Re: My letter to the editor of People/Please post yours here

[Guest guest]

Christie,

All I can say is AWESOME!!!!!

CarolG

--- In Plagiocephaly , " Lori H. " <greatmeow@h...>

wrote:

> Great letter . I too was appalled when I saw the article

in the

> Trends secction of the magazine. It is the worse $3.49 that I have

ever

> spent. I may mail it to People and ask for a refund. Anyhow, I

will post

> my letter to the editor later today.

>

> Lori

> Mom to Ethan (the culprit) and Ellie (the victim..tort/plagio-DOC

band grad

> 5May05)

>

> >From: " redlocks2003 " <redlocks@b...>

> >Reply-Plagiocephaly

> >Plagiocephaly

> >Subject: Re: My letter to the editor of People/Please

post yours

> >here

> >Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2005 15:08:52 -0000

> >

> >,

> >

> >Thank you for writing your response to the article! Very

articulate

> >and even-handed, and good feedback for them.

> >

> >I'm continuing the thread with my posting a copy of my own letter

to

> >the editor, and encourage others to post theirs as well:

> >

> >

> >

> >To Whom It May Concern:

> >

> >Please tell me I was hallucinating when I saw that you had placed

an

> >article on medical treatment for infants in the " Trends " section!

> >

> >Your article, " Help! My Baby Has a Flat Head, " treated the very

> >serious issue of Deformational Plagiocephaly as if it were a

fashion

> >debate. I am flabbergasted that a condition flagged by the American

> >Academy of Pediatrics as being deformation of the infant skull, and

> >worthy of correction by repositioning, physical therapy, and

helmets

> >or bands, would be watered down to an inexusable allegation of a

> >parent's quest for perfection. Deformational Plagiocephaly,

> >Brachycephaly, and Scaphocephaly are not minor, cosmetic variations

> >in infant skull shape; they are serious head shape, facial, ear,

and

> >forehead deformations that are WAY outside the normal,

> >anthropometric range of what is considered a normal head shape.

Your

> >alleged " quest for perfection " and " vanity " accusations are, in

> >reality, a hope that ANY improvement in skull shape could be

> >achieved through treatment with repositioning or helmets and bands.

> >

> >The laziness and incompetence of the article authors are mind-

> >boggling. Helmets and Bands CORRECT plagiocephaly by redirecting

> >growth to desired areas - they don't PREVENT plagiocephaly! In

> >addition to the obvious concern of craniofacial deformation clearly

> >outside the norm, research is emerging that shows that marked

> >asymmetry of the skull shape indicates misalignment on the inside

of

> >the mandibular, ocular, auditory, nasal areas as well, leading to

an

> >increased risk of problems. Another well-regarded study concludes

> >that plagiocephalic babies end up having grade-school learning

> >issues. I would have expected a simple, online search of medical

> >journals on the subject of Plagiocephaly to be a bare minimum

> >expectation of any journalist covering a medical issue. Sadly, I

> >strongly suspect that the editor's bias toward this treatment as

> >being " Trendy " was already present when this story was assigned.

> >

> >Your magazine's insensitivity and incompetence when giving

> >Deformational Plagiocephaly it's highest mainstream platform to

date

> >has done irreparable harm to the very important crusade of

> >plagiocephaly prevention and treatment. Surely some parents will

> >swallow your pill of this condition being a " cosmetic " and " vanity "

> >issue, and sadly seek no further information on treatments

> >available - this is a consequence with which your magazine

> >leadership will have to live. I strongly suggest you publish a

> >properly researched follow-up article immediately - show some

> >respect for the babies being treated for this skull deformation by

> >not putting the article in the " Trends " section, please!!!!!!!

> >

> >

> >

> >No longer a reader of People,

> >

> >Christie

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >--- In Plagiocephaly , " " <shnndell@a...>

> >wrote:

> > > Here is my imput:

> > >

> > > To whom it may concern:

> > >

> > > I was happy to pick up the most recent issue of People and see

the

> > > picture of the little boy with the DOC band on. I immediately

> > > turned to the article and began to read. First of all, I was

> > > pleased that you have chosen to bring awareness to the public

> >about

> > > this medical condition but I was a bit disappointed in the way

the

> > > article read, implying that us, as parents, might be " going to

> >far "

> > > in the quest for the perfect shaped head.

> > >

> > > My son was FINALLY diagnosed with Positional plagiocephaly at 5

> > > months (after five months of the pediatrician saying " it'll

round

> > > itself out " ... It was quite obvious, at birth, that something

was

> > > definitely wrong with him, as he could not turn his head to the

> >left

> > > and the entire back right side of his head was as flat as a

> >board.

> > > His ears were not aligned correctly when looking at him from a

> >birds

> > > eye view. They were over an inch and a half off! Yet, no one

> > > mentioned a thing, nor advised me to try to keep him off that

side

> > > of his head, reposition him while he was sleeping etc.

> > >

> > > I did my own research and discovered that my son had tortocollis

> >and

> > > plagiocephaly and finally the pediatrician acknowledged this and

> > > gave me a script for a helmet to help reshape his head and a

> >script

> > > for physical therapy to work on stretching out his neck so that

he

> > > would not favor one side. Two helmets and seven months later,

> > > hours and hours of driving to get adjustments, stares and

comments

> > > from ignorant passerby's, and a big dip in our finances, he no

> > > longer wears the helmet and we are pleased with the results.

His

> > > head is, by far, perfect, but appears more normal to the naked

> >eye.

> > > His ears are aligned up pretty close to normal so that if he

were

> >to

> > > wear eye glasses, they would actually fit on his ears properly.

> > >

> > > What I wish to say is that I feel that you might have chosen a

> > > better couple to represent the hundreds of thousands of parents

> >who

> > > are going through this and possibly stated more medical reasons

as

> > > to why we have chosen to band our babies, versus cosmetic

> >reasons.

> > > This is much more serious of an issue than what was represented

> >and

> > > I think the writer and photographer could have done a better

job.

> > >

> > > Thank you for reading my email.

> > >

> > > Sincerely,

> > >

> > > Manning

> > > South Carolina

> > >

> > >

> > > Hope this will help...

> > >

> > >

> > > Mama to Shane

> > > 15 months

> > > STARband 2 grad 06/01/05

> > > South Carolina

> >

> >