Question about the Helmet??

[Guest guest]

Has anyone from this group had success with the helmet. I am new to this group

and in reading along, it seems like most of you are using the band and that many

of you who had the helmet eventually went to the band. I saw the pictures with

the helmets not fitting correctly and I am starting to get nervous about whether

this helmet is going to make things worse. She is mild at this point, but severe

enough to notice. I do not live close to any offices who do the band. I am going

through Hanger. Any personal experiences or word of wisdom? Thanks,

[Guest guest]

We sometimes use the words band and helmet interchangeably. Essentially, they

are all helmets, though they have the word band in their name (DOCBand,

STARBand). DOCBands are the the most band-like because there is less to them

than other helmets, but STARBands are nearly identical to Hanger bands. In any

case, a lot of people have used Hanger bands on this board with great success.

Hopefully some of them will chime in with their personal experiences. There have

also been some negative experiences, but if you have an experienced ortho (does

he deal with a lot of plagio babies?) and some good recommendations (maybe you

can ask him for former patients you can talk to for advice/input), you should be

fine. If you post your location, there might be someone on the board that has

used your ortho as well. Good luck!

Jake-2.5 (DOCBand Grad 9/08)

Jordan-5

>

> Has anyone from this group had success with the helmet. I am new to this group

and in reading along, it seems like most of you are using the band and that many

of you who had the helmet eventually went to the band. I saw the pictures with

the helmets not fitting correctly and I am starting to get nervous about whether

this helmet is going to make things worse. She is mild at this point, but severe

enough to notice. I do not live close to any offices who do the band. I am going

through Hanger. Any personal experiences or word of wisdom? Thanks,

>

[Guest guest]

Hello,

My son has a helmet from Hanger. We pretty much had no choice to go there. I'm

in norhteast ohio and the closest cranial tech is two states away in Chicago.

Also, my insurance only approved Hanger. So that's where we are going. My son

is only one week in. So far, so good. Last night was his first night sleeping

in it and he did great. Hanger has been super nice to us and we are pretty

happy with them. He hasn't minded the helmet very much at all. They actually

call it a cranial band at Hanger also. Looks a lot more like a helmet, but it's

the same general idea as a DOCbBand. They all apply the counter pressure on the

head to redirect growth. Our ortho is really nice and seems to be very

experienced.

Good luck with everything

> >

> > Has anyone from this group had success with the helmet. I am new to this

group and in reading along, it seems like most of you are using the band and

that many of you who had the helmet eventually went to the band. I saw the

pictures with the helmets not fitting correctly and I am starting to get nervous

about whether this helmet is going to make things worse. She is mild at this

point, but severe enough to notice. I do not live close to any offices who do

the band. I am going through Hanger. Any personal experiences or word of wisdom?

Thanks,

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the input . We live in Fresno, California. Is there anyone on

this board from that area?

-- In Plagiocephaly , " " <nwilkens2275@...> wrote:

>

> We sometimes use the words band and helmet interchangeably. Essentially, they

are all helmets, though they have the word band in their name (DOCBand,

STARBand). DOCBands are the the most band-like because there is less to them

than other helmets, but STARBands are nearly identical to Hanger bands. In any

case, a lot of people have used Hanger bands on this board with great success.

Hopefully some of them will chime in with their personal experiences. There have

also been some negative experiences, but if you have an experienced ortho (does

he deal with a lot of plagio babies?) and some good recommendations (maybe you

can ask him for former patients you can talk to for advice/input), you should be

fine. If you post your location, there might be someone on the board that has

used your ortho as well. Good luck!

>

>

> Jake-2.5 (DOCBand Grad 9/08)

> Jordan-5

>

>

>

> >

> > Has anyone from this group had success with the helmet. I am new to this

group and in reading along, it seems like most of you are using the band and

that many of you who had the helmet eventually went to the band. I saw the

pictures with the helmets not fitting correctly and I am starting to get nervous

about whether this helmet is going to make things worse. She is mild at this

point, but severe enough to notice. I do not live close to any offices who do

the band. I am going through Hanger. Any personal experiences or word of wisdom?

Thanks,

> >

>

[Guest guest]

hi julie,

i also went through Hanger, but didnt get a Hanger 'helmet' i got the STARband,

but i go to Hanger. I have only seen one person on here have a problem with

thier helmet or it was a older style or something. i guess the most popular

bands are the DOC band and the STARband. My son has been in his STARband for 2

months now and i have seen phenomonal results! I think a good ortho is also

crucial to see improvement....

We have not had any problems either! thank god...i think it was worse on me than

him! i thought he would hate wearing it but he wears it all night and sleeps

fine....

you will know if the helmet looks like it doesnt fit right and then that is when

you raise concern that it doesnt look right and i think you will notice on thier

head when you take it off if there are any really bad red spots and stuff.

i think you should really do your research and get what you want, but i have

tlaked to many moms and dads who have said the STARband has worked great for

thier little one!

>

> Has anyone from this group had success with the helmet. I am new to this group

and in reading along, it seems like most of you are using the band and that many

of you who had the helmet eventually went to the band. I saw the pictures with

the helmets not fitting correctly and I am starting to get nervous about whether

this helmet is going to make things worse. She is mild at this point, but severe

enough to notice. I do not live close to any offices who do the band. I am going

through Hanger. Any personal experiences or word of wisdom? Thanks,

>

[Guest guest]

we have a helmet from a place in Tennessee. It is 2 hours away, and the closest

band place is 4 hours--so we just had to go with what we could reasonably work

with---

He has had it for 2 months; no problems with irritation or bothering him at all.

I can see a change in the " bump " on his forehead and some of the flattening on

the back. I'm sure he'll be in it at least another 2 months.

Since that's the only option for people around here, the few people who have had

a helmet have gone to vanderbilt--and I've talked to ppl around town who have

stopped me to tell me their child, a friend, whatever--had the same helmet from

Vandy and had great results, never regretted it. So that's encouraging.

It is a passive helmet as opposed to the active bands--

Betsy

>

> Has anyone from this group had success with the helmet. I am new to this group

and in reading along, it seems like most of you are using the band and that many

of you who had the helmet eventually went to the band. I saw the pictures with

the helmets not fitting correctly and I am starting to get nervous about whether

this helmet is going to make things worse. She is mild at this point, but severe

enough to notice. I do not live close to any offices who do the band. I am going

through Hanger. Any personal experiences or word of wisdom? Thanks,

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for all of your responses regarding the helmet. I am just waiting to hear

back from hanger for the helmet to be ready. Hopefully, it will fit well. Thanks

again, it really helps to hear about everyones experiences.

> >

> > Has anyone from this group had success with the helmet. I am new to this

group and in reading along, it seems like most of you are using the band and

that many of you who had the helmet eventually went to the band. I saw the

pictures with the helmets not fitting correctly and I am starting to get nervous

about whether this helmet is going to make things worse. She is mild at this

point, but severe enough to notice. I do not live close to any offices who do

the band. I am going through Hanger. Any personal experiences or word of wisdom?

Thanks,

> >

>

[Guest guest]

We just finished our first week and are really happy so far. Our son has the

DOCband. What I like about it is that Cranial Technologies has weekly fit

appointments where they measure and evaluate your child's head and make minor

adjustments to the foam inside the band to allow room for growth. I really like

how I can see more his head. We've been doing neck stretches they've recommended

and seen a chiropractor who is experienced in working with babies and have seen

a huge difference in his ability to hold up his head, roll over, and push up on

tummy time. I was worried that a helmet/band would hinder his development on

those skills, but it's extremely lightweight. It weighs less than your car keys.

So far I feel really confident that we've made the right choice. I can already

see a difference in the shape of his head. He's almost 4 months old, and the

clinician thinks he may only need 4-6 weeks in his DOC band.

> >

> > Has anyone from this group had success with the helmet. I am new to this

group and in reading along, it seems like most of you are using the band and

that many of you who had the helmet eventually went to the band. I saw the

pictures with the helmets not fitting correctly and I am starting to get nervous

about whether this helmet is going to make things worse. She is mild at this

point, but severe enough to notice. I do not live close to any offices who do

the band. I am going through Hanger. Any personal experiences or word of wisdom?

Thanks,

> >

>

[Guest guest]

My son started wearing his DOC Band at 7 months old, that was almost 6 years

ago. We used Crainial Technologies as well, and could not have been happier.

They made a tough experience mush easier. I have heard that in the past 6 years

the original casting has changed as well as the process itself. I will tell you

that when our son finished the results were (are)amazing. We recieved before

and after pictures and were blown away at the - clrealy visible changes. We

also received the original casting of his head and when we placed the DOC band

on the cast - we were truly amazed.

Our son responded very quickly to the treatment, much to the surprise of our

doctor and ourselves. When we started treatment we thought he would have to

wear the DOC band for 6 months - we finished in 13 weeks ). We strictly

adhered to the 23 hours on, the washing with alcohol as well. I loved to

decorate it with stickers, it still has the stickers on it. We did find that

the hair and body wash was not strong enough to get the smell out of his hair

and started using 's baby shampoo, the yellow one and that worked just

fine.

We are constantly reminded that we made the right decision for our son. I wish

you all the best.

> > >

> > > Has anyone from this group had success with the helmet. I am new to this

group and in reading along, it seems like most of you are using the band and

that many of you who had the helmet eventually went to the band. I saw the

pictures with the helmets not fitting correctly and I am starting to get nervous

about whether this helmet is going to make things worse. She is mild at this

point, but severe enough to notice. I do not live close to any offices who do

the band. I am going through Hanger. Any personal experiences or word of wisdom?

Thanks,

> > >

> >

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