what are my options?

[Guest guest]

Hi Alie,

Welcome to the group. It does sound like Georgia has plagio. Where are you located? At this point I believe an active band (STARband or DOC band) would be your best option. Have you spoken to her ped about this? What does he/she say? Have they been watching it since she was diagnosed with tort so young? It sometimes takes awhile to get in to see specialist so I would get the ball rolling. Talk to your ped. Get a referral to a specialist or get your ped to write the rx for a band or at least send you for a consult at an ortho. This is a lot to think of at once. How can we help? Have you looked around the files and links sections? Have you looked at B & A pics. Do any look like Georgia? Can you post some pics?

mom to na

DOC Grad

South Carolinaalie_winter <alie_winter@...> wrote:

My daughter, Georgia (11 1/2 months), was diagnosed with torticolis at 4 weeks and had physiotherapy to resolve this. (She also had hip dysplasia). As a result she had a flat head on one side. As she has grown, the flatness has significantly reduced, but she still has a flattening and an asymetric face which it appears may have led to a slight squint. One eye protrudes slightly & one cheek is slightly lower - All of which I understand are symptoms of plagio. Does anyone have any useful suggestions? All the websites suggest repositioning the head which is not possible now that she moves about so much at night. Thanks and best wishes to all you plagio parents!! AlieFor more plagio info

[Guest guest]

Hi Alie

Welcome to the group. Your daughter's plagio probably has been

caused by the tort, as you suspect. In terms of being able to treat

the remaining asymmetry, then repositioning isn't an option at 11

and a half months, I'm afraid. This is because the babies constantly

reposition themselves in sleep at this age, and not in ways that are

helpful! Repo is diffcult anyway with tort, as the child cannot lie

their head on the other side, their neck muscles simply don't allow

it. Repo is usually started as early as possible, between 2-6 months

when the head can be repositioned in sleep, so you are out of time

on that one, sadly.

The good news is that your daughter might benefit from a helmet.

This is also time-dependent to a certain extent as skull growth is

slowing down after a year, so you would need to move pretty quickly

if you would like to follow this option. My daughter also had the

facial asymmetry that you describe, and I would say that the

helmet/band has improved it enormously, to the extent that her face

looks really very different, but in a good way! You can see facial

asymmetry if you look at your child in the mirror- if they don't

look like themselves, that's the asymmetry. It certainly wasn't

disfiguring for my daughter at all, and had she stayed like that, it

wouldnt have been the end of the world, but from certain angles she

looked quite odd, and I personally feel a lot happier with her

features being even.

It might be worth taking your daughter for a consultation to see

whether a band is a possibility, as suggests. CT (Cranioal

Technologies) come highly recommended, and the consultation is free.

If you don't like it , or don't want to go ahead, that's fine, they

will leave it up to you. They also won't band if they don't think it

is appropriate, say too mild. There are others, so do check out the

database here. I don't think any orthotist will promise the earth,

as ideally a helmet would be started earlier as well, but they do

treat up to 18 months, and plenty of people here have seen enough

change in slightly older children to make it worthwhile having a

band and praying for lots of growth spurts!

The other option obviously is to just leave it as it is and be

pleased that you are seeing rounding at the back. I'm not sure that

facial asymmetry will resolve, however, as it usually does so after

the back has rounded, so if you do decide to stick with things the

way they are, you may have to be prepared that this won't change an

enormous amount (although no-one can say for sure).

Hope that helps- let us know what you decide to do

Hannah (mum to Lucia, London, UK)

Cranio grad

>

> My daughter, Georgia (11 1/2 months), was diagnosed with

torticolis

> at 4 weeks and had physiotherapy to resolve this. (She also had

hip

> dysplasia). As a result she had a flat head on one side. As she

> has grown, the flatness has significantly reduced, but she still

has

> a flattening and an asymetric face which it appears may have led

to

> a slight squint. One eye protrudes slightly & one cheek is

slightly

> lower - All of which I understand are symptoms of plagio. Does

> anyone have any useful suggestions? All the websites suggest

> repositioning the head which is not possible now that she moves

> about so much at night. Thanks and best wishes to all you plagio

> parents!! Alie

[Guest guest]

Last December my work place had a really bad mold outbreak. We were made to

clean it without any protection for our breathing or anything like that. My

bosses took measures to rectify the problem, but there is still what appears to

be a mild mold problem (of course they always say that what you don't see is

much worse than what you do see).

Anyhow, around that time I started having really really bad allergy-like

symptoms. I chalked it up to...allergies. Until I had an allergy test and came

back allergic to NOT A SINGLE THING, not even dogs (this is important because I

work with dogs)! So they did a pulmonary function test. My PFT came back at

40%... I have a friend who is 32 and has cystic fibrosis, that is HER pulmonary

function. I am now on a daily dose of Singulair and an inhaler. I also have to

have surgery on my sinuses to have my turbinates reduced because they are so

enlarged from irritation.

For information, I'm 24 years old and have no medical history relating to my

asthma and lung function.

Recently, I'd noticed that I was having a harder time breathing again...Feeling

the same " allergy-like " symptoms. I started peaking around and sure enough, I'm

seeing mold coming through the brick bathroom walls again (this is how we knew

it was bad the last time, when it started coming through the walls).

I pointed it out to my bosses again. I was told to just make sure we bleach and

clean it. And offered a medical mask if I need one. I must have made a face,

because then they told someone else to clean it up and keep me away from it.

At this point, I'm starting to feel like I need to protect myself. I'm not sure

what my rights are, what I have a right to expect in the workplace, or even in

regards to the fact that my medical issues were most likely caused by the work

environment that I was exposed to that they were very aware of. Not to mention,

I will probably have to take time off work without pay in order to have the

turbinate surgery.

I know many people would say, " Well just quit. " The problem is that my husband

is military and we are moving in 4 mos. I cannot foresee any employer in my

field (while I work with dogs, I actually hold a bachelors in Human Services)

being willing to hire me for such a short period of time.

My problem is also that I have a guilty conscience and I'm afraid of

repercussions if I do act on this. My bosses are also my landlords, and I'd

also like to get a good letter of recommendation from them when I leave. I keep

telling myself I can survive 4 more mos, right?

Also, I go to a specialist for a follow up this week to confirm that I will be

getting surgery. I have taken photographs of the mold, and I will be showing

him these to get his opinion on whether my illness has been related to mold

exposure. There is no doubt in my mind that it is.

For the record, I have copies of emails where I discussed the mold with them and

asked for it to be taken care of, as well as original photos of the original

outbreak and the most recent one.

What are my options???

[Guest guest]

When I first became exposed I saw an allergist, he ran some tests and they

showed that I was allergic to mold and yeast. He gave me singular and claritan

which did absolutely nothing for me, it wasn't till I saw another physician who

put me on antifungals did I see an improvement in my health.

>

> Last December my work place had a really bad mold outbreak. We were made to

clean it without any protection for our breathing or anything like that. My

bosses took measures to rectify the problem, but there is still what appears to

be a mild mold problem (of course they always say that what you don't see is

much worse than what you do see).

> Anyhow, around that time I started having really really bad allergy-like

symptoms. I chalked it up to...allergies. Until I had an allergy test and came

back allergic to NOT A SINGLE THING, not even dogs (this is important because I

work with dogs)! So they did a pulmonary function test. My PFT came back at

40%... I have a friend who is 32 and has cystic fibrosis, that is HER pulmonary

function. I am now on a daily dose of Singulair and an inhaler. I also have to

have surgery

[Guest guest]

dave,

since you are allergic to molds and yeasts, you might also be helped by

allergy desensitization--sublingual drops or shots to reduce the

hypersensitivity, just a thought, sue

>When I first became exposed I saw an allergist, he ran some tests and

>they showed that I was allergic to mold and yeast. He gave me singular

>and claritan which did absolutely nothing for me, it wasn't till I saw

>another physician who put me on antifungals did I see an improvement in

>my health.

>