Re: Helmet vs. Banding

[Guest guest]

Hi Dina what a confusing and scary time for parents. I remember having a lot of the same questions with my son-he was born with plagio due to inutero constraint so our stretching and repositioning started quite early and was quiet ineffective which is why we chose to band at 3 months and are thankful we did. It was quick easy and fairly painless process in retrospect-the hardest was flying to Georgia every week but worth it. As far as questions take a look at this link - it may be helpful for you

Click here: Questions for the Doctor and as far as comparing the different helmets/bands out there a lot of them look alike and it will often depend on your child's head shape as to how they are fabricated Click here: Compare cranial molding orthosis (CMO) We couldn't behappier that we chose to helmet/band our son and I think 99% of the parents on the board will tell you the same- we have also had parents who were quite successful at repositioning and alternative treatments and I hope they can share their experiences with you as well. Best of luck and let is know what you decide. If you need more info or links let me know and I will see what I can do or if you have trouble accessing these. You sound like a great Mom so keep up the good work.

Beck Mom to

doc grad

Memphis

[Guest guest]

Hi Dina,

You asked some really good questions in your post. I think Debbie explained

the differences between the helmet and band very well so I don't really have

anything to add to that. My daughter wore a locally made passive helmet. We

were very happy with the results, but given her older age (9 months) I

sometimes think we would have gotten even more correction had we used an

active device such as the DOC or STARband. I think it goes without saying

that the parents here who have used a band or helmet are very glad that they

did it. We have some parents in the group that did not use a band or helmet

and instead used aggressive repositioning, PT and other forms of therapy as

well. Those people are also very satisfied and happy with their decisions. It

is a tough decision and a very personal one. You will do what is right for

your baby and your family and I can assure you that you will have the support

of this group no matter what you decide to do.

As far as what to ask your neuro - I found that my neuro did most of the

talking and filled us in pretty thoroughly as to possible complications of

untreated plagio. He explained the helmet and how it worked and told us the

steps we would go through. Our very best information came in phase two when

we met with the orthotist and got casted for the helmet. He was a HUGE wealth

of information and had all the answers to our questions. I think there is a

folder in our files section that lists questions to ask your specialist. If

not you can check out www.plagiocephaly.org/support - there is something

there about " questions to ask your doctor " . You might print some of that out

and take it with you.

Sorry this got kind of long! I wish you good luck and please keep us posted.

Marci (Mom to )

Oklahoma