Plagiocephaly and helmets. Necessary?

[Anonymous]

This is easily fixed now. It will not fix on its own. It is much harder to fix in an older child - and after a certain point it is not fixable at all.

[Anonymous]

I have an extremely flat head and it’s caused no issues whatsoever. I ignored the helmet for my kids, one of them has a bit of a flat head but I didn’t even bother getting it evaluated. It’s fine.

[Anonymous]

We did it and are glad that we did. But make sure you also work on fixing the cause. In my child's case, that was torticollis and she had PT for 12 months (through child find, they came to our home).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:15:52 here. Also, if insurance doesn't want to pay for it, argue with them. The fact that your doctor has diagnosed it as "severe" and recommended the treatment is in your favor. Likely your doctor is trying to increase the likelihood it is covered after past experiences with insurance trying to reject it. I bet you can get it covered.

The helmet companies will go to bat for you to help get insurance to cover it.

[Anonymous]

I don't know if they still do it, but 10+ years ago, INOVA had a monthly craniofacial clinic where a plastic surgeon evaluated children for free and made recommendations. You could look into that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were referred to cranial technologies by the pediatrician because our 4 month year old daughter has a flat head from preferring one side while sleeping. They said she was evaluated as “severe” and you can see the ears being misaligned if you look top down. They recommended helmet therapy which will cost a few thousand dollars if insurance doesn’t cover it. They said if insurance covers it, it’ll be a couple hundred out of pocket.

My question is, is this actually an issue we need to do something about? The whole experience gave off a weird predatory salesman vibe. I’ve read mixed opinions on this and see lots of folks saying it corrects on its own over time, and the helmet thing is a scam. I don’t know what to believe. I’d rather not waste hundreds of dollars on this if it’s completely unnecessary

You need PT for torticollis as well most likely. Dont just use the helmet.

[Anonymous]

I probably would have been referred for a helmet if that was a thing when I was a baby. My head is a funny shape and I don't think others can tell, it does bother me, and as another poster mentioned, it causes some unevenness in my ears and face. Maybe get a second opinion, but do it.

[Anonymous]

Do it, get the helmet.

AND fix the issue that she has about sleeping on one side, if you can, as it might be happening BECAUSE her neck is tighter on that side OR her neck WILL tighten on that side if she doesn't use it.

So often babies will be looking AT something (or in the general direction of something, since I know they can't see long distances as newborns). So, does she face the door, where her parents come from when they get her? Then switch her in bed so to face the door she has to turn her head the opposite way (simply put her feet where her head usually is) Do this every time now.

Does she typically face towards or away from the window? same thing as above - make her have to use that side to look where she wants.

You might also want to see a PT so they can give you some exercises to use - they are very simple - to stretch her neck and even it out. These things happen to adults, too - I did it by facing one side when I sleep and have had to spend a few months working through that stiff neck!

Also, when you hold her, does she always want to be on one side so she can look in her favored neck direction (usually babies want to look away from their parent's neck when being held on the shoulder) so then.... put her on your other side so she HAS to face the other way to see out.

So many little things you can do AND use the helmet.

[Anonymous]

Our pediatrician caught this early and recommended that we flip our son in his crib (which is next to the bed) so that he is looking at us from the other side (babies will look towards their parents). Also, to make a point of sitting on the other side of him so that he had to look at me using the other side.

Solved the issue very quickly. But 4 months might be too late? Anyways, solve this and get the helmet. Or just get a second opinion if they felt too salespersony.

[Anonymous]

We tried flipping, but doesn’t seem to make a difference. However recently (past couple weeks) she seems to be doing a better job of turning her head to the other side. All we did was try to give more tummy time and do some PT exercises we found online. We are going to do the helmet

[Anonymous]

If it’s a severe case, I would definitely get the helmet. It might get even worse over time if you don’t. It can’t hurt to also pursue PT.

[Anonymous]

There’s no reason not to fix this issue OP. The helmets are NBG.

One of my twins had moderate plagiocephaly due to uterine positioning. It was an easy fix within 8-10 weeks. Hardest part was she got a bit stinky because she wore it in the summer heat.

From what was explained to us, it could cause facial asymmetry and ear, jaw and bit issues if not corrected. These were big deals to us.

[Anonymous]

We were referred at 4 months old and DC was diagnosed as moderate. We opted to wait and the issue has mostly corrected itself. DC is almost 7 months.

[Anonymous]

For those that waited, please at least get a PT evaluation. There are so many things internally that get wonky because of one-sided tightness. Babies tend to grow out of it while they begin to move more but many times they dont use the side of their body equally. I did PT with both kids due to mild-moderate torticollis. I had it as a kid and I have had migraines, neck pain, hip imbalances, spinal issues, PF issues. All of its because one side has been essentially compressed my whole life. Its not just about the head shape.