conflict between pediatrician advise and cranial tech advise

[Guest guest]

feeling a bit overwhelmed here. 4 month old daughter has positional plagio with

5 mm ear asymmetry and 11mm cranial vault asymmetry. Saw people at Cranial tech

who recommnended banding. Also met with a PT today who said she would band too.

The thing is our pediatrician said that we should give repositioning a try. We

were referred to Dr. Graham but don't have an appointment for another 2 1/2

weeks. Also our PT seems to think he will likely tell us to try more

repositioning for another month (she knows him well).

My wife and I both are of the mind set that if we are going to do this anyway we

would rather just get it started so it will be done sooner. Any thoughts one way

or the other?

thanks,

[Guest guest]

Our pediatrician did not seem too concerned about my son's head. At 5 months I took him to see a specialist who mentioned repositioning as an option. He also told us that if it were his son, he would not helmet him. My husband and I trusted him. After several months, I did not see any improvement so we took him to see another specialist who was unimpressed and thought we did not need the helmet either. Finally I consulted with a doctor out of town who reviewed pictures and told me that he was a great candidate for a helmet. I wish I listened to my gut at 5 months and put him in the helmet. My son does not mind it at all. I think it bothers me more and I do miss seeing his head and kissing it. I am so happy that we finally put him in it and the only thing I would do differently would be to put him in it

earlier.

From: <nwilkens2275@...>Subject: Re: conflict between pediatrician advise and cranial tech advisePlagiocephaly Date: Friday, March 13, 2009, 8:18 AM

Our peds (we saw 2) didn't even say to try repo. So we didn't and my son's head never got better. So when he was 16 months old, I started up on the banding process again, and one ped told me straight out that helmets were a crock. So I just kept going to other doctors until someone would write me the script for the helmet. You have to follow your gut and just do what you think is best. She is only 4 months old, so you DO have some time to work with if you did decide to try repo for a while, but if you're not committed to it, and just feel like your ready to band now anyway, then why not do it? The only thing would be finding a doctor to write the script, so if the specialist or ped won't even consider it until you've tried repo, than I guess you won't have a choice, but again, time is on your side. Good luck!Jake-2.5 (DOCBand Grad 9/08)Jordan-5>> feeling a bit overwhelmed here. 4 month old daughter has positional plagio with 5 mm ear asymmetry and 11mm cranial vault asymmetry. Saw people at Cranial tech who recommnended banding. Also met with a PT today who said she would band too. The thing is our pediatrician said that we should give repositioning a try. We were referred to Dr. Graham but don't have an appointment for another 2 1/2 weeks. Also our PT seems to think he will likely tell us to try more repositioning for another month (she knows him well).> My wife and I both are of the mind set that if we are going to do this anyway we would rather just get it started so it will be done sooner. Any thoughts one way or the other?> thanks,> >

[Guest guest]

Hello,

My dd was only 4 months old when we started the helmet process. I think the

sooner you start the better and quicker results you will get. I can't remember

the exact #'s at this point (it has been a year and a half since helmet) but I

think she was 9mm cranial and very close to the same ear asymmetry. My dd ended

up only being in her helmet a total of 7 weeks!! So if you have to wait 2 more

weeks for the apointment it dosen't hurt to do the repositon but once you have

your apointment I would see what the dr has to say and if he dosen't tell you

what you hoped to hear then tell the dr. all that you have done to help correct

her head and that you have done a lot of resurch and really think Banding would

be the best.

Good Luck!

Alison M (Caroline Hanger band graduatue 2007)

>

> feeling a bit overwhelmed here. 4 month old daughter has positional plagio

with 5 mm ear asymmetry and 11mm cranial vault asymmetry. Saw people at Cranial

tech who recommnended banding. Also met with a PT today who said she would band

too. The thing is our pediatrician said that we should give repositioning a try.

We were referred to Dr. Graham but don't have an appointment for another 2

1/2 weeks. Also our PT seems to think he will likely tell us to try more

repositioning for another month (she knows him well).

> My wife and I both are of the mind set that if we are going to do this anyway

we would rather just get it started so it will be done sooner. Any thoughts one

way or the other?

> thanks,

>

>

[Guest guest]

Having ripped on pediatricians earlier are you all telling me they refuse to give scripts just because they don't think its necessary? This might seem silly but can't you just ask them to do it anyway? Its not like they have to do anything else. You're still going to take the rx to an ortho place. Its not like you are asking to a drug Rx. Maybe you can make a case for it. Everything is negotiable and it helps if your ord knows you won't back down ever. Let me ask this. Do the ortho places have their own dr? I went to childens and they do obviously but I don't know how the stand alone ones work. If they do have doctors, and they are trying to get business they should be eager to get all perspective babies in helmets. I'm just trying to think of a workaround. From: "alisonmignery" Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:44:15 -0000<Plagiocephaly >Subject: Re: conflict between pediatrician advise and cranial tech advise Hello, My dd was only 4 months old when we started the helmet process. I think the sooner you start the better and quicker results you will get. I can't remember the exact #'s at this point (it has been a year and a half since helmet) but I think she was 9mm cranial and very close to the same ear asymmetry. My dd ended up only being in her helmet a total of 7 weeks!! So if you have to wait 2 more weeks for the apointment it dosen't hurt to do the repositon but once you have your apointment I would see what the dr has to say and if he dosen't tell you what you hoped to hear then tell the dr. all that you have done to help correct her head and that you have done a lot of resurch and really think Banding would be the best. Good Luck! Alison M (Caroline Hanger band graduatue 2007) > > feeling a bit overwhelmed here. 4 month old daughter has positional plagio with 5 mm ear asymmetry and 11mm cranial vault asymmetry. Saw people at Cranial tech who recommnended banding. Also met with a PT today who said she would band too. The thing is our pediatrician said that we should give repositioning a try. We were referred to Dr. Graham but don't have an appointment for another 2 1/2 weeks. Also our PT seems to think he will likely tell us to try more repositioning for another month (she knows him well). > My wife and I both are of the mind set that if we are going to do this anyway we would rather just get it started so it will be done sooner. Any thoughts one way or the other? > thanks, > >

[Guest guest]

I just want to add that everyone I saw offered an RX for the helmet but said they did not think he needed it. My husband did not want to do it unless a doctor thought it was necessary. That was the frustrating part for me. I KNEW he needed it but they were trying to convince me that some kids have different shaped heads, etc...it would round out etc....

missy

From: <nwilkens2275>Subject: Re: conflict between pediatrician advise and cranial tech advisePlagiocephalyDate: Friday, March 13, 2009, 8:18 AM

Our peds (we saw 2) didn't even say to try repo. So we didn't and my son's head never got better. So when he was 16 months old, I started up on the banding process again, and one ped told me straight out that helmets were a crock. So I just kept going to other doctors until someone would write me the script for the helmet. You have to follow your gut and just do what you think is best. She is only 4 months old, so you DO have some time to work with if you did decide to try repo for a while, but if you're not committed to it, and just feel like your ready to band now anyway, then why not do it? The only thing would be finding a doctor to write the script, so if the specialist or ped won't even consider it until you've tried repo, than I guess you won't have a choice, but again, time is on your side. Good luck!Jake-2.5 (DOCBand Grad 9/08)Jordan-5>> feeling a bit overwhelmed here. 4 month old daughter has positional plagio with 5 mm ear asymmetry and 11mm cranial vault asymmetry. Saw people at Cranial tech who recommnended banding. Also met with a PT today who said she would band too. The thing is our pediatrician said that we should give repositioning a try. We were referred to Dr. Graham but don't have an appointment for another 2 1/2 weeks. Also our PT seems to think he will likely tell us to try more repositioning for another month (she knows him well).> My wife and I both are of the mind set that if we are going to do this anyway we would rather just get it started so it will be done sooner. Any thoughts one way or the other?> thanks,>

>

[Guest guest]

You didn't mention if you were hoping this would be covered by insurance

or not.

If so, your insurance may not even approve it until you've shown that a

certain amount of repositioning / therapy is not helping (much). I would

recommend calling the insurance department at CT and aksing them if they

have experience with your particular insurance provider. They will be

able to advise you on what they may require. Also, be sure CT has sent

their findings and info over to the pediatrician. (They may not have

shared this info already, especially if not instructed to do so.) Then

call your insurance and verify that what CT suggested might be what you

need to do in order to get it covered.(They will still not give you a

'guarantee' until it all is filed with them.) At that point, talk to

the pediatrician and let them now what you have found out. This way,

Maybe you can get them to see the need more clearly.

You have done the first steps and started early, don't get discouraged,

time is on your side! We started late and we are still in our second

band, but glad we did it. Our DS is now 13.5 mos and will probably be

in his band another 2 months, but the imporvement with the band has been

wonderful. We did therapy/repositioning for 4.5 mo. before banding and

for a total of 6 mos. He was 9 mos. before we were able to get him

banded. Keep pushing and don't give up!

HTH, Margaret

>

> feeling a bit overwhelmed here. 4 month old daughter has positional

plagio with 5 mm ear asymmetry and 11mm cranial vault asymmetry. Saw

people at Cranial tech who recommnended banding. Also met with a PT

today who said she would band too. The thing is our pediatrician said

that we should give repositioning a try. We were referred to Dr.

Graham but don't have an appointment for another 2 1/2 weeks. Also our

PT seems to think he will likely tell us to try more repositioning for

another month (she knows him well).

> My wife and I both are of the mind set that if we are going to do this

anyway we would rather just get it started so it will be done sooner.

Any thoughts one way or the other?

> thanks,

>

>

[Guest guest]

Your baby is young so you can try repo if you want. Our specialist (cranio

facial plastic surgeon) recommends banding at 10 mm or above. We saw him when my

daughter was 4 mo and he thought that was a good age to try repo if we wanted.

However she was more severe, so we decided to band right away. If she has

torticollis repo is harder, but if not you may get enough correction from repo

to avoid banding. So although your daughter is a good candidate for a band, it

is possible that you can avoid it - thus the conflicting info.

However I can see why you don't want to wait 2.5 wks, but just to be told you

need to wait another month. If I were you I would take pics now, and take more

just before you see him, tell him you've been doing repo, and if there has been

any change or not. That way maybe you can avoid the extra month. Or maybe you

can get a prescription from your ped if you think you want to band anyway.

-christine

sydney, 3 yrs, starband grad

>

> feeling a bit overwhelmed here. 4 month old daughter has positional plagio

with 5 mm ear asymmetry and 11mm cranial vault asymmetry. Saw people at Cranial

tech who recommnended banding. Also met with a PT today who said she would band

too. The thing is our pediatrician said that we should give repositioning a try.

We were referred to Dr. Graham but don't have an appointment for another 2

1/2 weeks. Also our PT seems to think he will likely tell us to try more

repositioning for another month (she knows him well).

> My wife and I both are of the mind set that if we are going to do this anyway

we would rather just get it started so it will be done sooner. Any thoughts one

way or the other?

> thanks,

>

>