Re: docband or helmet?

[Guest guest]

Hi,

The difference between the 2 is that one is passive and one is active.

The nopco helmet is passive meaning it sits on the baby's head and

eventually the babies head will grow into the shape of the helmet:

Round. An active band such as the DOCband and the STARband redirect

the growth of the head through gentle pressure. I think the answer

lies in your daughters age. A passive helmet is great for an infant.

But I think for a child say 11 months old the way to go would be an

active band. Many parents in this group will tell you that the

DOCband and the STARband aren't hype.. they have proof, their

children't heads! Please keep us posted on your decision.

> Hi again!

> still very unsure of what to do. Our daughter is an identical twin

but

> because of the plagiocephaly of 9mm they look nothing alike. They

> think she got squished up against my pelvic bone in utero and

everyone

> told me she would grow out of it- not happening!!

> I feel like I am trying to search for the best way to get her to

look

> more like her identical twin sister. Our neurosurgeon doesn't think

we

> should do one thing to one twin and not the other, and thinks the

> helmet- " NOPCO " won't make much of a difference than repositioning

> alone, but also thinks that the DOC band is just hype. We asked

for a

> prescription regardless, but are still in a dilemma of which helmet

to

> use. the neurosurgeons and cranio-facial doctors at Boston

Children's

> Hospital all refer to the NOPCO helmet. Does it depend on where

you

> are in the country?

> Sorry, lots of questions yet feel like I am racing against the

clock.

[Guest guest]

My son had 8 mm of facial asymmetry. I can understand how your

plagio daughter doesn't look like her identical twin. Dane's droopy

face didn't look like the other side.

I don't know much about the NOPCO helmet correcting facial

asymmetry, but I can tell you the DOC Band is not hype. We saw

drastic changes in Dane's face from one day to another. We banded

him from 5-8 months. He is almost 13 mo and the asymmetry is a

thing of the past.

Does your daughter also have torticollis?

Hopefully one of the NOPCO parents can chime in about how it works

on facial asymmetry.

Dane's mom DOC Grad

> Hi again!

> still very unsure of what to do. Our daughter is an identical

twin but

> because of the plagiocephaly of 9mm they look nothing alike. They

> think she got squished up against my pelvic bone in utero and

everyone

> told me she would grow out of it- not happening!!

> I feel like I am trying to search for the best way to get her to

look

> more like her identical twin sister. Our neurosurgeon doesn't

think we

> should do one thing to one twin and not the other, and thinks the

> helmet- " NOPCO " won't make much of a difference than repositioning

> alone, but also thinks that the DOC band is just hype. We asked

for a

> prescription regardless, but are still in a dilemma of which

helmet to

> use. the neurosurgeons and cranio-facial doctors at Boston

Children's

> Hospital all refer to the NOPCO helmet. Does it depend on where

you

> are in the country?

> Sorry, lots of questions yet feel like I am racing against the

clock.

[Guest guest]

Here's what I sent to this mom/dad via email (just so it's in the

board record in case anyone does a search on NOPCO later):

We chose the NOPCO helmet for Zack because:

1 - it was cheap (Tufts covered 80% of it, so we ended up paying less

than $100 total -> I've heard docbands cost $4,000 to $6,000 )

2 - it was convenient - they have an office in Burlington, MA (we

live in Topsfield), so it's only a 20 minute drive from our house.

Since you need to go in for adjustments every 2 or 3 weeks a long

commute can be tough.

3 - Zack was young - he began wearing the helmet at 6 months of age,

I've heard that the Doc bands work on 12 month olds..so why not give

the cheaper, more convenient band a try for 6 months..if it doesn't

work, you can always try the doc band.

The people at NOPCO in Burlington have been great, and we've seen

some pretty good progress already for Zack (he's only been wearing it

for 6 weeks). He may need to wear it a little longer to achieve the

same results as a Doc band..but he doesn't mind wearing it at all.

Zack had no facial asymmetry..given the giant flat spot on the back

of his head, it was amazing how well his eyes and ears were aligned.

So I don't know what the NOPCO helmet does for facial asymmetry.

It's a pretty low cost option, and it definitely improves things more

than repositioning alone. Is it as good as the DOC band? I don't

know.

Ken

Zack and Zoey's dad