Plagiocephaly - Orthotic Band Treatment for 9 Month Old???

My daughter wore the cranial band. She had it on for over 6 months. The band doesn't hurt. It is called directed growth. The band doesn't work like braces, which pull; the band simply applies the same presence that, say, the bed, or the bouncy seat, or the floor provided to get your son into this place to start with. Second, it sounds like you've seen a bunch of professionals, but I know with my daughter, they checked her eyes and such too--if the plagiocephaly is not resolved, and it's not symmetrical, they learn to rest in that spot, which exacerbates the problem. My daughter's eyes were not even, so we took her to an ophthalmologist to determine whether her plag. was caused by vision problems or was causing vision problems. Neither was the case, although her eyes were not at the same level, which for me was one of the biggest reasons for going with a cranial band.

here's the thing...it is NOT just cosmetic (which would be correcting the appearance of a "normal" structure, ie "nose job"). It is considered reconstructive (correcting an abnormal alignment). Ear aligment affects your vestibular system and the "evenness" of how sound reaches your ears/brain. Eye aligment (also potentially affected by plagio) affects your visual processing. Both together affect how glasses will fit (if needed in the future). Not to mention jaw aligment (also affected--it's all connected!) affects orthodontic alignment. And neck alighment at the base of the skull. Do it! Bettter to at least try now. And torticollis is NOT just the shortening of the "sterno" muscle (that is "old school" diagnosis/terminology). I'm a pediatric PT. It is far more complicated than that.

I talked to my Physical Therapist about this for my son because he has torticullis and a flat face as well. Luckily, his is getting better with physcial therapy. You are lucky, we have been going for 8 months, he's 9 months old, and we just got approved for another 24 visits. She said that if you don't get it when you need to they will always be malformed, or lopsided, and it will not get better. They will coordination problems, head growth problems, they will tend not to use the side they don't see so it will affect even eye sight and brain development. I dont' know your case, but you should be able to get a second opinion from someone else before you go head. I did some reading online and one woman went to a plastic surgeon. Here is the link if you want it to her blog: our-experience-with-plagiocephaly-torticollis-and-a-helmet. Good luck! I know its hard to make a decision, but it seems like it might be for the best to get it.

your son was only diagnosed with Plagio correct? Did they check and do MRI for Craniosynostosis? They ruled out that he has no fusion correct? If it is just Plagio (which is indented skull) Then it WILL round out, even at that age, unless is is SIGNIFICANTLY indented. The skull plates do not fully fuse till about 15 months. He has plenty of time. What your doctor or the neuro is saying is that it might not fully round out cause you started later. It may have just a slightly odd shape. Unless you child has a complete cone head, or a lopsided skull. NO one will know the difference as he gets older. His hair will cover most of it.
Your not in Physical Therapy correct? cause as far as my knowledge goes dont need PT for Plagio only. Torticollis is a shortening of the stenoid muscles in the neck and shoulder. This has NOTHING to do with the skull. This is caused by position in womb. If PT fails, or parents do not do it or correctly. They can do a laser procedure that can release the muscle. Though many people that had this, have severe problems with there necks later on. I opt NOT to have it done. Yes Torticollis causes head tilting, and Strabismus of the eyes.

Marla, have you also been ruled out for Craniosynostosis? cause that is another cause for flat face.

My 2 year old daughter, was born with Craniosynostosis. It was apparent 2 hours after birth. She had a Corneal Plate Fusion above the eye. Causing one side of her face to not match the other, it also enlarged one eye orbit more than the other, she also had severe Torticollis and Strabismus of the eyes. She had an MRI done at 4 months. They caught it early, She had full open skull and plastic cosmetic surgery at 6 months, helmets for a year, and PT for 2 years for the Torticollis. She had a 45 degree tilt, which is pretty bad. She still has slight Tort from the Strabismus of the eyes (lazy eye or wandering eye). Though they can not fix that muscle issue right now. She is at a 2 degree tilt now. Looks sort of like she is cocking her head to listen. She is 2, now and had major surgery. She still looks off. She has a slight dent in her fore-head, and a flat spot in the back. They assure me as time goes on this gets better. They have never assured me that she will look 100%. I have come to terms with that she might not look like every other kid. However, almost no one, but her close relatives that know of her condition, say they see anything wrong with her. Except her eye. That likes to go all over on its own. So they notice that most. On the play ground in a public park,once or twice kids have said something to her. I notice that only the older kids, with less than desirable parents in the background, tend to say anything. I mark that up to poor parenting, and bad role model behavior. I dont try to let it get under my skin. There is nothing wrong with my baby mentally, or developmentally. Just a little character :) DO I want her to fit in with all kids? sure, but in this day and age of supposed higher intelligence, and civilization, you would think it was time people stopped teasing others for disabilities. I guess animalistic nature is just inherent. IT will never go away. If he doesn't get teased for his head, it will be something else.

By the way, my daughter was in FULL helmet for 2 years and does NOT have any form or sort of Autism.