Guest guest Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 Hello, My son will be 8 mnths old January 26. He has brachycephaly and will be put into a Starband helmet next week. His cephalic index is 92.46% and his plagiocephaly is very mild at 1mm. I'm so frustrated that it has taken this long to get the helmet. I started talking to my pediatrician about it when my son was 4 months old. He wanted me to try positioning therapy for 2 months, then referred me to pediatric neurosurgeon. He agreed to refer me before Thanskgiving, and I just got into see the neurosurgeon on January 12. Grrr. We live in Indiana and are going through Midwest Orthodics on the north/northwest side of Indianapolis. If anyone has any experience, positive or negative, regarding this office, I'd love to hear about it. The neurosurgeon said my son's brachycephaly was on the high end of mild, low end of moderate. If anyone has had a child of similar age with a similar degree of bracy, any info you could give me about the progess he/she made in a band would be appreciated. I'm afraid that he's gotten too old at this point for the helmet to really be helpful. I do have a question. Once he is fitted with the helmet, he is to come back after one week, then come back once a month. That just doesn't seem often enough for me. I've asked if we could come in more often, and they said we could if I felt it necessary. I've seen a couple stories on the internet, and it seems like most people go back every other week instead of just once a month. How often did you go in to have your child checked? I'm so glad I found this board. It has helped answer a lot of my questions! Tammy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 22, 2010 Report Share Posted January 22, 2010 Tammy, Don't worry - 8 months is definately not too old. And, your doctor's were more responsive than most of our doctors. I started calling the pediatirican about my daughter's head at 2.5 months and we didn't get a referral to a specialist until 12.5 months. She kept telling me to reposition and that it would round out on it's own. In terms of appointment frequencies, that depends upon the kind of band you have and the age of the baby/toddler. STARbands are made with more room for growth than Doc bands so adjustments are needed less frequently. One month for an 8 month old does seem like a long time. We did go every month, but was over a year old at that time. I believe that our STARband place would have had you come back every two weeks and maybe three weeks after a couple of months. The reason for this is that the growth of the head slows down as babies get older. 's starting number was 95 percent, which we were told was moderate. Some call it severe. Our cranial doctor had told us it was moderate to severe based upon how it looked (she didn't do measurements because our insurance wouldn't pay for to be seen by the PT who normally does those measurements). was nearly 15 months when she got her helmet and she wore it for six months. She ended up at 92.2 percent when she graduated. I was told that this was good improvement for her age. , mom to , 28 months STARband grad May 2009 Chiro and CST land New to the group -Hello! Hello,My son will be 8 mnths old January 26. He has brachycephaly and will be put into a Starband helmet next week. His cephalic index is 92.46% and his plagiocephaly is very mild at 1mm. I'm so frustrated that it has taken this long to get the helmet. I started talking to my pediatrician about it when my son was 4 months old. He wanted me to try positioning therapy for 2 months, then referred me to pediatric neurosurgeon. He agreed to refer me before Thanskgiving, and I just got into see the neurosurgeon on January 12. Grrr.We live in Indiana and are going through Midwest Orthodics on the north/northwest side of Indianapolis. If anyone has any experience, positive or negative, regarding this office, I'd love to hear about it.The neurosurgeon said my son's brachycephaly was on the high end of mild, low end of moderate. If anyone has had a child of similar age with a similar degree of bracy, any info you could give me about the progess he/she made in a band would be appreciated. I'm afraid that he's gotten too old at this point for the helmet to really be helpful.I do have a question. Once he is fitted with the helmet, he is to come back after one week, then come back once a month. That just doesn't seem often enough for me. I've asked if we could come in more often, and they said we could if I felt it necessary. I've seen a couple stories on the internet, and it seems like most people go back every other week instead of just once a month. How often did you go in to have your child checked?I'm so glad I found this board. It has helped answer a lot of my questions!Tammy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 22, 2010 Report Share Posted January 22, 2010 Hi Tammy, My daughter was banded for brachy at 5 mo and was 96% to start. She wore her band until 10 mo old (quite a long time). You can see photos in Our Plagio Babies S/ Sydney M in the photos are for this group. I would say you are right about monthly visits. We started off with a 1 wk check, then visits after 2 weeks, then changed to visits every 3 weeks when she was around 7 mo old. However we often went in a day or two early for our 3 wk visit because the band was tight. I would say if they are only expecting to see you monthly they might be leaving a bit too much room in the band, and not getting the best results possible. Cranial Tech (docband) tends to have visits more frequently (1-2 wks depending on baby's age) but for starband I would say 2-3 wks is normal. -christine sydney, 4 yrs, starband grad > > Hello, > > My son will be 8 mnths old January 26. He has brachycephaly and will be put into a Starband helmet next week. His cephalic index is 92.46% and his plagiocephaly is very mild at 1mm. > > I'm so frustrated that it has taken this long to get the helmet. I started talking to my pediatrician about it when my son was 4 months old. He wanted me to try positioning therapy for 2 months, then referred me to pediatric neurosurgeon. He agreed to refer me before Thanskgiving, and I just got into see the neurosurgeon on January 12. Grrr. > > We live in Indiana and are going through Midwest Orthodics on the north/northwest side of Indianapolis. If anyone has any experience, positive or negative, regarding this office, I'd love to hear about it. > > The neurosurgeon said my son's brachycephaly was on the high end of mild, low end of moderate. If anyone has had a child of similar age with a similar degree of bracy, any info you could give me about the progess he/she made in a band would be appreciated. > > I'm afraid that he's gotten too old at this point for the helmet to really be helpful. > > I do have a question. Once he is fitted with the helmet, he is to come back after one week, then come back once a month. That just doesn't seem often enough for me. I've asked if we could come in more often, and they said we could if I felt it necessary. I've seen a couple stories on the internet, and it seems like most people go back every other week instead of just once a month. How often did you go in to have your child checked? > > I'm so glad I found this board. It has helped answer a lot of my questions! > > Tammy > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 22, 2010 Report Share Posted January 22, 2010 Hi Tammy, My son has brachy and started wearing his Boston Band (very similar to a Star Band) about 4 1/2 weeks ago when he was a little over 7 months old. He started out at 96% and was down to 93% at his two week adjustment appointment. We'll go every three weeks now until he's done. I've been assured many times by the plastic surgeon who did the initial measurements and by the orthos that this age is perfect for correction. I would agree that going in every month seems a little bit too long between adjustments, but I don't have any experience with the group you're going through. Hopefully someone else will be able to tell if that's the norm for them. It might be worth asking for more frequent appointments if they're willing to do it, though. Best of luck to you! Kellie > > Hello, > > My son will be 8 mnths old January 26. He has brachycephaly and will be put into a Starband helmet next week. His cephalic index is 92.46% and his plagiocephaly is very mild at 1mm. > > I'm so frustrated that it has taken this long to get the helmet. I started talking to my pediatrician about it when my son was 4 months old. He wanted me to try positioning therapy for 2 months, then referred me to pediatric neurosurgeon. He agreed to refer me before Thanskgiving, and I just got into see the neurosurgeon on January 12. Grrr. > > We live in Indiana and are going through Midwest Orthodics on the north/northwest side of Indianapolis. If anyone has any experience, positive or negative, regarding this office, I'd love to hear about it. > > The neurosurgeon said my son's brachycephaly was on the high end of mild, low end of moderate. If anyone has had a child of similar age with a similar degree of bracy, any info you could give me about the progess he/she made in a band would be appreciated. > > I'm afraid that he's gotten too old at this point for the helmet to really be helpful. > > I do have a question. Once he is fitted with the helmet, he is to come back after one week, then come back once a month. That just doesn't seem often enough for me. I've asked if we could come in more often, and they said we could if I felt it necessary. I've seen a couple stories on the internet, and it seems like most people go back every other week instead of just once a month. How often did you go in to have your child checked? > > I'm so glad I found this board. It has helped answer a lot of my questions! > > Tammy > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 26, 2010 Report Share Posted January 26, 2010 hello, i just have to say in answer to your concern about the frequency of visits. it is really dependent on the rate of growth, so the older the child the slower they grow so monthly visit is likely reasonable. My son got his band at 6 mos and went back at 1 week 2 week then to 4 week interval. but of course you will laways go back if you have concern of need for adjustment, and they will explain what to look for. good luck! le From: playgroup111 <playgroup111@...>Subject: New to the group -Hello!Plagiocephaly Date: Thursday, January 21, 2010, 8:43 PM Hello,My son will be 8 mnths old January 26. He has brachycephaly and will be put into a Starband helmet next week. His cephalic index is 92.46% and his plagiocephaly is very mild at 1mm. I'm so frustrated that it has taken this long to get the helmet. I started talking to my pediatrician about it when my son was 4 months old. He wanted me to try positioning therapy for 2 months, then referred me to pediatric neurosurgeon. He agreed to refer me before Thanskgiving, and I just got into see the neurosurgeon on January 12. Grrr.We live in Indiana and are going through Midwest Orthodics on the north/northwest side of Indianapolis. If anyone has any experience, positive or negative, regarding this office, I'd love to hear about it.The neurosurgeon said my son's brachycephaly was on the high end of mild, low end of moderate. If anyone has had a child of similar age with a similar degree of bracy, any info you could give me about the progess he/she made in a band would be appreciated. I'm afraid that he's gotten too old at this point for the helmet to really be helpful.I do have a question. Once he is fitted with the helmet, he is to come back after one week, then come back once a month. That just doesn't seem often enough for me. I've asked if we could come in more often, and they said we could if I felt it necessary. I've seen a couple stories on the internet, and it seems like most people go back every other week instead of just once a month. How often did you go in to have your child checked?I'm so glad I found this board. It has helped answer a lot of my questions!Tammy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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