when shaving foam out of band?

[Guest guest]

this may be a dumb question but I am really curious about others experience with

this. Should they be shaving lots of foam out or sometimes they just don't need

to?? I was under the impression that the foam was shaved out where we needed

growth...as the head grew..?? and maybe only in areas where there is too much

pressure?....well it seems the only areas they shaved foam out was where there

was too much pressure. While we have had great correction so far , it must be

working fine, but still I am somewhat confused/concerned about how much room is

needed for growth, I mean for the rest of the head? maybe I am over analyzing

and worrying about nothing, but it just doesn't make sense to me :for example

why there needs to be so much pressure at the base of the skull if is has evened

out there, she shaved it down a bit but its still red back there, should I have

more shaved out there? we don't go back for a month. it just seems weird to me

to have the helmet so long(will be 10 weeks at next visit)and have hardly

anything shaved out, does this sound normal/ideal perhaps??

le

7mos

[Guest guest]

le,

my daughter is also in a starband and we just went for her first visit at 7

weeks and the only shaving they have done thus far is a little on her cheek

becuase it was getting a little red there but no other shaving. As far as the

base of the skull my daughter's helmet is not tight there, in fact, i was a bit

concerned as the helmet felt a little loose to me becuase when it hit her

shoulders it would move. I was also told that there would not be much shaving

between appointments. I am happy to say that we have seen great improvements in

7 weeks particularly because she was 13 months old when we banded. It's my

understanding that it is normal to have some mild redness at the pressure points

but I thought it should go away once you take the helmet off. I also don't think

there is a much shaving with the starband as compared with the docband.

Good Luck,

Annette

>

> >

> >

> > le,

> >

> >

> >

> > It really depends upon the amount of growth and the type of band that you

> > have. STARbands are made with more room to grow to begin with so it seems

> > more common that it takes longer for them to need shaving. I was told by our

> > ortho that she typically needs to see about 2 to 4 cm of circumferance

> > growth before she needs to shave anything from the back (this was a brachy

> > band). In fact, I could often stick my hand up the back of the helmet and

> > feel that there was plenty of room for growth. probably could have

> > worn the band for another few months before it needed shaving. And, she

> > could have worn it for a couple of years before all of the foam was gone. It

> > seems that the DOC bands are more closely fitted to the current head shape

> > so the appointments are more frequent and shaving occurs more often.

> >

> > I've heard that the Hanger band is similar to the STARband. I don't know

> > anything about the other kinds of bands.

> >

> >

> >

> > , mom to , 28 months

> >

> > STARband grad May 2009

> >

> > Chiro and CST

> >

> > land

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > when shaving foam out of band?

> >

> >

> >

> > this may be a dumb question but I am really curious about others experience

> > with this. Should they be shaving lots of foam out or sometimes they just

> > don't need to?? I was under the impression that the foam was shaved out

> > where we needed growth...as the head grew..?? and maybe only in areas where

> > there is too much pressure?....well it seems the only areas they shaved foam

> > out was where there was too much pressure. While we have had great

> > correction so far , it must be working fine, but still I am somewhat

> > confused/concerned about how much room is needed for growth, I mean for the

> > rest of the head? maybe I am over analyzing and worrying about nothing, but

> > it just doesn't make sense to me :for example why there needs to be so much

> > pressure at the base of the skull if is has evened out there, she shaved it

> > down a bit but its still red back there, should I have more shaved out

> > there? we don't go back for a month. it just seems weird to me to have the

> > helmet so long(will be 10 weeks at next visit)and have hardly anything

> > shaved out, does this sound normal/ideal perhaps??

> >

> > le

> > 7mos

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

>

>

> --

> Dea Ann Higgins

>

[Guest guest]

On Jan 12, 2010, at 8:00 AM, wrote:

> I'm not sure how the plagio bands compare because one side of the

> back should be tighter than the other.

The adjustments can be quite subtle, unfortunately. When Clara's

second STARband started getting tight for the first time, about a

month ago, it was (surprisingly to me) on the right cheek. As with

Annette's daughter, the orthotist shaved it down, a sixteenth of an

inch or so.

(Clara has left-sided plagio, meaning the back-left and front-right

of her crown are flat, while the back-right and front-left are

prominent. The planes of her face and the back of her head, viewed

in cross-section from above, would roughly constitute the short sides

of a parallelogram.)

I didn't complain, since the helmet was getting a bit difficult to

remove, and there was no consensus around here on whether the band

can negatively impact cheekbones. But it was pretty clear that this

adjustment allowed the helmet to rotate, and for two weeks, Clara's

occipital prominence was free to roam as wide as it wanted. Skull

growth seemed to catch up with it then, and by today's appointment,

the helmet seemed to be in " active " mode once again, holding the

prominence fast. We have a good lump forming low in the flat side,

so I was mildly pleased with our latest results.

However, I remained dissatisfied that the orientation of the helmet,

as indicated by the long axis of the oval cutout and star imprint,

was now being allowed to follow the orientation of the deformity,

rather than a more corrected axis as it was initially. The whole

point of having the helmet remade was to correct ill-fitting temples,

and I don't see how a perpetually asymmetrical helmet, based on the

original head shape, could possibly produce a symmetrical head unless

the interior shape were altered. So I raised these concerns, and

today we restored the cheek foam, cut out some of the occipital void,

and heavily padded the frontal prominence. All together, this made

the helmet slightly more " square " than Clara's head: took back the

rotation, tightened the fit on the prominent points, and restored

visible void spaces. Cheek pressure was restored to a moderate

level, but still less than previously, because points opposite were

shaved.

It is probably unusual for orthotist and parent to confer with such

specificity, but this is exactly the learning process I was aiming

for when I decided to stick it out with him. (I ejected the

pediatrician from the " team " as soon as we got our prescription, and

called in Orthomerica when I wasn't happy with the first helmet.) He

would probably paint white stripes on my back, if I ever turned it on

him; but I now have his close attention and a big say in the

treatment. The proof's in the pudding, though. A good result with

Clara will hopefully generalize to future patients.

To summarize with a maxim that the original poster may find useful:

Expect, and if necessary suggest, that the helmet be adjusted to be

always slightly more rectangular than the parallelogram of your

baby's head.

--

Thad Launderville

Montpelier, VT

Clara age 21 months, in STARband ~5 months