Star Brand Helmet and Physical Therapy

[Guest guest]

Hello,

My daughter was examined yesterday for her flat head. A scan showed she

has a pretty severe flat head. Her head is almost a perfect circle

(when it should be more oval shaped). He head is five standard

deviations away from the norm in circumference (when no more than two

standard deviations is considered the norm).

We received info about how physical therapy would help out a lot and

that a Starbrand helmet would help even more. The doctor told us that

even if we did nothing, our daughter would not have any brain damage

or have any problems with motor skills. The main issue is the shape of

her head would continue to grow as a circle and be noticeably

different.

My wife and I are overwhelmed with all the info and want to do what's

best for our daughter. We kind of euqate it like if your child needs

braces. If you don't get braces, your child would be fine, but thene

then there would be the self-esteem issues if you don't.

Our daughter is only 5 months so if we were going to be aggressive,

not would be the time to do it.

Wondering if anyone out there can provide some input on this

situation, specifically regarding the Starbrand helmets and physical

therapy.

Thanks.

Steve

[Guest guest]

PT wouldn't directly effect her head, so I'm thinking there is another issue? Perhaps torticollis or something similar? PT can help head shape indirectly by strengthening weaker muscles and having her more easily stay off the flat spot on her own. Repositioning will help her head shape directly. It's not a guarantee and a lot of work for the parents. Once the child is mobile and rolling (generally ~5 months old) it is far less effective.

I strongly disagree with plagio/brachey being purely cosmetic. Studies are limited, but the ones I've seen on untreated plagio/brachey do show related health problems later in life. Most of these stem from asymmetry. There can be vision problems, speech problems, ear & jaw problems, and so on. So no, you're not looking a brain damage, but there are other issues that you could run into beyond just the cosmetic.

We don't use the Star band so I have no specific advice there. It's a hard choice and there's a lot of emotions to go through as parents. Browsing through the before and after pictures here and talking to people dealing with untreated plagio (there's a group for just that you may want to check out) will help you make the best decision. Personally, being that she is so far out of the normal range, and not even borderline, I would go through with banding.

Elaine (twin A) plagio & tort, 8mos old, 2nd helmet since 1/5/09On Tue, Feb 3, 2009 at 8:59 AM, srepsys <repsys@...> wrote:

Hello,

My daughter was examined yesterday for her flat head. A scan showed she

has a pretty severe flat head. Her head is almost a perfect circle

(when it should be more oval shaped). He head is five standard

deviations away from the norm in circumference (when no more than two

standard deviations is considered the norm).

We received info about how physical therapy would help out a lot and

that a Starbrand helmet would help even more. The doctor told us that

even if we did nothing, our daughter would not have any brain damage

or have any problems with motor skills. The main issue is the shape of

her head would continue to grow as a circle and be noticeably

different.

My wife and I are overwhelmed with all the info and want to do what's

best for our daughter. We kind of euqate it like if your child needs

braces. If you don't get braces, your child would be fine, but thene

then there would be the self-esteem issues if you don't.

Our daughter is only 5 months so if we were going to be aggressive,

not would be the time to do it.

Wondering if anyone out there can provide some input on this

situation, specifically regarding the Starbrand helmets and physical

therapy.

Thanks.

Steve

[Guest guest]

Steve,

I have never heard of PT helping with the head shape. PT is usually recommended for babies who have torticollis. In turn, torticollis causes plagio/brachy. Torticollis has to be resolved in order for the plagio/brachy not to get worse, but alone, PT will not correct the head shape.

You mention that you daughter's head is almost a perfect circle which tells me that she probably only has brachycephaly. Also, if it's almost a perfect circle, her cephalic index should be around 100%, which is considered severe.

My daughter Maysa started with a Cephalic Index of 98.2% and it went down to 93.2% after being in a DOC band for 2 months. She started wearing the DOC band when she was 9.5 months, so much older than your daughter.

At 5 months, your daughter is still very young but growing fast. If you decide to band her with a Starband or a DOC band, you should see better results faster.

My daughter grew the fastest between 5.5 and 9 months of age. Unfortunately, she was in the wrong helmet from Eastern Cranial Affiliates and her condition actually worsened a little. Basically, her head kept growing in the same direction all around.

You can look at her blog entry http://mymaysa.wordpress.com/2009/01/06/the-three-reports/ to see how her head shape grew while in the two different bands.

If you feel that your daughter could benefit from a band, act now and be prepared to see her improve week after week. If you go with a STARband, make sure the orthotist you choose is trusted and recommended.

On a separate note, I have an older daughter who is now 3. She never had plagio/brachy. She just started ballet and is loving it. She also loves wearing her hair in a ballet bun and looks great in it. I feel so much better knowing that I am doing everything I can to make my second daughter feel the same should she want to do ballet one day and look good in her ballet hair style.

Leila

Maysa, 1 year old, day 2 in DOC band

http://mymaysa.wordpress.com/

From: srepsys <repsys@...>Subject: Star Brand Helmet and Physical TherapyPlagiocephaly Date: Tuesday, February 3, 2009, 8:59 AM

Hello,My daughter was examined yesterday for her flat head. A scan showed shehas a pretty severe flat head. Her head is almost a perfect circle (when it should be more oval shaped). He head is five standard deviations away from the norm in circumference (when no more than two standard deviations is considered the norm).We received info about how physical therapy would help out a lot and that a Starbrand helmet would help even more. The doctor told us that even if we did nothing, our daughter would not have any brain damage or have any problems with motor skills. The main issue is the shape of her head would continue to grow as a circle and be noticeably different.My wife and I are overwhelmed with all the info and want to do what's best for our daughter. We kind of euqate it like if your child needs braces. If you don't get braces, your child would be fine, but thene then there

would be the self-esteem issues if you don't.Our daughter is only 5 months so if we were going to be aggressive, not would be the time to do it.Wondering if anyone out there can provide some input on this situation, specifically regarding the Starbrand helmets and physical therapy. Thanks.Steve

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I think your daughter has a brachy headshape because that is usually

measured in terms of std deviations. Also this head shape can have

extra width, and little or no asymmetry, so might look more like a

circle than an oval as you describe. My daughter had brachy and wore a

starband. Her head is still not perfect but she got a lot of

correction from her band. You can see her photos in the photos section

under Our Plagio Babies S/Sydney M

Plagiocephaly/photos/album/1577428621/pic/list?mod\

e=tn & order=ordinal & start=41 & & count=20 & dir=asc

We started at 5 mo old, and she wore her starband for 5 mo. Sydney

didn't have any PT. PT is usually to treat torticollis, and in my

experience tort is more common with plagio (asymmetry) than with

brachy. With PT the tort improves so the child is less likely to

prefer one side, tilt their head etc. It can keep plagio from

worsening, but doesn't really correct the existing head shape since it

doesn't redirect growth the way a band does. It is important if tort

is present, and can help with facial asymmetry too.

We felt that correcting the head shape was very important. Partly for

appearance, but also thinks like wearing bicycle helmets and glasses.

With an unusual head shape these will be harder to fit. I don't see

any negatives to wearing the band except a little inconvenience and a

few funny looks. It does a lot to correct the head, and in my opinion

it is very worthwhile.

-christine

sydney, 3 yrs, starband grad

>

> Hello,

>

> My daughter was examined yesterday for her flat head. A scan showed she

> has a pretty severe flat head. Her head is almost a perfect circle

> (when it should be more oval shaped). He head is five standard

> deviations away from the norm in circumference (when no more than two

> standard deviations is considered the norm).

>

> We received info about how physical therapy would help out a lot and

> that a Starbrand helmet would help even more. The doctor told us that

> even if we did nothing, our daughter would not have any brain damage

> or have any problems with motor skills. The main issue is the shape of

> her head would continue to grow as a circle and be noticeably

> different.

>

> My wife and I are overwhelmed with all the info and want to do what's

> best for our daughter. We kind of euqate it like if your child needs

> braces. If you don't get braces, your child would be fine, but thene

> then there would be the self-esteem issues if you don't.

>

> Our daughter is only 5 months so if we were going to be aggressive,

> not would be the time to do it.

>

> Wondering if anyone out there can provide some input on this

> situation, specifically regarding the Starbrand helmets and physical

> therapy.

>

> Thanks.

>

> Steve

>