To Helmet or Not to Helmet? - Littleton,CO

I have a little guy whom diagnosed with tort as well. However, it has not been suggested to do a helmet. When he was diagnosed, I had done a lot of research and learned about the helmet. I would take the helmet.

As well, I work with a little girl who was also diagnosed with this who did not do the helmet. It continues to effect her at the age of 4 with her balance, walking, running, and she continues to receive PT for this.

Take this opportunity and help her now to save the troubles in the future! Good luck-you are a great mom to be looking into this!

My daughter was diagnosed with severe plagio when she was 5-1/2 months old. It was very noticeable, especially if you looked at her from the top of her head. Her ears were out of alignment and the doctor said that it was only a matter of time before it affected her facial structure. We opted to have her fitted with a helmet through Hanger. Our situation was a little different because we were living overseas at the time and therefore we didn't have any support. My daughter wore her helmet for about 6 months and had very good results. We couldn't make any more adjustments to the helmet ourselves and were not able to come back to the states to have it taken care of so we stopped the treatment at that time. We probably should have gone a little longer with the treatment. She is 8-1/2 yrs old now and her head is not completely rounded but it is soooooo much better! It's only noticeable when her hair is wet. So all that being said, I would definitely get the helmet. From all that I read years ago and from out own experience, the kids adjust really easily to the helmet, it's not painful and it actually helps protect their heads when they start walking! I think the worst part of the helmet was the sweaty head smell!! I would be happy to share more info with you if you are interested. Also, there are some great websites/support groups out there. I don't have them bookmarked any more but they should be easy enough to find if you google plagiocephaly. Best of luck to you all!

I, like Jennifer O, want to comment from the perspective of someone who hasn't been through this, but do have something to say that may help make your decision. If it's broke, do everything you can to fix it. We get braces when our teeth are crooked. We have moles removed that are sometimes unsightly. I understand the idea that this is how God created us, and we should be happy with that, but if there is a solution to helping your daughter, take it. Ok, think of it this way, if you were in your daughter's shoes, would you want your mom to do everything she could to make sure your head formed the way it should? As parents it is sometimes scary to make decisions for our children that will impact them for the rest of their lives, but I'm sure you and your husband will come up with the right one.

I don't have any real personal expierince with this, slthough my DD went to school with a little girl who had a similar condition, I did go look it up. I don't know if you want only from people who have dealt with it, but I thought I would chime in :).

Of course you think your little one is perfect, they all are, but look at from later down the road when she is a teen and kids are a lot less forgiving of our imperfections. I say do it know while she is still young, it's not going to be easy, I am sure, but she is young and will remember very little or anything about it.

Good luck no matter which choice you decide!