Re: Getting Starband at 9 months

[Guest guest]

From what I've read on here at 9months I would expect 100% improvement.KimFrom: <mmcclure99@...>Plagiocephaly Sent: Fri, November 5, 2010 8:47:43 AMSubject: Getting Starband at 9 months

Well, after months of waiting and seeing (repositioning and despite the intial recommendation of our pedi and a craniofacial surgeon/specialist) we have decided to get a helmet for our son Sam. He'll be almost 10 months when he is fitted.

Our specialist at Star Cranial in Columbia, MD thinks he'll be in it for about 4-4.5 months. He has plagio on the right side, with 13.1mm assymmetry. Despite the number, she puts him in the mild category because only one quadrant of his head is affected, and only facial impact is a slight bump on the right side of his forehead.

Just wondering if a 50% improvement is likely? She thinks we can get him down to 6mm, which would put him at the top of the normal range. He has a large noggin (98% percentile), and I'm concerned because his soft spot is already small. If it's almost closed, there may not be a lot of growth left?

Thanks,

[Guest guest]

I don't know why they would project such a short treatment with a

STARband (is it a STARband?), unless you're still giving indications

that you really don't want your son wearing a helmet. Seriously,

it's not that bad. I think once you get into it, you're not going to

want to settle for 6 mm. Such criteria are completely arbitrary

(that number was recently cited as an insurance threshold), and it

concerns me that you're even engaging that discussion before forming

an impression of how effective the helmet actually is.

Since only one quadrant is involved, and you're starting out with a

large skull, Sam might never actually outgrow the helmet! So you may

end up having to feel it out, I'm afraid; which I had to do because

we started treatment much later. Personally, I got a clear enough

sense around 24 months that Clara's helmet just wasn't consistently

holding the skull as intended, on the prominent points, which raised

an apparently equal probability that the unintended effect might be

detrimental.

An assumption of that judgment was that the orthotist had made every

possible adjustment to the helmet. If I had felt he were adjusting

the helmet to the clock, rather than Clara's head, I wouldn't have

been able to form my own opinion of what was possible. Parent and

orthotist should thus be able to " agree " when it's time to end

treatment, but that doesn't mean you should prescribe a contract!

As it happens, 24 months is roughly the time when most sources say

the helmets cease to have appreciable effect. When you're not happy

with the results, as we were not happy, you want all available

improvement. Hopefully, you'll simply get to where you're happy, and

be out of it in less than six months. But I'd aim for 3 mm, not

six. That's a lower criterion of " normal " used in plagiocephaly

research.

Good luck!

Thad Launderville

town, VT

Clara age 2, STARband '10

On Nov 5, 2010, at 11:47 AM, wrote:

> Well, after months of waiting and seeing (repositioning and despite

> the intial recommendation of our pedi and a craniofacial surgeon/

> specialist) we have decided to get a helmet for our son Sam. He'll

> be almost 10 months when he is fitted.

>

> Our specialist at Star Cranial in Columbia, MD thinks he'll be in

> it for about 4-4.5 months. He has plagio on the right side, with

> 13.1mm assymmetry. Despite the number, she puts him in the mild

> category because only one quadrant of his head is affected, and

> only facial impact is a slight bump on the right side of his forehead.

>

> Just wondering if a 50% improvement is likely? She thinks we can

> get him down to 6mm, which would put him at the top of the normal

> range. He has a large noggin (98% percentile), and I'm concerned

> because his soft spot is already small. If it's almost closed,

> there may not be a lot of growth left?

>

> Thanks,

>