What would you do? Hanger right now or wait for CT?

[Guest guest]

Our son was diagnosed with a moderate case of plagio by a pediatric

neurosurgeon. The dr said that without treatment, our son's head

shape would definitely improve, but of course it is impossible to

tell in advance whether that improvement would be a little or a lot.

He said that orthotic treatment was completely up to our own judgment.

After doing more research, we are leaning towards banding our 5.5

month old as soon as possible as a type of insurance that we will see

significant improvement. Our dilemma is that we have an overseas trip

already planned for the last two weeks of December, which puts us on

a tight timeline. After calling the two local helmet companies

(Hanger in Manhattan and Cranial Technologies in Paramus, NJ), it

seems that Hanger would be able to have the helmet ready by the first

week of December (when our son is 6 months old), giving our son 2

weeks to get comfortable and for any necessary adjustments before the

big trip. On the other hand, CT would not be able to have a DOCband

ready until early January (when our son is 7 months old) at the

earliest. I think the orthotists at both locations are highly

experienced.

Any opinions on whether it is better to go with Hanger now or wait

for CT? Also, the Hanger orthotist mentioned that visits for

adjustments would be every 2-3 weeks, whereas CT told us they would

be weekly. Any thoughts on whether it is better to go more frequently

for adjustments?

[Guest guest]

Hello,

Just to give you our situation. My son was fitted with a doc band

through ct at 3.5 mo. of age. It lasted about 2 months because of

his rapid growth at that age. We were very pleased with the results

through c.t., but were still batteling with our insurance Co. for

coverage of the band. I was sent a letter from my insurance co.,

that indicated hanger was a in network provider for this service.

After then contacting hanger about this, they told me that because

they were a provider that they had a better chance at getting the

helmet approved by my insurance, and if not, they would give me a

good rate. Well we decided to go with hanger because they seemed

informative and helpful. After getting his helmet I never liked the

way that it fit. They (Hanger) would shave some out but it was to

much, then they would have to ad fillers. With my sons asymmetry of

his forehead, the helmet seemed to sit very high on his forhead,

that I wondered if it was doing any good. Finally when my son was

at his 9 month mark we saw a cranial facial specialist, who

recommended we go back to ct for a final opinion. After seeing them

again and they felt there was still some correction that could be

made. We ditched the hanger band and went forward with the cranial

tech band for the final banding. The people at ct are only focusing

on doc bands, Hanger, because they deal with more prosthetics are

not as informed on the helmets as ct. In my experience, and 2 doc

bands, 1 hanger band later, (Which were all denied by the insurance

Co.) I would say go with CT.

Sorry so lenghthy.

>

> Our son was diagnosed with a moderate case of plagio by a

pediatric

> neurosurgeon. The dr said that without treatment, our son's head

> shape would definitely improve, but of course it is impossible to

> tell in advance whether that improvement would be a little or a

lot.

> He said that orthotic treatment was completely up to our own

judgment.

>

> After doing more research, we are leaning towards banding our 5.5

> month old as soon as possible as a type of insurance that we will

see

> significant improvement. Our dilemma is that we have an overseas

trip

> already planned for the last two weeks of December, which puts us

on

> a tight timeline. After calling the two local helmet companies

> (Hanger in Manhattan and Cranial Technologies in Paramus, NJ), it

> seems that Hanger would be able to have the helmet ready by the

first

> week of December (when our son is 6 months old), giving our son 2

> weeks to get comfortable and for any necessary adjustments before

the

> big trip. On the other hand, CT would not be able to have a

DOCband

> ready until early January (when our son is 7 months old) at the

> earliest. I think the orthotists at both locations are highly

> experienced.

>

> Any opinions on whether it is better to go with Hanger now or wait

> for CT? Also, the Hanger orthotist mentioned that visits for

> adjustments would be every 2-3 weeks, whereas CT told us they

would

> be weekly. Any thoughts on whether it is better to go more

frequently

> for adjustments?

>