Re: Starband Orthomerica Mistake! To Krissy

[Guest guest]

Krissy,

I have stuff going on at home here, so I've been unable to post on

the board as usual, but I just had to reply to your post!

If you reposition , who has a brachy headshape, you will be

trying to keep him off of the back of his head 24 hours a day, while

taking as many opportunities as possible to position him in such a

way to place passive pressure on the sides of his head, in an effort

to maintain that head width and not let it get any wider. Depending

on whether or not sleeps directly on the side of his head, you

won't have many hours of " side " time. With Remy, who had a

brachy/plagio combo, she slept all night on the sides of her head,

and napped in my arms every day for 3 straight months positioned

with almost the side of her head against my breastbone. With repo,

you can only use one point of passive pressure contact at at time

(you can only hold one side of the head " in " .) If you look at

Remy's repo photos, her improvement from 7 to 9 months is

noticeable, but not a tremendous amount (nearly all of her dramatic

improvement occurred from 5 to 7 months.) Basically, she had

already realized a lot of improvement by 7 months, so we felt

comfortable continuing it.

A band will do a great job of this at 's age! An active band

would " hold " both of the sides of his head 24 hours a day in its

current shape, encouraging all of the growth outward toward the back

of the head, right where you want it! Brachy progress can seem

slower than plagio progress since you're really trying to fill out

BOTH sides of the back of the head, instead of just ONE flat side.

I looked at his photos, and I think he is more severe now than Remy

was at 5 months. I don't know how much improvement repo would yield

starting it at his age, and I don't know if he will be one of the

ones that really " pop " and round out the back of the head. Will he

sleep on the sides of his head at night? If he won't at all, which

is really common among babies with his shaped head, than I'm not

sure you'll be able to prevent additional widening. Although Remy's

head hasn't ROUNDED any after we stopped repo, her head has gotten a

bit LONGER, which has improved her overall appearance.

I can only imagine the roller coaster you've been on. I am

astounded that the Starband padding spec was either changed without

notice to practioners, or such a mistake was made. I don't know how

your ortho came to know of this situation (he inquired, so he was

told), but if what he told you is actually true, as in something was

inadverdently changed during manufacture, I hope other practitioners

are notified of the watch-out. I'm so, so sorry about that! If you

dig deep, and decide to continue with the Starband product or

another active band in your area, I also regretfully recommend

another casting/scanning.... is still a young baby, and a

band based on a cast taken over a month ago (by the time you receive

the band) will probably have been to long. If you decide to try

repo, I am here for you! We have a lot of parents active on the

board here who are currently repo'ing or have finished repo'ing that

can support you.

Take care,

Christie (Mom to Repo'd Remy)

> > > Hi Everyone-

> > >

> > > I got a call just a couple hours ago from my Orthodist office

> > stating 's cast was made

> > > wrong. They said that the OrthoAmerica in Orlando has not been

> > going by the written

> > > dimensions given by the Orthodist, and they have been adding a

> > little more " padding " in

> > > some areas to the helmet than what they should have. I was

told

> > that the OrthoAmerica

> > > has been doing this for a month now and the Orthodist has been

> > needing to do extra

> > > grinding than normal to fit these helmets better. I just

posted a

> > message on the board

> > > titled " 3rd day wearing helmet " and now this!!! I am very

upset

> > that we have to go through

> > > another fitting ( thank God not another casting), and 's

> > helmet will not be in for

> > > another week. I am VERY discouraged. Has this been a problem

with

> > OrthoAmerica making

> > > Starband's? Here we are just trying to get use to the

process, now

> > we have to stop and do

> > > this all over again in a week!

> > >

> > > Krissy

> > > ph's mom

> >

> >

> >

> > For more plagio info