Re: Big lump/ridge formed on back of babys' head...continue to wear band?

October 18, 2009

I see a lot of transient changes, and as I've written previously,

rely on long-term changes instead to ease my mind. But I suspect the

pattern you describe may indicate " time to adjust the helmet. " I've

seen it a couple times, where Clara's head looks really awesome, then

suddenly looks more asymmetrical again right before I notice the

helmet is too tight and go in for an adjustment.

I think it's because the back of the skull, in a loose-fitting

helmet, can actually become more symmetrical than the helmet.

Gravity and parental efforts at correcting rotation drive the high

point to makes contact first, but the poor fit then impacts the

apparent angles between the skull plates when growth takes up the slack.

Perhaps one could become more sensitive to helmet fit and learn how

to get the appointment before that happens. Leaving the band off

could have an effect under this theory, too; but then you're opening

yourself back up to interactions with flat surfaces.

So personally, I'm just leaving it on, because I don't think it

really matters in the long run. My sense is that the skull sutures

aren't going to become rigid over the few days it takes to get in to

the orthotist, and that nothing will be lost. All the growth that

occurred while the skull was in the more favorable shape will still

have been directed to that shape.

--

Thad Launderville

Montpelier, VT

Clara age 18 months, 2 months in STARband

On Oct 18, 2009, at 9:29 AM, stippy524 wrote:

> My 6 month old son and daughter (twins) have been in their bands

> for 2 weeks now. Last night I noticed that a big ridge/lump has

> formed on the right side of Jack's skull. He always had a ridge

> there, it has been there since birth, but after 1 week of wearing

> the band it went down a LOT. All week things were feeling fine,

> and then last night when I took the band off to clean it I noticed

> that the ridge was not only back, but a lot worse than it ever has

> been. I left the band off overnight b/c I didn't want to continue

> to promote this kind of growth/change. Has anyone else epxerienced

> something like this? I can't call anyone at the office today, but

> will call first thing tomorrow. Do you think we should just leave

> the band off until I can talk to someone? Now I'm feeling really

> guilty that this did something bad to my baby's head.

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