Advice about second helmet

[Guest guest]

Hi,

My son started his helmet therapy a bit late (star band) at ~9 months. He's now

14

months old and although there has been quite a bit of correction, I'm trying to

decide

whether I should continue on with a second helmet.

He's gone from a cephalic index of 101 to 90, but 93 is 2 standard deviations

from the

norm, i.e. 95% of people have a CI < 93 , in other words he's closer to the 5%

of the

population with a very high CI. I think this means that his head is still wider

than most

people because of the brachycephaly/flattening in general up the back of his

head. He

also has some flattening on the back right side (plagiocephaly) that is a bit

better, but is

still noticeable when his hair is wet and other people may notice when he's

swimming.

Also the top left of his head over his temple is more indented than the other,

and his ears

are out of alignment. He still has baby features so I'm guessing any real

facial assymetry

will only show up later on as his features mature and thin out, probably when

he's an

adolescent.

All of this to say, I thought the helmet would work magic, but it didn't. Also,

I feel like I'm

dissecting the poor child, but I notice the assymetry (maybe because I'm too

focused on all

of this?) and I'm afraid he will as he gets older. Does anyone else have

experience starting

the helmet so late, and did they try a second one? Was it worth it? I've been

told it will

take a very long time to see any effect, but I was thinking that it was maybe

worth trying to

capture even one more growth spurt before his fontanel closes ~18 months. If

anyone has

any opinion on this, please let me know.

Thanks,

Rose

[Guest guest]

It's a hard decission to make... My son also wore his first STARband

for 5 months (from 6.5 to 11.5 months). The plagio went from 14 to

7mm (much better!) and his cephalic index went from 93 to 90. We

went with the second band mainly because he still looked SO

asymmetrical when we looked at him in the mirror. If it had been

strictly the brachy I don't know that I would have gone with a second

band. He's been in his new DOCband for almost 2 months (from 12 to

14 months) and we've seen improvement, so I'm glad we did it.

The question you have to ask yourself is -- if he didn't get any

better would you be OK with it?? I've recently started to wonder if

we should go with a 3rd band when he outgrows this one, and one thing

that helped put things in perspective for me was seeing my sister's 3

kids in the bathtub. They've all got imperfections that I NEVER

noticed before I started staring at kid's heads.

Sheila, mom to , 13 months, STARband 3/6-8/6, DOCband 9/6-?

>

> Hi,

> My son started his helmet therapy a bit late (star band) at ~9

months. He's now 14

> months old and although there has been quite a bit of correction,

I'm trying to decide

> whether I should continue on with a second helmet.

>

> He's gone from a cephalic index of 101 to 90, but 93 is 2 standard

deviations from the

> norm, i.e. 95% of people have a CI < 93 , in other words he's

closer to the 5% of the

> population with a very high CI. I think this means that his head

is still wider than most

> people because of the brachycephaly/flattening in general up the

back of his head. He

> also has some flattening on the back right side (plagiocephaly)

that is a bit better, but is

> still noticeable when his hair is wet and other people may notice

when he's swimming.

> Also the top left of his head over his temple is more indented than

the other, and his ears

> are out of alignment. He still has baby features so I'm guessing

any real facial assymetry

> will only show up later on as his features mature and thin out,

probably when he's an

> adolescent.

>

> All of this to say, I thought the helmet would work magic, but it

didn't. Also, I feel like I'm

> dissecting the poor child, but I notice the assymetry (maybe

because I'm too focused on all

> of this?) and I'm afraid he will as he gets older. Does anyone

else have experience starting

> the helmet so late, and did they try a second one? Was it worth

it? I've been told it will

> take a very long time to see any effect, but I was thinking that it

was maybe worth trying to

> capture even one more growth spurt before his fontanel closes ~18

months. If anyone has

> any opinion on this, please let me know.

> Thanks,

> Rose

>

[Guest guest]

We are in a similar situation, although for us it would be getting a

third band for our son. He will probably be about 15 months when he

is done and even with excellent growth in the next two months he is

still going to be, at best, in the moderate range for brachy and

maybe have some slight plagio. I, too, worry in particular about

when he goes swimming as a teenager. Having said all of that, our

son is already playing with the velcro and pulling on the band. We

also had to pay for almost all of our first two bands, so this is it

for us. If he was more compliant and money was not an issue, we

might consider another one. We have known from the start of this

one that we were not going again, so we are just accepting the way

he looks as the best we could do under the circumstances. It is an

agonizing decision, though, and I wish I had a crystal ball to see

just how he would look in the future sometimes.

Stacey

>

> Hi,

> My son started his helmet therapy a bit late (star band) at ~9

months. He's now 14

> months old and although there has been quite a bit of correction,

I'm trying to decide

> whether I should continue on with a second helmet.

>

> He's gone from a cephalic index of 101 to 90, but 93 is 2

standard deviations from the

> norm, i.e. 95% of people have a CI < 93 , in other words he's

closer to the 5% of the

> population with a very high CI. I think this means that his head

is still wider than most

> people because of the brachycephaly/flattening in general up the

back of his head. He

> also has some flattening on the back right side (plagiocephaly)

that is a bit better, but is

> still noticeable when his hair is wet and other people may notice

when he's swimming.

> Also the top left of his head over his temple is more indented

than the other, and his ears

> are out of alignment. He still has baby features so I'm guessing

any real facial assymetry

> will only show up later on as his features mature and thin out,

probably when he's an

> adolescent.

>

> All of this to say, I thought the helmet would work magic, but it

didn't. Also, I feel like I'm

> dissecting the poor child, but I notice the assymetry (maybe

because I'm too focused on all

> of this?) and I'm afraid he will as he gets older. Does anyone

else have experience starting

> the helmet so late, and did they try a second one? Was it worth

it? I've been told it will

> take a very long time to see any effect, but I was thinking that

it was maybe worth trying to

> capture even one more growth spurt before his fontanel closes ~18

months. If anyone has

> any opinion on this, please let me know.

> Thanks,

> Rose

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Sheila and Stacey,

Thank you for your replies. My feeling is that the helmet adjustments are

really more of

an art than a science and the orthotist doesn't see all of the positions that

the child sleeps

in and how the helmet shifts somewhat. To my mind, this can affect the amount

of

correction that is achieved. Probably the best orthotist will have seen their

own child go

through the helmet treatment night and day, but how many of them actually do? I

know

my son's orthotist mentioned that he aggressively repositioned one of his kids

who had

some head flatness because he wanted to avoid the helmet. That kind of gave me

an idea

that he not only wanted to avoid the helmet because of the inconvenience, but

also

because he's more than aware that it doesn't work perfectly --- it's probably

harder to

correct a problem after a certain age than it is to aggressively avoid the

problem to begin

with, no matter how many helmets you go through . Also, my son's orthotist

mentioned

that his youngest patient was 4 months old, but his mother was a pediatric

physical

therapist so she knew you had to start very early to get the best results, even

if you have

to pay out-of-pocket. I think most of us just go with our doctor's

recommendation to

reposition, etc., for months on end and only when it's a bit too late in many

respects are

we sent over to get a helmet. All of this to say, from what I've learned from

the PT,

orthotist and neurologist, very few kids receive excellent correction and they

probably

start around 4 months of age. I think the most we can expect is moderate

correction.

Believe me, I know how stressful this is.

One thing I have learned from all of this is that most people show some

asymmetry when

looking in the mirror, apparently because of it being a two-dimensional image.

I have

been with my husband for 12 years and I never noticed his very mild head

asymmetry until

I took a good look at his mirror image recently when he was looking in the

mirror. Very

odd, however, he's quite good looking and the asymmetry is barely noticeable. I

also read

an article in a science magazine recently where psychologists showed that

attractiveness is

not dependent on facial symmetry --- people with some assymetry are still

attractive.

Anyway, I asked the orthotist and the neurologist, " if he were your son, would

you get a

second helmet? " . Both of them said no. They seem to think that some correction

might

occur overtime without the helmet in any case. However, if I don't get a second

helmet for

my son (now 14 months), then I have to be able to live with his head shape the

way it is, as

you mentioned. So far, I don't think anyone is noticing the imperfections that

I'm aware

of. We're probably far too focused on all of this because we're in the midst of

it. I've

decided to take a step back for a week and see how people react to him and if I

notice my

son's mild assymetry less so (not his features, just overall head shape). I'm

also going to

as the PT the same question next week, i.e. " if he were your son, would you get

a second

helmet? " . I think I have to have some faith in my son's caregivers' opinions

and

experience. I do know, though, that if I went to the nearest cranial tech in NC

or FL (I'm in

GA), then I'm sure they would put him in another helmet, but I suspect it's

because they're

more of a business than anything else, even if they mean well. Anyway, thanks

again for

your replies and I may post another follow-up message in a week or so after I've

taken a

bit of a breather from all of this.

Good luck with everything.

Rose

> >

> > Hi,

> > My son started his helmet therapy a bit late (star band) at ~9

> months. He's now 14

> > months old and although there has been quite a bit of correction,

> I'm trying to decide

> > whether I should continue on with a second helmet.

> >

> > He's gone from a cephalic index of 101 to 90, but 93 is 2 standard

> deviations from the

> > norm, i.e. 95% of people have a CI < 93 , in other words he's

> closer to the 5% of the

> > population with a very high CI. I think this means that his head

> is still wider than most

> > people because of the brachycephaly/flattening in general up the

> back of his head. He

> > also has some flattening on the back right side (plagiocephaly)

> that is a bit better, but is

> > still noticeable when his hair is wet and other people may notice

> when he's swimming.

> > Also the top left of his head over his temple is more indented than

> the other, and his ears

> > are out of alignment. He still has baby features so I'm guessing

> any real facial assymetry

> > will only show up later on as his features mature and thin out,

> probably when he's an

> > adolescent.

> >

> > All of this to say, I thought the helmet would work magic, but it

> didn't. Also, I feel like I'm

> > dissecting the poor child, but I notice the assymetry (maybe

> because I'm too focused on all

> > of this?) and I'm afraid he will as he gets older. Does anyone

> else have experience starting

> > the helmet so late, and did they try a second one? Was it worth

> it? I've been told it will

> > take a very long time to see any effect, but I was thinking that it

> was maybe worth trying to

> > capture even one more growth spurt before his fontanel closes ~18

> months. If anyone has

> > any opinion on this, please let me know.

> > Thanks,

> > Rose

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Sheila,

Just curious about your son's measurements. How much have they improved with

the

second helmet (Docband). Is starting to try to take the helmet off?

-Rose

> >

> > Hi,

> > My son started his helmet therapy a bit late (star band) at ~9

> months. He's now 14

> > months old and although there has been quite a bit of correction,

> I'm trying to decide

> > whether I should continue on with a second helmet.

> >

> > He's gone from a cephalic index of 101 to 90, but 93 is 2 standard

> deviations from the

> > norm, i.e. 95% of people have a CI < 93 , in other words he's

> closer to the 5% of the

> > population with a very high CI. I think this means that his head

> is still wider than most

> > people because of the brachycephaly/flattening in general up the

> back of his head. He

> > also has some flattening on the back right side (plagiocephaly)

> that is a bit better, but is

> > still noticeable when his hair is wet and other people may notice

> when he's swimming.

> > Also the top left of his head over his temple is more indented than

> the other, and his ears

> > are out of alignment. He still has baby features so I'm guessing

> any real facial assymetry

> > will only show up later on as his features mature and thin out,

> probably when he's an

> > adolescent.

> >

> > All of this to say, I thought the helmet would work magic, but it

> didn't. Also, I feel like I'm

> > dissecting the poor child, but I notice the assymetry (maybe

> because I'm too focused on all

> > of this?) and I'm afraid he will as he gets older. Does anyone

> else have experience starting

> > the helmet so late, and did they try a second one? Was it worth

> it? I've been told it will

> > take a very long time to see any effect, but I was thinking that it

> was maybe worth trying to

> > capture even one more growth spurt before his fontanel closes ~18

> months. If anyone has

> > any opinion on this, please let me know.

> > Thanks,

> > Rose

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Rose,

The Cranial Therapies location we visit in So. Cal. doesn't measure

the same way they did at the STARband location, so I'm not sure what

his 30 degree measurements are right now. We just had him measured

last Friday and his brachy has gone down from to 90 to 89, but his

facial asymmetry (nose to ear/eye to ear) has only gone from 6mm to

5mm. (They just told me the key to fixing the ears is more

stretches, not the helmet.) Overall his head shape appears a lot

more symmetrical (I was shocked he only measured 1mm improvement),

so either way I'm happy I went with the second band. I'm tempted to

see if I can buy a set of callipers myself to double check the

measurements. was fighting so much when he was measured both

times, that I have doubts on their accuracy, but I'm happy with his

improvement, so that's the most important thing.

occasionally tries to take his helmet off, but he's never been

successful, so he gives up pretty quickly.

Sheila, mom to , 14 months, STARband 3/6-8/6, DOCband 9/6-?

> > >

> > > Hi,

> > > My son started his helmet therapy a bit late (star band) at ~9

> > months. He's now 14

> > > months old and although there has been quite a bit of

correction,

> > I'm trying to decide

> > > whether I should continue on with a second helmet.

> > >

> > > He's gone from a cephalic index of 101 to 90, but 93 is 2

standard

> > deviations from the

> > > norm, i.e. 95% of people have a CI < 93 , in other words he's

> > closer to the 5% of the

> > > population with a very high CI. I think this means that his

head

> > is still wider than most

> > > people because of the brachycephaly/flattening in general up

the

> > back of his head. He

> > > also has some flattening on the back right side

(plagiocephaly)

> > that is a bit better, but is

> > > still noticeable when his hair is wet and other people may

notice

> > when he's swimming.

> > > Also the top left of his head over his temple is more indented

than

> > the other, and his ears

> > > are out of alignment. He still has baby features so I'm

guessing

> > any real facial assymetry

> > > will only show up later on as his features mature and thin

out,

> > probably when he's an

> > > adolescent.

> > >

> > > All of this to say, I thought the helmet would work magic, but

it

> > didn't. Also, I feel like I'm

> > > dissecting the poor child, but I notice the assymetry (maybe

> > because I'm too focused on all

> > > of this?) and I'm afraid he will as he gets older. Does

anyone

> > else have experience starting

> > > the helmet so late, and did they try a second one? Was it

worth

> > it? I've been told it will

> > > take a very long time to see any effect, but I was thinking

that it

> > was maybe worth trying to

> > > capture even one more growth spurt before his fontanel closes

~18

> > months. If anyone has

> > > any opinion on this, please let me know.

> > > Thanks,

> > > Rose

> > >

> >

>