Re: twins with torticollis and plagiocephaly???

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

welcome to the group. I would advise starting sooner than 6 mo if possible, but

even by 6 mo is good. It is just that you'll catch more growth before that, so

it may go quicker. In the meantime do what you can to keep the babies off their

head and their flat spot. It can be tough with twins and tort, but if they

aren't on that spot the head will have room to grow there. Try to rest them on

the prominent part as much as possible. You can use things like rolled up

blankets to position them.

As for safety, the docband is FDA approved. It does help redirect growth, but

doesn't restrict the brain from growing. In terms of expense it depends on your

insurance, and if they pay part of the cost. I think the band is about $3600,

but there might be a twin discount. We had a starband and lucky our insurance

covered the cost completely.

-christine

sydney, 4.5 yrs, starband grad

>

> We recently started PT for our 3 month old twins. One has pretty severe

torticollis and both have some sort of plagiocephaly on the sides of their

heads. Baby with Tort also has quite a bit of facial assemetry especially with

his ears. Our pediatrician wants to wait until their 4 month check up to make a

referal to see a craniofacial doctor. Does anyone have experience with any

doctors in the Dallas, TX area? What about starting treatment before 6 months

old? Should we be concerned about any long term complications from using a DOC

band while the head is growing soooo much at this time? Should we see a

neurologist as well Also, I heard that insurance doesn't typically cover the

helmets is this true? What about Dr visits? How much of an expense can we

expect? Any advise on how to fight insurance companies especially when babies

have torticollis too?? Any advise would be great. This is all so new and

overwhelming.

>

> lisa

>

[Guest guest]

,

I just wanted to completely agree with . We started the process at 6

months, so my daughter wasn't banded until she was 7 months and wore the band

for 11 weeks. She is incredibly improved! So much that we decided against a

second band, even though insurance would have covered it.

Starting before 6 months is ideal because there is so much growth! We were

lucky our daughter had a huge 7 month growth spurt, because that is what really

causes the plagio to be corrected.

I would definitely look into meeting CT as soon as possible, at least to get an

evaluation. If nothing else, they will help give you stretches to help the tort

and advice on repositioning.

Good luck!

, 10 months, Doc Band Grad

> >

> > We recently started PT for our 3 month old twins. One has pretty severe

torticollis and both have some sort of plagiocephaly on the sides of their

heads. Baby with Tort also has quite a bit of facial assemetry especially with

his ears. Our pediatrician wants to wait until their 4 month check up to make a

referal to see a craniofacial doctor. Does anyone have experience with any

doctors in the Dallas, TX area? What about starting treatment before 6 months

old? Should we be concerned about any long term complications from using a DOC

band while the head is growing soooo much at this time? Should we see a

neurologist as well Also, I heard that insurance doesn't typically cover the

helmets is this true? What about Dr visits? How much of an expense can we

expect? Any advise on how to fight insurance companies especially when babies

have torticollis too?? Any advise would be great. This is all so new and

overwhelming.

> >

> > lisa

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I have twin boys, one with tort (now corrected through PT) and both with

plagiocephaly. We got Twin A's helmet at 6.5mo, and Twin B's at about 7.5 mo.

Our insurance did cover them, though with our deductible we paid for the first

one out of pocket. I think our orthotist said he does not usually helmet before

5 mo, because their head is growing so fast you typically need a second helmet,

but that 5mo is a very good age to start. There is bureaucracy involved, so get

the referral to the helmet company no later than 4 mo, then schedule your appt,

and then you have to wait a few weeks to get insurance approval/denial, and then

it takes a few weeks to get the helmet made. Our helmets were about $2800 each.

Every office visit/adjustment was covered in that. Our twins are 9mo old now,

and Twin A is almost done, and ^Twin B is getting close as well.

> >

> > We recently started PT for our 3 month old twins. One has pretty severe

torticollis and both have some sort of plagiocephaly on the sides of their

heads. Baby with Tort also has quite a bit of facial assemetry especially with

his ears. Our pediatrician wants to wait until their 4 month check up to make a

referal to see a craniofacial doctor. Does anyone have experience with any

doctors in the Dallas, TX area? What about starting treatment before 6 months

old? Should we be concerned about any long term complications from using a DOC

band while the head is growing soooo much at this time? Should we see a

neurologist as well Also, I heard that insurance doesn't typically cover the

helmets is this true? What about Dr visits? How much of an expense can we

expect? Any advise on how to fight insurance companies especially when babies

have torticollis too?? Any advise would be great. This is all so new and

overwhelming.

> >

> > lisa

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for all of the comments. We have our 4 month check up next week. I am

not really sure how much my Pediatrician is going to want to discuss the

torticollis or the plagiocephaly as he should be making a referral for CT. Any

advise as to what I should be asking my pediatrician?

> > >

> > > We recently started PT for our 3 month old twins. One has pretty severe

torticollis and both have some sort of plagiocephaly on the sides of their

heads. Baby with Tort also has quite a bit of facial assemetry especially with

his ears. Our pediatrician wants to wait until their 4 month check up to make a

referal to see a craniofacial doctor. Does anyone have experience with any

doctors in the Dallas, TX area? What about starting treatment before 6 months

old? Should we be concerned about any long term complications from using a DOC

band while the head is growing soooo much at this time? Should we see a

neurologist as well Also, I heard that insurance doesn't typically cover the

helmets is this true? What about Dr visits? How much of an expense can we

expect? Any advise on how to fight insurance companies especially when babies

have torticollis too?? Any advise would be great. This is all so new and

overwhelming.

> > >

> > > lisa

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Our physical therapist is the one that told us to go forward with the helmet. I

don't think our pediatrician would have noticed the plagio as early (hence why

the petition here is so important). I just called our ped's office and told them

that PT had said we needed a helmet, they faxed the order to the orthotist. Twin

B we had the orthotist take a quick glance at when Twin A had his molding done.

He said he was definitely a candidate for a helmet. We told the ped at the next

check up (about a week later) and she was somewhat insistent that we needed to

have him go to PT to get measured first, but I was pretty insistent that we did

not need that step. Twin B has no torticollis, and I didn't want to pay the

expensive eval cost at PT. I told her that the orthotist does measurements, and

she went with it. But we have a pretty easy going pediatrician. I think that if

you ever have a concern though, your pediatrician should not blow it off and

listen to you. They are not out any money for you to find out more about plagio

and helmeting. We had to point out the plagio to her, and Twin B actually

measured 1mm more than the more obvious plagio in Twin A.

Anyhow, I'm rambling, but I think just letting your ped know your concerns and

that you would like a referral is enough. Good luck!

> > > >

> > > > We recently started PT for our 3 month old twins. One has pretty severe

torticollis and both have some sort of plagiocephaly on the sides of their

heads. Baby with Tort also has quite a bit of facial assemetry especially with

his ears. Our pediatrician wants to wait until their 4 month check up to make a

referal to see a craniofacial doctor. Does anyone have experience with any

doctors in the Dallas, TX area? What about starting treatment before 6 months

old? Should we be concerned about any long term complications from using a DOC

band while the head is growing soooo much at this time? Should we see a

neurologist as well Also, I heard that insurance doesn't typically cover the

helmets is this true? What about Dr visits? How much of an expense can we

expect? Any advise on how to fight insurance companies especially when babies

have torticollis too?? Any advise would be great. This is all so new and

overwhelming.

> > > >

> > > > lisa

> > > >

> > >

> >

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