Re: Cranial Tech vs Hanger questions

[Guest guest]

My son is 7 month old and we have been in the Hanger helmet for 2 weeks. I have

posted pictures and he is the homepage pic. We decorated our black helemt that

was ordered and made it into Mizzou tigers.

>

> My daughter, Eleanor, is 8 months old and was just diagnosed plagiocephalic a

couple of weeks ago.

>

> We were originally referred by our pediatrician to Cranial Technologies (who

use the Doc Band). I really liked their office and the people, and it made me

very comfortable that cranial banding is ALL that they do, that it's their

specialty. Also, my husband's nephew went to Cranial Tech and had a Doc Band

for his treatment (plagio runs in the family).

>

> Unfortunately, our insurance will only approve us to us Hanger. We haven't

met with them yet, but have an appointment next week. I already have several

concerns:

>

> 1) The woman from Hanger who called me was an idiot. This conversation was

the first I had ever heard of Hanger, Inc, and I wasn't aware that they had

their own band. So, I asked her what type of band they use (Doc Band, Star

Band, etc), and she couldn't answer me. She just kept trying to put me on the

line with someone else.

> 2) It seems that Hanger, Inc does other things besides cranial banding, but

Cranial Tech specializes in it. That makes a big difference in my mind. This

is my kid's skull we're talking about, I would prefer to go to someone who

specializes in it.

> 3) The Hanger website didn't offer very many views of the helmets. Are all

Hanger helmets the full-head ones? Or can they also be the partial head ones

like Doc Band? Does that even make any sense?

> 4) The website also didn't offer any before and after pictures or give

guidelines for potential treatment time. The lack of before and afters bothers

me. Also, we were told at Cranial Tech that Ellie could potentially be done

with treatment in 3-4 months. While I understand that every case is different,

does Hanger generally take longer than Doc Band?

>

> I am thinking about calling our insurance to see if they would pay anything

for Doc Band and we just pay the difference, or if we are stuck with Hanger

unless we pay all of it out of pocket.

>

> I was hoping that I could get some different opinions and experience on the

Doc Band vs Hanger and also get some pictures of kids in Hanger helmets?

>

> Thank you so much in advance!

>

[Guest guest]

Sorry I told you wrong.... My son is on home page pic AllAboutPlagiocephaly

group.

>

> My daughter, Eleanor, is 8 months old and was just diagnosed plagiocephalic a

couple of weeks ago.

>

> We were originally referred by our pediatrician to Cranial Technologies (who

use the Doc Band). I really liked their office and the people, and it made me

very comfortable that cranial banding is ALL that they do, that it's their

specialty. Also, my husband's nephew went to Cranial Tech and had a Doc Band

for his treatment (plagio runs in the family).

>

> Unfortunately, our insurance will only approve us to us Hanger. We haven't

met with them yet, but have an appointment next week. I already have several

concerns:

>

> 1) The woman from Hanger who called me was an idiot. This conversation was

the first I had ever heard of Hanger, Inc, and I wasn't aware that they had

their own band. So, I asked her what type of band they use (Doc Band, Star

Band, etc), and she couldn't answer me. She just kept trying to put me on the

line with someone else.

> 2) It seems that Hanger, Inc does other things besides cranial banding, but

Cranial Tech specializes in it. That makes a big difference in my mind. This

is my kid's skull we're talking about, I would prefer to go to someone who

specializes in it.

> 3) The Hanger website didn't offer very many views of the helmets. Are all

Hanger helmets the full-head ones? Or can they also be the partial head ones

like Doc Band? Does that even make any sense?

> 4) The website also didn't offer any before and after pictures or give

guidelines for potential treatment time. The lack of before and afters bothers

me. Also, we were told at Cranial Tech that Ellie could potentially be done

with treatment in 3-4 months. While I understand that every case is different,

does Hanger generally take longer than Doc Band?

>

> I am thinking about calling our insurance to see if they would pay anything

for Doc Band and we just pay the difference, or if we are stuck with Hanger

unless we pay all of it out of pocket.

>

> I was hoping that I could get some different opinions and experience on the

Doc Band vs Hanger and also get some pictures of kids in Hanger helmets?

>

> Thank you so much in advance!

>

[Guest guest]

My daugther wore a starband. Where we lived there was no CT office close by, and

to be honest I just went where my doctor sent me. However I was lucky that our

starband office was very good. They had tons of experience - that makes a big

difference. I'm not sure if that office does things other than banding but I

only saw people there for bands.

All orthos are not equally familiar with banding, so check out the hanger office

and see what you think. I think in general Cranial Tech is a safer bet in the

sense that their staff is well trained in banding since they do only that.

However there are some very good orthos that use other products and get good

results. My daughter wore her band for 5 months (age 5-10mo). I do wonder if it

would have been quicker with a docband, but there is really no way to know. We

saw progress at every visit, so I knew it was working.

-christine

sydney, 5 yrs, starband grad

>

> My daughter, Eleanor, is 8 months old and was just diagnosed plagiocephalic a

couple of weeks ago.

>

> We were originally referred by our pediatrician to Cranial Technologies (who

use the Doc Band). I really liked their office and the people, and it made me

very comfortable that cranial banding is ALL that they do, that it's their

specialty. Also, my husband's nephew went to Cranial Tech and had a Doc Band

for his treatment (plagio runs in the family).

>

> Unfortunately, our insurance will only approve us to us Hanger. We haven't

met with them yet, but have an appointment next week. I already have several

concerns:

>

> 1) The woman from Hanger who called me was an idiot. This conversation was

the first I had ever heard of Hanger, Inc, and I wasn't aware that they had

their own band. So, I asked her what type of band they use (Doc Band, Star

Band, etc), and she couldn't answer me. She just kept trying to put me on the

line with someone else.

> 2) It seems that Hanger, Inc does other things besides cranial banding, but

Cranial Tech specializes in it. That makes a big difference in my mind. This

is my kid's skull we're talking about, I would prefer to go to someone who

specializes in it.

> 3) The Hanger website didn't offer very many views of the helmets. Are all

Hanger helmets the full-head ones? Or can they also be the partial head ones

like Doc Band? Does that even make any sense?

> 4) The website also didn't offer any before and after pictures or give

guidelines for potential treatment time. The lack of before and afters bothers

me. Also, we were told at Cranial Tech that Ellie could potentially be done

with treatment in 3-4 months. While I understand that every case is different,

does Hanger generally take longer than Doc Band?

>

> I am thinking about calling our insurance to see if they would pay anything

for Doc Band and we just pay the difference, or if we are stuck with Hanger

unless we pay all of it out of pocket.

>

> I was hoping that I could get some different opinions and experience on the

Doc Band vs Hanger and also get some pictures of kids in Hanger helmets?

>

> Thank you so much in advance!

>