Re: Re: Has anyone ever negotiated a better price on a 2nd band with CT?

[Guest guest]

I agree and feel you should do whatever you can to get the results you are looking for. In response to Ed's comment about CT...we have had great experience with Cranial Tech and I feel that my daughter did get proper digital pics taken. I'm not sure if all CT clinics are the same, but the location we take her to uses DSI (digital surface imaging) which is a little more advanced than techniques used in the past. And even though you don't see an orthotist, the licensed pediatric physical therapists, not techs, are very experienced in all aspects of plagio. Again, I'm not sure all CT clinics are set up the same way????!!! Anyway, good luck with whatever decision you make

, mom to Norah, age 14 months

Plagiocephaly From: edpsp@...Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:37:07 +0000Subject: Re: Has anyone ever negotiated a better price on a 2nd band with CT?

Yes, we got our 2nd band for free. For us the argument was that the first was not fully effective because it was not hitting the holding points correctly. For weeks I'd been telling the tech I thought there was a problem and that she should not continue to shave out foam when the baby had not grown into the existing space. So, when she supposedly outgrew the band in about 9 weeks, we had a photo study done. At first the tech reviewed it with us and said how she saw all this great improvement that we did not see. She said she couldn't see or feel the place where I said the baby was growing up out the top of the band. Then a week later someone else called us, said tat the orthotist back in the home office had reviewed the photos and felt there was a problem, and they wanted to offer to reband her for free.I know everyone loves CT here, but the problem is that you do not get proper digital scans or see a real orthotist the way you do with starband. That means the tech just says what they think and no matter how honest they are, they expect things to go a certain way and tend to just follow their script.I think DOC bands work great for 6-8 weeks and people get really excited about early results. After that they are too thin and don't have the holding power to really reshape the head. That seems to me like you get half the results for twice the price.I'd push for a new band if you baby didn't fully grow into the new shape of the old one. Good luck,ED >> Hello all-> > I am wondering if anyone has ever successfully negotiated a better price on a 2nd band from CT before.> > My son was banded at 3 months because the technician felt that his tort. was to severe for repositioning.(it was) She was very optomistic about treatment because of his age and said that once he was done, even if he laid on that side still, it would not shift back.> > At that time, I was told that treatment should be 10-12 weeks and that a 2nd helmet usually only occurs 15% of the time. Again, totally optomistic. Our insurance is not covering any portion of the DOC band but we went ahead immediately because it seemed the best option.> > Well, at his 5 week adjustment, we were told that he would outgrow his helmet in 3 weeks and that they recommended another. WHAT??? That was never even a scenario that played out in my head. > After leaving extremely upset, my husband and I decided to wait and see what 3 weeks could do. That is a lot of time considering they only thought it would take 12 weeks total. > > Fastforward 2 weeks and the tech said that he actually made such good improvement that they would not push us to continue treatment but it was an option. I was fairly happy with the results although not "perfect".> > To my horror, after just a couple days, my sons ears seemed to shift right back to where they were at 3 months.???!!!> > Maybe his ears would not have shifted back if he were still being treated up until he was 6 months like we expected. With better information, we could have waited a bit longer to start treatment so that there would not have been so much head growth.?> > I am calling CT this week to get evaluated again and I'm looking for any advice. I really fee that we should not have to pay for the 2nd helmet since we were given such bad information in the first place.> > Thank you!> >

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[Guest guest]

Ed,I think you make some very valid points in your argument. I agree that some parents who have good results with CT are a little too eager to push other parents into choosing the same provider that they have chosen. While they may have the best intentions, I think it is important to recognize that in the end, it is up to each individual parent to decide the best course of treatment for their child and while parental recommendations should carry some weight, it is detrimental that parents do ALL their research before putting their child's fate in the hands of a provider. In regards to CT, although I think a clinician there gave me some good advice, I chose another provider after doing a lot of research and meeting with a

second provider. I personally had a problem with the orthotist being in Arizona and not being the one who would makes the adjustments. I also like that while my daughter's board-certified orthotist does a visual inspection of my daughter's head during appointments, he also scans her head. The results of which, indicate exactly where she has grown and the amount. Accuracy is .5mm.I am so sorry to hear about your experience with CT and I hope that you were eventually able to get acceptable treatment for your child. Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I think it's important for ALL views to be heard on this board without criticism and hostility.-AmyFrom: edpsp

<edpsp@...>Plagiocephaly Sent: Wed, June 16, 2010 11:23:00 AMSubject: Re: Has anyone ever negotiated a better price on a 2nd band with CT?

, the difference is that CT only uses the DSi at the beginning and the end. They do not use it every appointment to take accurate measurements the way that many real orthotists do with the Star scanner. They don't even take hand measurements at every appt. except for the head circ. and then they don't decide about how to adjust the band based on that. The helmet is adjusted based on the whim of the tech.

I call them techs because the clinicians who work with you at CT are essentially serving as technicians. Most are PTs or nurses, some are not. Yes, they are all trained, but honestly everyone is 'trained' at their job including the girl working the fryer at Mcs. That's the good and bad about CT. They are the Mcs of helmets. You get consistent service and quality across locations. That's the model. Whereas anyone reading this group knows that with Starband there are better and worse locations depending on the skill of the orthotist. Surely, no parent would choose their local CT tech/clinician to do adjustments if they could have the home office orthotist do them in person instead. Wouldn't we all prefer they use the DSI every check-up and give us actual measurements?

I know someone is going to respond that they'd rather just go by the head shape that they see and bully for you. That sounds snarkier than I mean it to be. I don't doubt that CT has provided great results for so many children. I just know that there are problems for many of us and that some of these problems come from the way the techs make subjective decisions about adjustments and fit. Without measurements any conversation with them just goes in circles. It was the circular conversations I was having with the first clinician that made it clear to me that her training wasn't terribly extensive. At this point many people on these boards have looked at just as many photos of babies heads and probably read far more extensively about related conditions like torticollis. We've all read about more case studies than a newish employee at CT.

My main concern is the tone I hear on these boards. So many have had great results from using the DOCband. There are more or more active people discussing problems with other helmets. I think that often leads us to talk about CT as if they can do no wrong. People keep writing that they are 'the best in the business' or 'the best at what they do'. I cringe when I read that parents with doubts along the way are advised to trust the process. When parents of children in other helmets express concerns I hear a lot more people asking them if there is a CT location or another helmet provider nearby. I just want to make it clear that if any parent with a child in a DOCband has concerns they should not just trust that all is well. CT makes mistakes and sometimes the fries get burnt.

Wishing us all happy, healthy, symmetrical babies,

ED

> >

> > Hello all-

> >

> > I am wondering if anyone has ever successfully negotiated a better price on a 2nd band from CT before.

> >

> > My son was banded at 3 months because the technician felt that his tort. was to severe for repositioning.(it was) She was very optomistic about treatment because of his age and said that once he was done, even if he laid on that side still, it would not shift back.

> >

> > At that time, I was told that treatment should be 10-12 weeks and that a 2nd helmet usually only occurs 15% of the time. Again, totally optomistic. Our insurance is not covering any portion of the DOC band but we went ahead immediately because it seemed the best option.

> >

> > Well, at his 5 week adjustment, we were told that he would outgrow his helmet in 3 weeks and that they recommended another. WHAT??? That was never even a scenario that played out in my head.

> > After leaving extremely upset, my husband and I decided to wait and see what 3 weeks could do. That is a lot of time considering they only thought it would take 12 weeks total.

> >

> > Fastforward 2 weeks and the tech said that he actually made such good improvement that they would not push us to continue treatment but it was an option. I was fairly happy with the results although not "perfect".

> >

> > To my horror, after just a couple days, my sons ears seemed to shift right back to where they were at 3 months.???!!!

> >

> > Maybe his ears would not have shifted back if he were still being treated up until he was 6 months like we expected. With better information, we could have waited a bit longer to start treatment so that there would not have been so much head growth.?

> >

> > I am calling CT this week to get evaluated again and I'm looking for any advice. I really fee that we should not have to pay for the 2nd helmet since we were given such bad information in the first place.

> >

> > Thank you!

> >

> >

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