Re: When to call it quits?

[Guest guest]

Hello Kathy

In your post you said that….

" Although 's head is not perfect, it almost passes as normal to me and I

don't feel nearly the panic about it that I felt at 16 months when I could

hardly sleep fearing it wouldn't improve, but it very slowly did improve. "

And this is exactly what it is all about. Your experience at wearing the helmet

beyond the 15 months and gaining the addition 4 mm is great. As always, the

decision to decide when to finish treatment is always left with the parents. In

the 9 years that we have been providing this service I have had parents continue

beyond the 15 month mark and they have been happy with the results, much like

yourself.

At one point in your treatment plan you would have had a discussion with your

clinician around when to complete treatment. In some cases parents say to us

that they are ready to stop and that's fine. In other cases parents also elect

to continue into the older months.

What is important in all of this is that parents do need to review the child's

progress to date along with the treating clinician and determine if further

treatment will benefit the child. Every child develops/responds at a different

rates and every parent has different expectations as to what they feel they want

to gain from having their child in treatment. That's what makes it so difficult

to put a precise number on when treatment should finish.

When I said that we don't treat beyond 15 months, it's not because we think that

is when treatment should end. It's because we seldom have parents requesting to

continue beyond that time frame. My apologies if this is the way it came across

and I hope that this helps clarifie my original comment.

In Christy's original post she presents a very typical treatment outcome. Early

intervention, great correction, and then the question, do we continue? She

indicated that " My husband says no and I'm on the fence. " And again this is

typical for some parents and this is the time when parents need to discuss what

their future options are for their child with their clinician.

Christy also mentioned that her child was now 9 months old and too me her child

still had more corrective time available. I suggested that she should return to

her clinician and discuss what their options are not that she has outgrown her

current helmet.

Disclaimer – The above comments are representative of experiences we that have

seen within our own clinic and are not to be considered as the standard of care

that all facilities should follow. As always consult with your clinician

regarding your specific concerns with your child's care.

Take care.

Mike Hall

Certified Orthotist

Hamilton Health Sciences

Chedoke Hospital

Hamilton Ontario

Canada

> > >

> > > My son who had brachy and plagi started his first Doc Band at 5

> > months and outgrew it in 6 weeks. We saw some great improvement but

> > still wanted to get more length in the back of his head. He was wider

> > at the top. We decided to go with a 2nd band even though insurance

> > originally denied us. (After our appeal, they came back and approved

> > it so we get a full refund from Cranial! Nice surprise for once!)

> > has been in his 2nd band now for about 10 weeks and probably only has

> > about 4 weeks top left. At my last adjustment appointment they

> > mentioned a 3rd band. My husband says no and I'm on the fence. We've

> > seen some great improvement but I don't feel like we've gotten the

> > length we wanted from this 2nd band so whose to say a 3rd would get us

> > there. He turned 9 months today and has been a trooper with the band

> > on for months. I'm torn. Part of me says we've done everything and the

> > other part says we have to do more. Any thoughts? Thanks guys!

> > >

> > > Christy

> > > polis, MD

> > >

> >

> >

>