Re: question the specialist???

[Guest guest]

Charlotte,

What a quandry you must be in!! I would seek another opinion. If YOU feel

like it is moderate to severe and the ears are misaligned I don't think

" doing nothing " is a good option. At 14 months repositioning will not be very

effective. I personally do not believe that the issue is purely cosmetic. I

don't see how any dr in their right mind cannot see that TMJ, vision, speech,

language, etc might be things that could come from untreated plagio.

This is, of course, my own opinion and you must do what your heart leads you

to do. Listen to your instinct - it is probably correct. Let us know what you

decide to do!!

Marci (Mom to )

Oklahoma

[Guest guest]

We never questioned our neuro. who saw our daughter at 4 mo. and 5 mo.

and was of the opinion that bands aren't proven to work and insurance

companies don't pay for it. We have just banded her at 13 mo. with

" moderate to severe " plagio. and I could still kick myself for not

following my instincts. In order to rush the process our ped. wrote the

script and letter. I agree with what Debbie said that babies don't even

know it's on their heads. Go with your heart, I know I will never ever

regret the decision to band her, even if we see little improvement. ANY

improvement is worth it for us.

Ellen (Mom to Amy)

New Jersey

On Mon, 10 Jun 2002 23:35:25 -0000 " miniranch215 " <cbwilson@...>

writes:

> We took our 14 month old adopted daughter to the neurology center at

> All Children's Hospital in St. sburg, FL today. Comparing her

> head shape to those we've seen posted on the internet, we'd say she

> has a moderate to severe case of plagio with misaligned ears. She

> does have enough hair to disguise it a little. We were surprised

> that the specialist never even touched our daughter. She was walking

>

> around the room and he basicaly said, " Yes, she appears to have

> positional plagio and it will eventually correct itself to some

> degree unless she continues to favor that side while she sleeps. " He

>

> suggested we do nothing. He said bands and helmets were much too

> uncomfortable for children and would be for purely cosmetic reasons

> in our case. Not that we wanted to go through all the treatment, but

>

> we were shocked that he never touched her or tried to ascertain the

> severity of her plagio. What would YOU do? See another specialist or

>

> accept his diagnosis and suggestion?

> Many thanks!

> Charlotte

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Well, Charlotte you have to dow hat your mommy instincts tell you to do but if you have one ounce of concern I would see another specialist and one that supports helmet therapy to get their perspective. You have over 1000 parents on this site that can reassure you that helmets aren't not uncomfortable and are effective and more that can tell you that the older their children got there was not improvement or rounder heads and others that will tell you that repositioning was quite effective. I think the do nothing approach is not a good one even if you don't use helmet therapyyou need to reposition and take a proactive approach to helping your babies head round out. Here is a link to see if there is a DR in your area that is helmet friendly try that route and how about seeing orthoamerica or cranial tech for a free evaluation and then make your decision form there. It is not an easy one but you will now what is right. Best of luck!

Beck here are the links......

Click here: Cranial Technologies, Inc., Manufacturer of the DOC Band for Positional Plagiocephaly

Click here: Orthomerica - The Global Orthotic Solution

Click here: Find a Preferred Physician: Search by Location

Click here: Repositioning Techniques

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 6/10/2002 7:36:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time, cbwilson@... writes:

He said bands and helmets were much too

uncomfortable for children and would be for purely cosmetic reasons

in our case.

Charlotte,

This sounds like a "specialist" that is not doing his homework- only spewing uneducated answers your way to sound professional. He does not have a clue about the comfort of helmets/bands- has his child ever worn one? Ask the parents this question and you will surely get a resounding response that most kids didn't care one bit that it was on their head, my child included. This statement alone discredits any type of merit I would give him towards a professional opinion- and I think like most Doctors that say this, take this approach because it LOOKS so cumbersome and uncomfortable- but don't do the homework to find out for sure. Don't make your decision based on his misinformation- I listened more carefully to all of the great parents here sharing their experiences because they traveled down the road I was ready to ride down- and they knew first hand what was happening. Just the statement of this being clearly cosmetic, although a very popular response from many Docs, infuriates me because these professionals study the skeletal system, which also includes muscles and nerve endings, and I can't believe a shift of the system itself would not raise red flags about the functions of these body parts (jaw, ears, eyes) and would not be comprised by a shift of growth. Aside from that, if this was purely cosmetic, these kids deserve aligned ears, eyes, jaw bone- why do we put so much emphasis on teeth and braces and then when something this clear cut comes up it is such a debate? Sorry, starting to vent now and that's not what you need!!! In any case, please research as much as you can and I would get a second opinion- there are so many people on this board that regret listening to the first doctor they encountered. Good luck and please keep us posted!

' Mom

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 6/13/2002 12:32:25 PM Eastern Standard Time, rella1234@... writes:

Ask the parents this question and you will surely get a resounding response that most kids didn't care one bit that it was on their head, my child included

Is this true? That most kids don't mind the helmet? That's the one thing i worry about...is that will hate it and cry and not want to wear it. He's 4 1/2 months old...and i know i've read that a lot of kids don't mind it..but i believe it more coming from people who have experience with it

Thanks,

Mom to

[Guest guest]

,

That is so great! Thanks for telling me that! It makes me feel better.

In a message dated 6/13/2002 1:05:32 PM Eastern Standard Time, rmanias@... writes:

-

My son could have cared less that he was wearing a band. He still

smiled constantly! I don't understand it, but he never noticed it.

I pulled it out to show our dr. and he got all excited to see it

again!

[Guest guest]

,

It really is hard to believe, I thought the same thing going in that my child

would absolutely hate this on his head- but we did not have any problems

there and I hope that other parents will share their experience as well, good

or bad. I think in some cases the fit may be the problem, in others, a lack

of an experienced orthotist to make the right mold in the first place. Good

luck and I'm sure your going to get lots of advice on this- which really does

help!

' Mom

[Guest guest]

-

My son could have cared less that he was wearing a band. He still

smiled constantly! I don't understand it, but he never noticed it.

I pulled it out to show our dr. and he got all excited to see it

again!

Dane's mom DOC Grad

> In a message dated 6/13/2002 12:32:25 PM Eastern Standard Time,

> rella1234@a... writes:

>

>

> > Ask the parents this question and you will surely get a

resounding

> > response that most kids didn't care one bit that it was on their

head, my

> > child included

>

> Is this true? That most kids don't mind the helmet? That's the

one thing i

> worry about...is that will hate it and cry and not want to

wear it.

> He's 4 1/2 months old...and i know i've read that a lot of kids

don't mind

> it..but i believe it more coming from people who have experience

with it

>

> Thanks,

>

> Mom to

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 6/13/02 11:54:36 AM Central Daylight Time,

Av@... writes:

<< Ask the parents this question and you will surely get a resounding

> response that most kids didn't care one bit that it was on their head, my

> child included >>

True for us - never cared, not even from the very first minute. It was

a part of her and, in fact, she would get upset when we took it off and

sometimes even try to put it back on!!!

Marci (Mom to )

Oklahoma