My son is getting casted today

[Guest guest]

Hi, I'm new to this. My son is almost 6 months old and has a really flat head

and bulges above his ears. Visually, his symmetry seems fine (I guess I will

find out more today) I'm just curious what is a DOC band and how that differs

from a helmet, if at all. The Dr. we saw didn't really tell us much. I wasn't

expecting for him to recommend a helmet so I wasn't prepared with the questions!

The company doing it is local. I read posts about cranial technologies and

Starband. I feel like we are uninformed. I don't even know what to expect

today at his appointment. The kids in the doctors office had like hard helmet

that completely covered their heads with vent holes. Just wondering if anyone

could shed some let on is before we go today. Thank you!

(Ian's mom)

[Guest guest]

Welcome to the group!  Where are you from?

 

Plagio and breachy are a lot to deal with, but it's not as scary as it seems at first.  There are two kinds of helmets, active and passive.  DOC is an active helmet and has a really good reputation nationally.  Some brands are local and only available in some areas.  No matter what kind you get, having a great ortho (person that fits the helmet) is the key to the best correction.  Look through the files section here and check out http://www.plagiocephaly.info/ too.  That site is a bit hard on the eyes and isn't the most user friendly out there in terms of orginazition, but it has the best info in one spot.  They even have lists of questions you may want to ask your doctor and/or ortho.

 

As for what to expect today?  You'll probably get to meet the ortho that will be working with your baby.  They will explain all the basics about what helmet you're getting from how it works to how to care for it.  You'll be able to ask questions too.  If you're getting casted and not scanned (a lot of places scan now) it's not as horrible as you're probably thinking.  I know I was fretting over how they were going to make a plaster mold of my baby's head!  The entire casting process from start to finish took all of 5 min.  She didn't enjoy being wet, but it was over so quick it wasn't bad at all.

 

Elaine (twin A), tort & plagio, 10 1/2 mos, 2nd helmet since 1/5/09

MI

On Mon, Apr 13, 2009 at 1:21 PM, fox7030 <Fox7030@...> wrote:

Hi, I'm new to this. My son is almost 6 months old and has a really flat head and bulges above his ears. Visually, his symmetry seems fine (I guess I will find out more today) I'm just curious what is a DOC band and how that differs from a helmet, if at all. The Dr. we saw didn't really tell us much. I wasn't expecting for him to recommend a helmet so I wasn't prepared with the questions! The company doing it is local. I read posts about cranial technologies and Starband. I feel like we are uninformed. I don't even know what to expect today at his appointment. The kids in the doctors office had like hard helmet that completely covered their heads with vent holes. Just wondering if anyone could shed some let on is before we go today. Thank you!

(Ian's mom)