Trouble at Cranial Tech

[Guest guest]

It seems like everyone loves their CT experience, but I have to say I'm

disturbed by a few things. My child is 11 months, in the band for 9 weeks for

plagio. She has torticollis which we spotted right away and has been in PT since

7 weeks old. I saw the flat spot develop and asked drs, pt, etc., about

helmeting at 3-4 months and was told not to worry about it. Finally got one at 9

months. Familiar story.

We've seen some rounding out in the flat spot in the back and filling out in the

front on the other side. My concern is really about the skull base asymmetry

because if the place where the sternocleidomastoid muscles attach is not the

same, I can't see how they'll ever be equal in length, strength, and

flexibility. I think the bad advise had us miss the boat on this. We'll never

get the ears in line so the torticollis will always be a problem even if

improved. Maybe that sounds fatalistic, but I've been dragging this baby to a

reputable PT twice a week and having our own torture sessions at home 4-5 times

a day for 9 months. I'm a bit fed up, but won't finish PT for another 6 months

at least.

Anyway, it's not CTs fault the helmets won't correct much skull base asym if you

don't get them early. My problem with CT is that from the start I felt like the

helmet didn't hold on the high point over/behind her left ear. I'd ask and the

tech would talk in circles around the question. In the last 2-3 appts as growth

has slowed I asked if they really needed to shave the foam every visit. What if

she hadn't grown in the 2 weeks? The fit is getting worse, becoming more tilted

and rotating more because she hadn't yet grown into the space put there in the

previous adjustment. Again, the tech talked in circles. She said what if there's

a growth spurt in the coming 2 weeks. There needs to be room for it. I said

there already is room from the previous adjustment. This went around and around.

Ultimately it seems that no matter what you ask/say CT techs will never admit

there is any kind of a problem.

So, maybe that's my question. Has anyone had an experience where CT said there

was a problem with the helmet they made? Do they shave foam every single time

with or without growth between appointments? Every time we go the tech looks at

her head and claims to see rounding since the last appointment. They see many,

many kids, each for a few minutes. I don't believe she remembers my kid's head

well enough to see such minute changes every 2 weeks. I think it's just their

standard scripted line to parents.

To make a long rambling story longer (sorry), the tech now wants us to buy a

second helmet already. This is really my husbands fault, but the tech jumped all

over the chance to upsell us. We were told she'd use the helmet probably for 3-4

months depending on growth. We have not had any growth spurts so I don't see how

she could be growing out of this one early. Nonetheless, when I was saying it

wasn't fitting as well and she hadn't grown into the space already made in it,

the tech said they lose strength on the holding points. My husband asked if that

meant we needed a new helmet. I want to know why it would be losing

effectiveness in less than 2 months when it was sold to us as lasting twice this

long?

I think she will need another helmet which we would have to pay for out of

pocket, but I want to get full use out of both. Would you schedule a DSi in 2

weeks so we'd get a new helmet in about 4 after only 13 weeks or less in the

band? Would you push it off for 4 weeks so we'd get about 15 weeks in it? Or

would it be best to get a new band as early as possible because they are most

effective in the beginning?

Has anyone else felt like CT is just a factory with techs trained to do and say

the same thing for every baby? Has anyone switched from a DOCband to Starband or

some other active helmet?

If anyone is till reading this far I thank you for that and for any response you

may be able to offer.