Guest guest Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 Hi - I worked on tort and the helmet at the same time - you just remove the helmet to do the stretches. My daughter is now 3 and her head was 14.8 mm diag diff and now is 2 mm - ie within normal of 0-6 AND the tort is much better - we still stretch - even at 3 years and she is still in PT and gymnastics and ballet - both have helped a lot! Band now or later My son had his 4 month check up today and the pediatrican recommended he wait to get the Band until 6 months and work on his torticollis first to get that better. I think I agree with her but wanted other's opinions on this as maybe you've gone through this situation also. We were all set with 's scan tomorrow at CT and then getting his band next Friday but now I have put that off until the end of May in hopes his torticollis will get much better. Thoughts??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 I think it would be a good idea to address the torticollis issues while your child is in the band. If you look up head growth circumference charts you will find that a baby's largest growth spurt is from 4 to 7 months. You may miss a huge opportunity for correction if you wait. I had the chance to band at 4 months, but waited in hopes that I would see improvement on its own. I really regret it now because when I checked his head circumference for his 3 month visit and compared them to his 6 month visit I realized he had a large growth spurt. By the time he was banded at 6 1/2 months he his head growth had slowed considerably. On Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 3:17 PM, julieccarr <julieccarr@...> wrote: My son had his 4 month check up today and the pediatrican recommended he wait to get the Band until 6 months and work on his torticollis first to get that better. I think I agree with her but wanted other's opinions on this as maybe you've gone through this situation also. We were all set with 's scan tomorrow at CT and then getting his band next Friday but now I have put that off until the end of May in hopes his torticollis will get much better. Thoughts??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 So it's better to do it during a huge growth spurt? I thought if I waited then maybe we could only be in one band instead of two since he will be a little older and maybe not growing as much. I'm so confused! My son had his 4 month check up today and the pediatrican recommended he wait to get the Band until 6 months and work on his torticollis first to get that better. I think I agree with her but wanted other's opinions on this as maybe you've gone through this situation also. We were all set with 's scan tomorrow at CT and then getting his band next Friday but now I have put that off until the end of May in hopes his torticollis will get much better. Thoughts??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 I would opt for now - you want the growth spurt! Which band? We did Starband through CIRS in Palo Alto, CA - Amy was and is the best orthist - also great advice for torticollis. Keep stretching! Re: Band now or later So it's better to do it during a huge growth spurt? I thought if I waited then maybe we could only be in one band instead of two since he will be a little older and maybe not growing as much. I'm so confused! My son had his 4 month check up today and the pediatrican recommended he wait to get the Band until 6 months and work on his torticollis first to get that better. I think I agree with her but wanted other's opinions on this as maybe you've gone through this situation also. We were all set with 's scan tomorrow at CT and then getting his band next Friday but now I have put that off until the end of May in hopes his torticollis will get much better. Thoughts??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 Well, the way the band mostly works is it holds the places in with gentle pressure where you don't want growth and leaves space in the areas that you want the head to grow. I hope that makes sense. If you wait for his growth spurt to pass before banding his head will most likely continue to grow everywhere equally and not round out on it's own. So you've missed this very important opportunity for correction. Then when you do band the growth has slowed considerably and the child could be in the band longer. If I had had my son banded at 4 months he may have only needed to wear it for 3 months. He had such a huge growth spurt. But I waited until he was 6 1/2 months and he hasn't grown that much so he's been in a band for 5 months now and most likely will need to wear it for much longer. The whole right side of his forehead, eye, and cheek is popped forward. We are just waiting patiently for growth so that the left side can catch up. The band does not force any molding of the head with heavy pressure. That's why it can only really work with growth. I hope this makes sense. For the cases where some children need more than one band, it's probably because they've outgrown the band, but still did not get enough correction. On Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 6:52 PM, Carr <julieccarr@...> wrote: So it's better to do it during a huge growth spurt? I thought if I waited then maybe we could only be in one band instead of two since he will be a little older and maybe not growing as much. I'm so confused! My son had his 4 month check up today and the pediatrican recommended he wait to get the Band until 6 months and work on his torticollis first to get that better. I think I agree with her but wanted other's opinions on this as maybe you've gone through this situation also. We were all set with 's scan tomorrow at CT and then getting his band next Friday but now I have put that off until the end of May in hopes his torticollis will get much better. Thoughts??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 9, 2010 Report Share Posted April 9, 2010 , I think that part of it is that the doctor is hoping to be able to avoid the band by doing the repositioning. If it is going to correct, it will do so by 6 months at the latest. However, I think that repositioning gets harder after about 4 months. But, there is still a lot of growth in the next couple of months so if you can redirect that growth, you could avoid the band. Redirecting the growth is the challenge. Growth does result in the change. I have to admit that CT's explanation of why younger babies need more bands has never made sense to me since growth is growth. Theoretically, the same amount of growth would be needed to produced an equal amount of change. But, there might be other factors that I just don't understand. So far, no one has been able to provide an explanation that makes sense to me. So, yes, a band at 4 months will be finished sooner than a band at 6 months. However, I have stated that I think I would have tried to avoid the band until 6 months with aggressive repositioning and alternative treatments. If you don't believe in trying alternative treatments and have already done aggressive respositioning, then my only concern would be the increased risk of regression if you finish the band before the baby is very mobile. But, people have posted that the risk of regression is not high unless there is also tort. So, in your case, I do think that you might want to consider getting that tort more under control before you stop using a band. If you start a band right away, it is not unheard of for a 4-month old to be finished in 7 to 9 weeks. A 6-month old could take as little as 3 months. The question is where your priorities are and how quickly that tort is going to respond to the PT. Can you have a conversation with your PT about this? However, if the doctor wants to wait, then you may have no choice but to do so since you will need the prescription to go forward. Just get everything all set up so that you can go directly from your 6 month appointment to the band company to get the scan and get in that helmet immediately. If things correct on their own, you can always cancel the appointment. If not, then you'll probably still be done before that first birthday. If CT thinks that you need more than one band, you'll probably still need more than one band whether you do it at 4 months or 6 months. The difference will just be how quickly he outgrows each of the bands. Re: Band now or later Well, the way the band mostly works is it holds the places in with gentle pressure where you don't want growth and leaves space in the areas that you want the head to grow. I hope that makes sense. If you wait for his growth spurt to pass before banding his head will most likely continue to grow everywhere equally and not round out on it's own. So you've missed this very important opportunity for correction. Then when you do band the growth has slowed considerably and the child could be in the band longer. If I had had my son banded at 4 months he may have only needed to wear it for 3 months. He had such a huge growth spurt. But I waited until he was 6 1/2 months and he hasn't grown that much so he's been in a band for 5 months now and most likely will need to wear it for much longer. The whole right side of his forehead, eye, and cheek is popped forward. We are just waiting patiently for growth so that the left side can catch up. The band does not force any molding of the head with heavy pressure. That's why it can only really work with growth. I hope this makes sense. For the cases where some children need more than one band, it's probably because they've outgrown the band, but still did not get enough correction. On Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 6:52 PM, Carr <julieccarr@...> wrote: So it's better to do it during a huge growth spurt? I thought if I waited then maybe we could only be in one band instead of two since he will be a little older and maybe not growing as much. I'm so confused! My son had his 4 month check up today and the pediatrican recommended he wait to get the Band until 6 months and work on his torticollis first to get that better. I think I agree with her but wanted other's opinions on this as maybe you've gone through this situation also. We were all set with 's scan tomorrow at CT and then getting his band next Friday but now I have put that off until the end of May in hopes his torticollis will get much better. Thoughts??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 9, 2010 Report Share Posted April 9, 2010 Ooh! Ooh! Let me take a crack at it! :-B Perhaps there isn't enough suture formation in a younger baby to hold the flat bone that has already ossified into a cohesive shape, even though those flat spots are smaller by virtue the earlier treatment. I haven't found my hoped-for " retainer effect " with Clara at the other end of the age spectrum, so perhaps this phenomenon of second helmets in younger patients can take that title. On Day 9 post-helmet, we lost the aesthetic benefit of Clara's bat ear matching the angle of her plagio. I had predicted no angular regression after four days, based on the changes I had observed in a newly-adjusted helmet over the same period. In other words, I no longer believe that angular conformance can " stick " without circumferential growth. The anterior fontanelle doesn't close until 18 months, and 100% suture formation obviously diminishes the effectiveness of banding. But, some smaller number seems to be required as a defense against angular regression and subsequent poorly-directed growth. Clara's head looks visually improved for the first time today (Day 14). So, I estimate the period of angular regression is approximately 10 days. That would be a good time to assess whether a retainer helmet is needed, I think. -- Thad Launderville Montpelier, VT Clara, age 2, STARband grad (8/09 - 3/10) On Apr 9, 2010, at 7:31 AM, wrote: > Growth does result in the change. I have to admit that CT's > explanation of why younger babies need more bands has never made > sense to me since growth is growth. Theoretically, the same amount > of growth would be needed to produced an equal amount of change. > But, there might be other factors that I just don't understand. So > far, no one has been able to provide an explanation that makes > sense to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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