Re: no helmet?/Hannah

[Guest guest]

Hi Rick

Hope all the ideas help- the positive thing is that you sound like

you are going to someone pretty experienced, and someone who is not

unwilling to band (unlike most people), so it adds weight to what he

is saying. On the other hand, you are the parents and you have to

live with the decision, so if you feel strongly about a band, don't

let that put you off.

As for time-frames- personally my daughter went into her band at 6

1/2 months and saw total correction, so seven months (or before

this) would be fine. However, there is quite a short window of

opportunity as growth really slows down from then onwards, so

ideally if you did go for a band, that would be the latest (in other

words, go for a casting two weeks before). That's just my opinion,

and I know loads of people have banded their kids later on this

board, but I think everyone is agreed sooner is better (once you get

past six/seven months). Once you get towards 10 months plus, I've

seen too many posts of people whose kids are seeing slow growth and

getting disheartened (although funnily enough, they tend not to go

on about it so much on this board, on the UK board I also go to

there is much more on this issue). Now plenty of people have seen

great improvement after this age, but why take the risk and have the

child longer in the helmet?

I do think also you do both need to be behind it ideally. As a mum

myself, I can understand why your wife might be a bit reluctant,

perhaps she worries about the discomfort (bands are not!) or perhaps

she would feel very self-conscious out and about with her banded

child (we've all been there for the first few days) or perhaps she

just doesn't want her gorgeous little one stuck in an ugly old

helmet (again, been there.) It's worth talking though a plan of

action if you can so you both feel ok about it.

Let us know how you get on. I think there is plenty to be postive

about here: the plagio is mild, repo is happening on the non-flat

side and you have the option of a helmet if you so choose a little

further down the line (or whenever).

Have a lovely festive season!!!!

Hannah (mum to Lucia, London, UK)

Cranio grad

--- In Plagiocephaly , " Rick Handel " <rhandel@c...>

wrote:

> Thanks to everone for the wonderful replies. This seems like a

great list!

> Re: no helmet?

>

>

>

> Hi Rick

>

> I have seen both sides of it- and it is a difficult call. My

> daughter wore a helmet for four months, but she had severe

plagio,

> there wasn't really any chance of complete correction on its own

as

> her ears were out by an inch...She saw Dr Blecher in the Uk and

I am

> delighted with the results. However, I know that my specialist

> doens't always recommend a helmet, and not if the asymmetry is

under

> 1.2cm.

>

> Our sons ears are offset a little bit, but definitely not near

1.2 cm. It's probably more like 0.5 centimeters.

>

> I did recommend that another mum at playgroup got in contact

> with him when the baby was also five months, however, they

decided

> jointly together not to band, as it seemed moderate at worst,

and so

> they went for repo. I've seen the little boy since then at

playgroup

> and they have done a fantastic job. He looks enormously better.

>

> That's reassuring.

>

> However- there are no guarantees.

>

> That's what concerns me. Part of me wants to just say " the hell

with it " and just get the helmet. My wife, however, is much more

conservative about it and doesn't want the helmet unless he

definitely needs it.

>

> It might be that your child's tort

> make repo difficult, however, the fact that your son is able to

> sleep on the non-flat side is very positive (my daughter simply

> couldn't get her head there).

>

> Yes. This all started the last couple of weeks. Before that he

was never sleeping on the non-flat side. Now he seems to prefer the

non-flat side. Also, he " loves " staying on his tunnmy most of the

day now, and now that is very good.

>

> Take pictures every week from the top

> sides and front so you can chart any changes. I would suggest

that

> if you don't seen any improvement in, say, a month or two, then

you

> could revisit the helmet option if you are unhappy with the

> headshape.

>

> That is an excellent idea! Thanks!

>

>

> Finally- the severity does make a big difference. Is it

> just (I say just, but I know a lot of people worry about this) a

> flat spot? Personally I think a bit of a flat spot at the back

is

> not as bad as having facial asymmetry and very misaligned ears

or

> whole skull distortion- so if it is 'just' a flat spot, then

that

> may influence your decision.

>

> There is no facial asymmetry at all. If you look at him from

the front, nobody would ever be able to tell he has plagio. As I

mentioned earlier, his ears are slightly misaligned.

>

> One of the repo moderators who had a baby (Christie) did

> successfully repo her little girl starting age 5 months, so it

can

> be done.

>

> When we had an x-ray done on our son, the x-ray tech's son also

had plagio. The tech said her son's plagio was about the same as

our son's plagio. She said for the most part it went away --she

didn't do anything at all in terms of treatment -- but he was about

2 years old before his head rounded out. She said it's not perfect

now, but hardly noticeable at all. She said she had no regrets

about not getting a helmet - no guarantees for us of course.

>

> There was a study published that showed repo was just as

> successful, but took a lot longer than a helmet (look in the

> database here for this paper).

>

> I'll look for it. Thanks!

>

> But I do think it is hard work as

> they are little wrigglers at this age. The positive sign is that

> your son is not resting on his flat spot at night- if that can

also

> happen all day, then you are giving yourself the best chance of

> correction.

>

> Yes. I don't why this has started happening all of a sudden,

but I'm very happy about it.

>

>

> You could go down the repo route for a couple more months and

see

> what you think. No-one can say, though, what will happen for

your

> individual child, so if you feel like you are always going to

regret

> not getting a helmet, you could always have a consultation with

one

> of the helmet providers in the States such as CT for an

evaluation

> (they will tell you if they don't recommend a band).

>

>

> The doc we saw specializes in this, so I feel pretty comfortable

with him. We have a follow-up with him in 2 months to see if the

condition improves from the stretching exercises that he showed me.

He seems to believe that it will improve in time, and I know he has

a lot of experience treating plagiocephaly. I don't know. It's

such a tough decision. It really caught me off guard because I just

assumed he was going to say our son needed a helmet. When he said

he didn't think he needed one, it's almost made me more anxious than

relieved......

>

> Rick