Re: 1st visit with craniofacial specialist.

[Guest guest]

Hi-

We just saw a craniofacial surgeon a few weeks ago and he just took

some medical history and checked my son's neck (for tort, which he had

but is resolved) and head, and just talked with us about the option to

band. We had already previously had a CT scan done last year, so we

knew that craniosynostosis was not an issue. He wrote the prescription

and we went to the orthotic and prosthetic part of the hospital for an

evaluation. The surgeon did not do any measurements (except basic head

circumference), but I suppose it's possible that they could. The

orthotist, who was a STARBand provider, did the measurements and my

son's assymetry was 11/16 of an inch, which she said was moderate. In

the end, we decided to go to Cranial Tech for the DOCBand, only

because they have had more experience with treating older babies and

my son is 17 months old. CT measures in mm and my son's assymetry for

both his head and his ears is 15 mm, which is the high end of

moderate. They told me 2-4mm was " normal. "

To get the assymetry measurement, they use calipers to measure from

the right temple to the back left of the head, then from the left

temple to the back right of the head, and the difference between those

two numbers, is the assymetry measurement, i.e. 15 mm. They they do

the same with the ears (right to back left, left to back right),

although the STARBand orthotist did not take that measurement, only

the head.

The DOC and STAR work the exact same way, they are both active bands,

which means that adjustments are made to encourage the head to grow to

a certain shape. The orthotist or therapist scrapes out the foam

lining to open up spaces to allow the head to grow into them, while

the other parts hold the head in a static position. The only real

difference is in appearance. I consider STARBands a full coverage

helmet, that just has a whole cut out of the top for ventalation, and

the foam is thicker. The DocBand, has more open space on top, it just

depends on what shape and severity of head they are treating, and the

foam is thinner. But again, they work exactly the same, though there

are a couple of other kinds on the market that are different in both

looks and way of working (some are passive, which means they have no

foam lining and they just encourage the head overall to grow to the

shape of the helmet).

Hope this helps! Good luck!

in Raleigh

Jake-17m (tort resolved/plagio) DocBand 2/11/08

Jordan-4

>

> Hello all,

>

> My 6 month old has an appt. with the cranial spcialist this Friday.

> What should I expect and what should I ask?

> I've read from the post that " normal " is considered 0-3 mm, but I

> don't understand what that measurement is of.

> If my son is considered mild-mod plagio should I go ahead with

> treatment with band?

> what is the difference between STAR and DOC?

>

> Thank you so much.

>

[Guest guest]

I would ask yourself...if his headshape doesn't improve at all on its

own, will I be happy? If the answer is no then I would band

regardless of the measurements. There is a list of questions to ask

in the files section (sorry, I can't remember what it is titled). I

can only answer about the DOC band as that is what my son had. The

DOC band weighs about 6oz (I think it weighs less) and applies gentle

pressures to the prominent areas and allows new growth to go to the

flattened regions. Based on your son's age, he would go every 2 weeks

for adjustments. The cost of the DOC band is $3000 but many people

(myself being one) have been able to get reimbursed upon an appeal.

The staff at Cranial Tech is solely trained with the DOC band and

babies where I believe other ortho places may have varying amounts of

expertise with banding babies as they may fit other orthotics. We had

a great experience with CT and I would highly recommend them.

Good luck.

PS; If your pediatrician will write the prescription for the band then

you don't need to go to a cranial specialist. We got the prescription

through our ped. and never went anywhere else but I guess since your

appt. is tomorrow that may be faster for you anyways (to go to the

cranial specialist). The cranial specialist should be able to explain

what they are measuring. Different orthosist measure from different

points (I believe but could be wrong).

>

> Hello all,

>

> My 6 month old has an appt. with the cranial spcialist this Friday.

> What should I expect and what should I ask?

> I've read from the post that " normal " is considered 0-3 mm, but I

> don't understand what that measurement is of.

> If my son is considered mild-mod plagio should I go ahead with

> treatment with band?

> what is the difference between STAR and DOC?

>

> Thank you so much.

>

[Guest guest]

Regarding Starband vs DOC band, we have access to both where I live, although the Cranial Technologies (DOC band) was 90 minutes away and the Star Cranial Center (Star band) was only about 15 minutes. That factored into our decision, so we had consultations at both and decided to go with Star. The orthotists at our Star Center have tons of experience with plagio, so we felt comfortable with their level of expertise. I did feel both bands, and the Starband is a little heavier and covers a bit more of the face and head than DOC band. The foam is thicker so it seems to make more of a " pillow " that can become annoying. For example, the band pushes my son's head forward when he is in his high chair and it annoys him, so we actually take it off for his meals.

On the other hand, because of the thicker foam, our orthotist told us that they almost never need to recommend a second band, whereas the folks at Cranial Technologies told us that they recommend a second band in 20-30% of cases. On a minor note, DOC bands come only in white (which you can decorate of course) and star bands can come pre-colored or with a pattern on them.

If you have access to both Star and DOC, I would get consults with both and see who you like. In the end, my understanding is that it all depends on the orthotist you work with. To some degree, from reading this board, it seems that perhaps the " quality control " of the orthotists at Cranial Technologies is higher.

As to whether you should get the band, that's tougher. Banding is a pain in the butt, but in the end, if you're not happy with your baby's head shape, this is the only chance you'll have to fix it.

Good luck!

-Pam

On 2/7/08, nwilkens2275 <nwilkens2275@...> wrote:

Hi-We just saw a craniofacial surgeon a few weeks ago and he just took some medical history and checked my son's neck (for tort, which he had but is resolved) and head, and just talked with us about the option to

band. We had already previously had a CT scan done last year, so we knew that craniosynostosis was not an issue. He wrote the prescription and we went to the orthotic and prosthetic part of the hospital for an

evaluation. The surgeon did not do any measurements (except basic head circumference), but I suppose it's possible that they could. The orthotist, who was a STARBand provider, did the measurements and my son's assymetry was 11/16 of an inch, which she said was moderate. In

the end, we decided to go to Cranial Tech for the DOCBand, only because they have had more experience with treating older babies and my son is 17 months old. CT measures in mm and my son's assymetry for both his head and his ears is 15 mm, which is the high end of

moderate. They told me 2-4mm was " normal. " To get the assymetry measurement, they use calipers to measure from the right temple to the back left of the head, then from the left temple to the back right of the head, and the difference between those

two numbers, is the assymetry measurement, i.e. 15 mm. They they do the same with the ears (right to back left, left to back right), although the STARBand orthotist did not take that measurement, only the head.

The DOC and STAR work the exact same way, they are both active bands, which means that adjustments are made to encourage the head to grow to a certain shape. The orthotist or therapist scrapes out the foam

lining to open up spaces to allow the head to grow into them, while the other parts hold the head in a static position. The only real difference is in appearance. I consider STARBands a full coverage helmet, that just has a whole cut out of the top for ventalation, and

the foam is thicker. The DocBand, has more open space on top, it just depends on what shape and severity of head they are treating, and the foam is thinner. But again, they work exactly the same, though there

are a couple of other kinds on the market that are different in both looks and way of working (some are passive, which means they have no foam lining and they just encourage the head overall to grow to the shape of the helmet).

Hope this helps! Good luck! in RaleighJake-17m (tort resolved/plagio) DocBand 2/11/08Jordan-4>> Hello all,> > My 6 month old has an appt. with the cranial spcialist this Friday. > What should I expect and what should I ask?> I've read from the post that " normal " is considered 0-3 mm, but I

> don't understand what that measurement is of.> If my son is considered mild-mod plagio should I go ahead with > treatment with band?> what is the difference between STAR and DOC?>

> Thank you so much.>