Re: band never adjusted

September 16, 2009

Hi! I have never heard of a hanger band that was not adjusted so that is my 1st

question... was it a " hanger " band? Maybe it was a passive band that your hanger

ortho used. How old is your baby now? How long was he in the band? Is there a CT

near you? You could go to a CT & get a 2nd opinion & see if another band m ight

help.

HTH!

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- band never adjusted

My DS got a band from hanger at about 11 months for plagio. He's only had appts

every month and they have never adjusted it. At his last appt at 13 months, they

said his plagio was down to 4 mm difference and that we could stop the helmet if

we wanted to, but that we didn't need to come back. I don't know. I'm kind of

disappointed in the care. He has some brachy to him and I've noticed that his

head doesn't come out very much at the nape. But the orthotist didn't seem to

notice that. So, today I was thinking that it looks like the helmet is tight at

his nape, so I am wondering if the helmet is not allowing his head to grow at

the base, where I think it needs to. I guess my question is, is it normal for a

band to not be adjusted at all during treatment?

September 16, 2009

Hi,

If at all possible, I would get a second opinion. Only 2 months in a

helmet at 11 months is awfully fast, especially if you are not

completely satisfied. I don't know how your helmet works, but I don't

see how there could be that much improvement without the helmet needing

adjusting. Is there a CT you could go to for an evaluation?

We only go in about every 5 weeks for our Starband, but the ortho

shaves it every time even though there has been slow growth. If we see

deep red spots, we are to come in sooner.

Were you the one who posted pictures beforehand? You could post follow

up pictures for us to comment on.

- Kathy, mom to , 15.5 months, 3 months in Starband

bananaaggie wrote:

My DS got a band from hanger at about 11 months for plagio. He's

only had appts every month and they have never adjusted it. At his last

appt at 13 months, they said his plagio was down to 4 mm difference and

that we could stop the helmet if we wanted to, but that we didn't need

to come back. I don't know. I'm kind of disappointed in the care. He

has some brachy to him and I've noticed that his head doesn't come out

very much at the nape. But the orthotist didn't seem to notice that.

So, today I was thinking that it looks like the helmet is tight at his

nape, so I am wondering if the helmet is not allowing his head to grow

at the base, where I think it needs to. I guess my question is, is it

normal for a band to not be adjusted at all during treatment?

September 16, 2009

We don't have a CT near us and we are driving 2 hours to this place as it is. I

picked it because when I talked to the ortho, he seemed really experienced and I

later googled him and he has given talks around the state (UT) on banding. My

son was a somewhat mild plagio case (he started at 7 mm off). Plus he was older,

so I'm not sure if these factors had anything to do with the lackadaisical

treatment (which is annoying if it does).

He was seen a week after he got the helmet and they adjusted it, but didn't

shave anything off. Then it was never adjusted again. And the last time we went,

two orthos measured him to be 3-4 mm off. But the band never was shaved. It is

an active band - not passive. At this point, I'm not interested in getting

another band done or anything like that, plus I'm not sure that any new place

could even really recommend the band since his measurements are pretty good. But

I just figure that if we have the band that we have, I would like to get maximum

use out of it to get his head to be the best it can be. If his head were not to

get any better, I think I would be okay with that - but like I said, we have the

band and it doesn't bother my DS, so why not try for an even better head? I

don't know, I am just a little annoyed, I guess...

> >

> > My DS got a band from hanger at about 11 months for plagio. He's only

> > had appts every month and they have never adjusted it. At his last

> > appt at 13 months, they said his plagio was down to 4 mm difference

> > and that we could stop the helmet if we wanted to, but that we didn't

> > need to come back. I don't know. I'm kind of disappointed in the care.

> > He has some brachy to him and I've noticed that his head doesn't come

> > out very much at the nape. But the orthotist didn't seem to notice

> > that. So, today I was thinking that it looks like the helmet is tight

> > at his nape, so I am wondering if the helmet is not allowing his head

> > to grow at the base, where I think it needs to. I guess my question

> > is, is it normal for a band to not be adjusted at all during treatment?

> >

>

September 16, 2009

I suppose it's possible that if he's not having a lot of significant growth

there would be no need for an adjustment (although we went every 3 weeks to CT

and they adjusted my son's bands every single time and he was way older than

your son-17 months when he started).

However, a Hanger band is supposed to last up to 6 months, so I'm not sure why

the ortho is ready to discontinue treatment at only 3 months or so. Why not

leave it on him, if not the full 6 months, then another month or 2, just to get

as much as you can out of it? Yes, 4mm is relatively mild, at least on paper,

but if he's already in the band and doesn't mind it at all, I don't see why you

can't have him wear it longer, if that's what you want. Do you think the ortho

would be adamently opposed to the idea, or just indifferent?

Jake-3 (DOCBand Grad 9/08)

> > >

> > > My DS got a band from hanger at about 11 months for plagio. He's only

> > > had appts every month and they have never adjusted it. At his last

> > > appt at 13 months, they said his plagio was down to 4 mm difference

> > > and that we could stop the helmet if we wanted to, but that we didn't

> > > need to come back. I don't know. I'm kind of disappointed in the care.

> > > He has some brachy to him and I've noticed that his head doesn't come

> > > out very much at the nape. But the orthotist didn't seem to notice

> > > that. So, today I was thinking that it looks like the helmet is tight

> > > at his nape, so I am wondering if the helmet is not allowing his head

> > > to grow at the base, where I think it needs to. I guess my question

> > > is, is it normal for a band to not be adjusted at all during treatment?

> > >

> >

>

September 16, 2009

Hi ,

I don't understand how your son could grow enough to go from 7mm to 4mm

without needing the helmet adjusted/shaved. My son hasn't even dropped

quite 2mm and his helmet has been shaved 3 times and a piece added

once. Perhaps, your band works differently. I also don't understand

why your ortho would not keep supporting your son in the helmet. I

would ask the ortho why your son hasn't needed his helmet adjusted in 2

months. Also, I would nicely tell the ortho that you want to continue

with the helmet and are hoping he will continue treating your son.

BTW, congratulations on the improvement!

Kathy, mom to , 15.5 months, 3 months Starband

& W wrote:

We don't have a CT near us and we are driving 2 hours to this

place as it is. I picked it because when I talked to the ortho, he

seemed really experienced and I later googled him and he has given

talks around the state (UT) on banding. My son was a somewhat mild

plagio case (he started at 7 mm off). Plus he was older, so I'm not

sure if these factors had anything to do with the lackadaisical

treatment (which is annoying if it does).

He was seen a week after he got the helmet and they adjusted it, but

didn't shave anything off. Then it was never adjusted again. And the

last time we went, two orthos measured him to be 3-4 mm off. But the

band never was shaved. It is an active band - not passive. At this

point, I'm not interested in getting another band done or anything like

that, plus I'm not sure that any new place could even really recommend

the band since his measurements are pretty good. But I just figure that

if we have the band that we have, I would like to get maximum use out

of it to get his head to be the best it can be. If his head were not to

get any better, I think I would be okay with that - but like I said, we

have the band and it doesn't bother my DS, so why not try for an even

better head? I don't know, I am just a little annoyed, I guess...

> >

> > My DS got a band from hanger at about 11 months for plagio.

He's only

> > had appts every month and they have never adjusted it. At his

last

> > appt at 13 months, they said his plagio was down to 4 mm

difference

> > and that we could stop the helmet if we wanted to, but that

we didn't

> > need to come back. I don't know. I'm kind of disappointed in

the care.

> > He has some brachy to him and I've noticed that his head

doesn't come

> > out very much at the nape. But the orthotist didn't seem to

notice

> > that. So, today I was thinking that it looks like the helmet

is tight

> > at his nape, so I am wondering if the helmet is not allowing

his head

> > to grow at the base, where I think it needs to. I guess my

question

> > is, is it normal for a band to not be adjusted at all during

treatment?

> >

>

September 16, 2009

I've heard that the Hanger band is similar to the STARband and STARbands are made with some room for growth. Since you started off mild, it's possible that his head has grown into the space, but not enough to need shaving done yet. My ortho told me that she typically needs to see around 2 to 3 cm of circumferance growth before she needs to shave the back of the helmet (at least for a brachy band). didn't grow this much in the full six months, so nothing was ever shaved off the back. I'm pretty sure that this is different for the DOC band because I don't think they leave as much space for growing into it. That's why they require more frequent adjustments than the STARband.

Given your baby's age, there just may not have been enough growth for this to happen yet. Ours was never shaved other than to adjust for fit. It does sound like your ortho is experienced and well respected so you are probably in good hands. Plus, you've already got some results.

As far as continuing in the band, I would suggest trying to convince the ortho that you'd like a little bit more improvement. If the helmet still fits and you have no red spots, there's no reason not to continue and an adjustment may not need to be made to do so. There may still be space in the area to grow into. If your ortho respects you as a parent, then he'll probably agree to let you continue a few more weeks.

, mom to , 24.5 months

STARband grad May 2009

Re: band never adjusted

We don't have a CT near us and we are driving 2 hours to this place as it is. I picked it because when I talked to the ortho, he seemed really experienced and I later googled him and he has given talks around the state (UT) on banding. My son was a somewhat mild plagio case (he started at 7 mm off). Plus he was older, so I'm not sure if these factors had anything to do with the lackadaisical treatment (which is annoying if it does).He was seen a week after he got the helmet and they adjusted it, but didn't shave anything off. Then it was never adjusted again. And the last time we went, two orthos measured him to be 3-4 mm off. But the band never was shaved. It is an active band - not passive. At this point, I'm not interested in getting another band done or anything like that, plus I'm not sure that any new place could even really recommend the band since his measurements are pretty good. But I just figure that if we have the band that we have, I would like to get maximum use out of it to get his head to be the best it can be. If his head were not to get any better, I think I would be okay with that - but like I said, we have the band and it doesn't bother my DS, so why not try for an even better head? I don't know, I am just a little annoyed, I guess...> > > >> > My DS got a band from hanger at about 11 months for plagio. He's only > > had appts every month and they have never adjusted it. At his last > > appt at 13 months, they said his plagio was down to 4 mm difference > > and that we could stop the helmet if we wanted to, but that we didn't > > need to come back. I don't know. I'm kind of disappointed in the care. > > He has some brachy to him and I've noticed that his head doesn't come > > out very much at the nape. But the orthotist didn't seem to notice > > that. So, today I was thinking that it looks like the helmet is tight > > at his nape, so I am wondering if the helmet is not allowing his head > > to grow at the base, where I think it needs to. I guess my question > > is, is it normal for a band to not be adjusted at all during treatment?> >> >>

September 17, 2009

Thanks, , that makes sense. I'm going to call them tomorrow as well just

to ask. The ortho is not against continuing the band but he said we didn't

necessarily need to come back just that he didn't want my son to wear the helmet

longer than 2 more months. Maybe he was trying to save us a trip since we are 2

hours away, but I just thought it strange that he didn't want to schedule an

appointment. He did say we were welcome to call whenever we have any kind of

question, so perhaps he assumed that if the my son had deep red spots and needed

the helmet shaved that we would call....

thanks, everyone, for the help!