we know which way is best for our child?

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Deciding which way to go can be a difficult one. There is

a " Decision Tree " in the Files section, titled " tree " that you could

read to give you some guidance. The biggest limiter of repo results

is if the baby has tort, which limits the range of motion of the

neck, and can seriously undermine repo efforts, and age, because

dramatic improvement with repo is less likely as the baby gets older

(just as with helmeting and banding.) Not all neurosurgeons " hate

the helmet, " but some work that Cranial Technologies has done

evaluating a new Severity Assessment scale shows that peds and

neuros tended to rate cases of plagio as less severe than

craniofacial specialists and plastic surgeons rating the same cases.

From someone who went repositioning only, I can tell you some

considerations that would have made me choose banding. If my baby

had torticollis (making repo very, very difficult), had marked

facial/forehead/ear asymmetry, had severe plagio or brachy, was an

older baby making significant improvement from repo unlikely, was in

chilcare where I didn't have control over repo efforts, had repo

progress stalled or actually got worse, etc. There are so many

variables for each family's situation!

Why is your ped recommending getting a second opinion if your baby

has already been evaluated as being a good candidate for the

helmet? How old is your baby, and did they tell you what his

asymmetry measurements were, or whether it was mild, moderate, or

severe? What type of helmet are you considering?

Take care,

Christie (Mom to Repo'd Remy)

> How should we decide which way to go? We have already went for

the

> evaluation for the helmut and they said he was a good candidate

for

> it. Now our pediatrician wants us to get a second opinion from a

> nuerosurgeon. They physical therapist told my wife that

> nuerosurgeons hate the helmut and will try to talk us out of it.

How

> do we know which way is best for our child?

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Welcome to the group! I second everything you've already been told. I

just wanted so say welcome. Please let us know what you decide.

> How should we decide which way to go? We have already went for the

> evaluation for the helmut and they said he was a good candidate for

> it. Now our pediatrician wants us to get a second opinion from a

> nuerosurgeon. They physical therapist told my wife that

> nuerosurgeons hate the helmut and will try to talk us out of it.

How

> do we know which way is best for our child?