| ALL ABOUT POSITIONAL PLAGIOCEPHALY! |
| What is it: plagiocephaly is a condition that means misshapened head. |
| There are 3 types of plagiocephaly The first is just that, plagiocephaly. This is when one of the babys sides of its head is flattened. The second is brachycephaly. This is when the back of the babys head becomes flattened. The third is scaphocephaly. This is when the head takes on along and and narrow shape. |
| What causes this? There are many factors that can lead to plagiocephaly. One cause is intrauterine constraintl. The baby may not have enough room due to size or due to multiples. Another is torticollis. This is when the neck muscles become tight and cause the child to tilt his/her head. Not all children who have plagio also have tort. Premature babies also have a risk becuase of prolonged hospital stay. Also sine the back to sleep recomendation, plagio has been increasing. |
| How can this be prevented? TUMMY TIME..TUMMY TIME..TUMMY TIME.. Supervised tummy time is the key. Keeping the baby of the the skull during times of play can help to prevent plagio. It strenghtens the babys neck muscles. Frequently repostitioning the childs head is also a good preventative. Switching the way you lay the baby in bed and when carrying the infant is also a good idea. Click here for a site on prevention. |
| THIS SITE IS NOT INTEDED TO REPLACE ANY MEDICAL ADVICE. SPEAK TO YOUR DOCTOR IF YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS. |
| I would also like to say this this is not your fault. Many people feel that way and it is completely normal. All I can say is go with what feels right and get all the info you can get. |
| There are a few different ways to treat plagiocephaly. The first way is to reposition your infant. Switching ways the baby lays in its crib and frequently rotating the childs head is a good way to go. If that doesn't work another option is banding. There are diefferent types of bands. One is the DOCband. It was the first to get the FDA approval and has set the standard for all others. We used the DOCband because that was what is offered in our area. Different areas offer different bands and also helmets.. If you have any questions how any of them work, you should contact the manufacture to find out more. |
| I must say that I am not familiar with tort because my son did not have it. However, many children do. The main sign is the childs tendency to tilt its head to one side. If you are concerned about tort, please click here for information. |
| Our story: Tucker was born on december 13th of 2000. He was a healty 6lbs and 7 oz and was 19 inches long. Before Tucker was born the doctor was worried that Tucker didn't have enough room to grow and thought that Tuckers' head was growing more than his body. After delivery we noticed that there was a slight flattening on his right side. The dr said not to worry because it was from the birthing process. At tuckers 2 month check up it was slightly more flat but the dr wasn't concerned and neither was I. A few family told me I should check into it more but I kept saying dr knows best..at Tuckers 4 month check up the same happend. the dr said when Tucker started crawling or rolling over it would round out. Finally at Tuckers 6 month check up the dr decided that if I wanted to he would refer me to a specialist. We couldnt get in for another 2 months. During that time I tried to keep Tucker off that spot, but it was hard. When Tucker was 8 months old he was seen and we were told that it was plagio and that he was a great candidate for a DOCband. We were then sent for the casting. Its a process where the child goes in and a mold is made of their head. This is a process where a cast is made just like if you have bronken an arm. It does frighten the child because they don't like to be held down but it does not hurt the child. It is over very fast. Then it is sent off and the mold is used to see how to make the band. 2 weeks later you have the band. Then started the weekly visits to make sure it was working and to trim it if it needed to be. Slowly we went every 2 weeks and then 3 weeks. This lasted for about 6 months until Tucker graduated. He got a 75-80% correction. He is still flat on the right side, but not as bad.Tucker was banded 8/23/01 and graduated 3/6/02. I say that getting the DOCband was a great choice for us. |
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| i would like to thank all visitors to this page and say way to go each and every one of you for thaking the step towards a rounder head..feel free to sign our guestbook that is on our home page or you can email us from the homepage as well.. |