To Band or Not To Band?

[Guest guest]

HI- My son was casted twice (the first helmet was not a great fit). It takes all of 20 minutes or so and it is in no way painful. My son actually feel asleep both times as they used warm water on the materials and were rubbing his head. That is enough to put anyone to sleep! I would not fret about the casting procedure at all. My son will be getting his helmet at the end of next week. I say go for it. You have such a short window of opportunity to correct this and you don't want to have any regrets later. I look at as - it is only +/- 3 months of treatment to have a good shaped head for the rest of his life. (Jack 5 1/2 mos, plagio)twotreemonkeys <twotreemonkeys@...> wrote: HelpI am new to all of this. My 8 month old son has mild/moderate plagio along with tort. I am concerned about any future cognitive difficulties if we do not get a helmet, but, am not sure I want to put him through the casting and helmet. The casting terrifies me. Will he suffer from post-traumatic stress? aghhh.... Did anyone choose not to band? Regrets? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

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[Guest guest]

the casting isnt really that big of a deal simons took less than 10mins and he only fussed when they had to sit him up to do the back of it, as soon as it was over he was back to his happy smiley self. the helmet doesnt bother him one bit he acts like nothing is different.

Aron Holwighttp://birds.lemonyfresh.com/gallery/http://b1.lilypie.com/2QXlm7.png

On 7/21/06, twotreemonkeys <twotreemonkeys@...> wrote:

HelpI am new to all of this. My 8 month old son has mild/moderate plagio along with tort. I am concerned about any future cognitive difficulties if we do not get a helmet, but, am not sure I want to put him through the casting and helmet. The casting terrifies me. Will he suffer from post-traumatic stress? aghhh.... Did anyone choose not to band? Regrets? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

--

[Guest guest]

Hello and welcome. Frist of all, I wanted to agree with the others

that the casting is not something that would traumatize your Son or

something that he would even probably really remember after it's

over. My Daughter was scanned for her band, but from what I have read

about the castings, they only take about 10 minutes and are usually

not NEARLY as bad as you might think.

As far as the band itself... Most babies adapt SO well to their bands

that they barely even notice it is there once they get used to it.

Honestly! My Daughter accepted her band from the first moment it was

placed on her head and she barely ever fussed with it.

If you are NOT happy with how his head looks NOW, then banding would

be your best option, since there is no guarantee that his head would

ever improve without a band. You can go onto the older plagio group

to also ask the parent's of kids who did not get banded and get their

take on everything. I believe the link is in the links section on

here... unless someone already gave it to you.

Good luck with your decision.

Jen

(23.5 mo), tort resolved, Hanger Band Grad

(4.5 years)

>

> Help

>

> I am new to all of this. My 8 month old son has mild/moderate

plagio

> along with tort. I am concerned about any future cognitive

> difficulties if we do not get a helmet, but, am not sure I want to

put

> him through the casting and helmet. The casting terrifies me. Will

> he suffer from post-traumatic stress? aghhh.... Did anyone choose

> not to band? Regrets?

>

> Any advice would be greatly appreciated

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I hope you all can help...my husband and I are having a hard time

deciding whether or not to get the band for our son. When he was 3

months, we noticed he had a severe flat spot on his head. We started

repositioning, and for the first month it did little, but at 4 months,

we saw a lot of improvement for the next 2 weeks. We took him to

Cranial Technologies, and they said he could go either way. His

measurements are:

Cranial Vault Assymetry: 12 mm

Cephalic Index: 89.4

He just turned 5 months old...we're not sure if we're seeing much more

progress or not...we took a picture at 4.5 months, and I think I see

an improvement but my husband doesn't. Any advice? I've been doing a

lot of research and I don't want to put him in the band if it's going

to go away on it's own. My son has actually developed a preference

for sleeping on the non-flat side of his head, so repositioning isn't

very difficult for us.

Thanks for any help!!!

Carol

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I would say since you are dealing with both plagio and brachy you

might as well go ahead and band, especially since he's young and

you'll get a lot of correction. if either the cephalic index or the

asymmetry were in the normal or mild range I would wait, but since

they are both at least moderate I would band.

My daughter got her band at age 5 mo and did great. She had only

brachy - but it was quite severe (almost 100). It is much easier to

know that it is improving form one ortho visit to the next than to

worry about repo and if it is getting better or not.

I know it is a hard decision to make, but we are really happy we went

ahead with it.

take care. -christine

mom to sydney/ 11 mo/ starband grad 10-06

>

> I hope you all can help...my husband and I are having a hard time

> deciding whether or not to get the band for our son. When he was 3

> months, we noticed he had a severe flat spot on his head. We started

> repositioning, and for the first month it did little, but at 4 months,

> we saw a lot of improvement for the next 2 weeks. We took him to

> Cranial Technologies, and they said he could go either way. His

> measurements are:

>

> Cranial Vault Assymetry: 12 mm

> Cephalic Index: 89.4

>

> He just turned 5 months old...we're not sure if we're seeing much more

> progress or not...we took a picture at 4.5 months, and I think I see

> an improvement but my husband doesn't. Any advice? I've been doing a

> lot of research and I don't want to put him in the band if it's going

> to go away on it's own. My son has actually developed a preference

> for sleeping on the non-flat side of his head, so repositioning isn't

> very difficult for us.

>

> Thanks for any help!!!

> Carol

>

[Guest guest]

We are pro-band! Yes, you could argue that the skull could/would have corrected itself on its own, even if one does use band/helmet treatment, but that is not a chance my husband and I are willing to take. I teach first grade, and although we have a strong policy against violence (including verbal-emotional pain) along with an extremely loving environment (ya, I really do like our school!), kids pick up on physical differences. It's only human to react in a prejudice way toward people who are different. We are all trying to fit in in some way or another. I can see children's self-image and esteem drop dramatically from the moment they get a pair of glasses, an eye patch, a facial scar, body braces, etc. They are still the same child, but it is so sad to see their emotional state change. I just think about how my baby's emotional IQ could be lower because his face and head are very unsymmetric. Perhaps some have read

(either in Parents or American Baby magazine) about emotional IQ. It stated that research has shown that a child's emotional IQ has a stronger connection to future success than a child's intellectual IQ. Yes, research can be ambiguous, but I do not think our society values a person's psychological/emotional health anywhere near where it should. --- If you're still reading this, CONGRATULATIONS! You've successfully made it through my endless ramblings!!!! What do you all think? Baby 's mommy- michelle

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[Guest guest]

Here's an idea of how the severity is measured:

Plagio Severity:

Oblique at 30 deg (US1 and US2) = Length of diagonal taken at 30° on each

side (30° corresponds to the corner of the eye). The subtraction of US1 and

US2 gives an indication of the asymmetry of the head.

normal 0-3 mm

very mild <6 mm

mild - 6-10 mm

moderate - 10-15 mm

severe - 15+ mm

Brachycephaly Severity:

Cephalic Ratio = Cranial Breadth/Cranial Length

ideal ratio - 78%

normal - 73-83%

moderate - 83.1% to 87.9%

severe - 88% and higher

Molly

California

Nicolas, 13.5 months, tort & plagio, STARband 4/25/06-9/12/06, Graduate!

, 3.75

, 7

To Band or Not To Band?

I hope you all can help...my husband and I are having a hard time deciding

whether or not to get the band for our son. When he was 3 months, we

noticed he had a severe flat spot on his head. We started repositioning,

and for the first month it did little, but at 4 months, we saw a lot of

improvement for the next 2 weeks. We took him to Cranial Technologies, and

they said he could go either way. His measurements are:

Cranial Vault Assymetry: 12 mm

Cephalic Index: 89.4

He just turned 5 months old...we're not sure if we're seeing much more

progress or not...we took a picture at 4.5 months, and I think I see an

improvement but my husband doesn't. Any advice? I've been doing a lot of

research and I don't want to put him in the band if it's going to go away on

it's own. My son has actually developed a preference for sleeping on the

non-flat side of his head, so repositioning isn't very difficult for us.

Thanks for any help!!!

Carol

For more plagio info

[Guest guest]

Hi, . I agree 100%. If I can spare my child pain of ANY kind, I am going to do it. That's part of our job as parents. Congratulations to you on making a decision for your child's future. Candace, AZ mommy to Tiernan, 6.5 mos tort, plagio (STARBand in a few days!!!!)michelle kerkhoff <me_kerkhoff@...> wrote: We are pro-band! Yes, you could argue that the skull could/would have corrected itself on its own, even if

one does use band/helmet treatment, but that is not a chance my husband and I are willing to take. I teach first grade, and although we have a strong policy against violence (including verbal-emotional pain) along with an extremely loving environment (ya, I really do like our school!), kids pick up on physical differences. It's only human to react in a prejudice way toward people who are different. We are all trying to fit in in some way or another. I can see children's self-image and esteem drop dramatically from the moment they get a pair of glasses, an eye patch, a facial scar, body braces, etc. They are still the same child, but it is so sad to see their emotional state change. I just think about how my baby's emotional IQ could be lower because his face and head are very unsymmetric. Perhaps some have read (either in Parents or American Baby magazine) about emotional IQ. It stated that research has shown that a child's

emotional IQ has a stronger connection to future success than a child's intellectual IQ. Yes, research can be ambiguous, but I do not think our society values a person's psychological/emotional health anywhere near where it should. --- If you're still reading this, CONGRATULATIONS! You've successfully made it through my endless ramblings!!!! What do you all think? Baby 's mommy- michelle Check out the all-new beta - Fire up a more powerful email and get things done faster.

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[Guest guest]

Thank you so much for the responses. I didn't know that his

measurements meant he had the brach... I absolutely agree that we

need to correct any irregularity so he doesn't have to live with it

growing up/as an adult. a few weeks/months now is nothing compared

to the rest of his life. but looking at him, you'd never know he has

it...his face is fine, and you can't tell his ears are off. he has

curly hair, too, so when i ask anyone what they think, they think i'm

crazy. but on the other hand, he'll know it when he's older if it

doesn't correct itself. ugh!!! obviously, i'm still undecided!!!

thanks again for the input!

> We are pro-band! Yes, you could argue that the skull

could/would have corrected itself on its own, even if one does use

band/helmet treatment, but that is not a chance my husband and I are

willing to take. I teach first grade, and although we have a strong

policy against violence (including verbal-emotional pain) along with

an extremely loving environment (ya, I really do like our school!),

kids pick up on physical differences. It's only human to react in a

prejudice way toward people who are different. We are all trying to

fit in in some way or another. I can see children's self-image and

esteem drop dramatically from the moment they get a pair of glasses,

an eye patch, a facial scar, body braces, etc. They are still the

same child, but it is so sad to see their emotional state change. I

just think about how my baby's emotional IQ could be lower because

his face and head are very unsymmetric. Perhaps some have read

(either in Parents or American Baby

> magazine) about emotional IQ. It stated that research has shown

that a child's emotional IQ has a stronger connection to future

success than a child's intellectual IQ. Yes, research can be

ambiguous, but I do not think our society values a person's

psychological/emotional health anywhere near where it should. --- If

you're still reading this, CONGRATULATIONS! You've successfully made

it through my endless ramblings!!!!

>

> What do you all think?

>

> Baby 's mommy- michelle

>

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email and get things done faster.

>

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

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>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for this info. I had been looking for a number range for the different levels of severity and had not found one. I really appreciate you posting this and for your input. Why are these decisions so hard?