experience with flat spots and helmets...?

mfgale09 · June 2012

i suppose i am just curious if anyones twins needed to wear helmets to correct flat spots? (i know there is a technical name but i'm to lazy to find how to spell it right now haha)

our boys are 5 months old. at their 4 month appt i asked the md about their flat spots and she wasn't too concerned at that time. last week a birth to three physical therapist did an eval on the boys and mentioned getting it checked so i took them today for a scan. of course they wouldn't tell me what they thought but will send the results to the pt and md. i have a feeling there will be differing opinions!

i am thinking it should improve more as the boys are now turning over more and sleeping on their side or belly.

any experience ? how did you decide/did it get better on its own?

lmydogally · June 2012

One of my girls has Toricollis and I was really worried she would need a helmet for a flat spot she developed on the right side because of it. My other twins head got pretty flat in the back because she would sleep 12 hours a night on her back with her hands behind her head. I caught both at about 9 weeks. My twin with Torticollis did PT but never made any progress. We finally took her to a pediatric chiropractor. The results were almost Imediate.

Anyways, every night I would go in her room and turn her head to the left side.. I literally got up every couple of hours to do this as she always wanted to move it back to the right. I also got a baby moon pillow for anytime either of them were in the swings in the stroller or on the play mat. For my other twin, I started having her take all her naps on her tummy. I now also have her sleep on her tummy at night until about midnight, when I roll her back on her back.

All these things along with the fact they spend a lot of awake time in their exersaucer and tummy time, both their heads look much much better and the pedi and chiropractor say no helmets will be needed.

If I can offer any advice to anyone dealing with Torticollis it would be to find a noninvasive pediatric chiropractor who uses the Webster technique and take your baby. We are so happy we found one and the difference he made in our lives. My girl was so uncomfortable that's he would cry all the time especially when we fed her. It was awful.

Also, my pedi said she has never sent someone to get a helmet consult who didn't end up with a helmet and she thinks that seems pretty strange. So don't be surprised if the helmet people end up telling you they need them.

kmb585 · June 2012

My twin A had a DOC band for mild to mod brachicephaly + plagiocephaly. I noticed that his head was misshapen right after he was born as he was head to head w/ his brother inutero and due to being baby A was smooshed in my pelvis. We took him to get evaled at 4 mos and he wore a DOC band for 7 weeks which at the time I did not think that big of difference but it put things in the right place and his head is rounding out, and much more symmetrical now. It was definitely not cheap but I think depending on what is causing the spot to be flat (i.e. was it due to inutero positing vs. torticollis vs. positional plagiocephaly) and the severity will determine if a helmet is needed or not.

tootlebug · June 2012

I highly doubt the helmet is needed.

My son who is 3 now, slept 9 hours at 7 weeks old and only increased his hours after that....swaddled on his back. He had quite the flat spot. I had a really bad Pedi at an emergency sick visit tell me he needed the helmet. So we went to the helmet place. Of course they said he needed it and that he would be disfigured for life without it. I was a wreck. Went back to the pedi to our regular doc, and she said he absolutely did NOT need the helmet. That the helmets are great for those that truly need it, but those places also need to make money. She was right, his head completely corrected after a year....and it didn't even look that noticeable to begin with.

SLPMel · June 2012

DS will be getting a helmet as soon as insurance gets it together! DS has a significant flat spot-it is very visible to everybody. He has an asymmetry of 14.4-and our insurance covers it as long as it is over 6mm.

There has been discussion as to increased ear infections, jaw alignment, etc. We can see from his scan that his ear are pushed forward, as well as you can see the one side is higher than the other.

It is completely free to get them scanned-I will tell you that when I asked the person scanning DS yesterday about DD flat spot, she told us not to worry about it.

We've been in PT since he was 2 months old-we've tried everything, it just is not going away. It took me a while to get DH on board-and it kills me that we've lost 3 months that he could have had it on!

tootlebug · June 2012

SLPMel:
DS will be getting a helmet as soon as insurance gets it together! DS has a significant flat spot-it is very visible to everybody. He has an asymmetry of 14.4-and our insurance covers it as long as it is over 6mm.
There has been discussion as to increased ear infections, jaw alignment, etc. We can see from his scan that his ear are pushed forward, as well as you can see the one side is higher than the other.
It is completely free to get them scanned-I will tell you that when I asked the person scanning DS yesterday about DD flat spot, she told us not to worry about it.
We've been in PT since he was 2 months old-we've tried everything, it just is not going away. It took me a while to get DH on board-and it kills me that we've lost 3 months that he could have had it on!

When we got my son scanned, one of his ears was "higher" than the other and his ears were supposedly "pushed forward. But he absolutely did not need the helmet. And he looks perfectly fine today, and did then. Everyones face can be a little asymmetrical. I'm not saying that your child does not need it you know best. I'm just saying that the DOC band place had us totally played and my son was totally fine. I understand that some kids really need it.

crystaleyes39 · June 2012

tootlebug:

I highly doubt the helmet is needed.

back to the pedi to our regular doc, and she said he absolutely did NOT need the helmet. That the helmets are great for those that truly need it, but those places also need to make money. She was right, his head completely corrected after a year....and it didn't even look that noticeable to begin with.

This exactly. My pediatrician and NICU follow up doctors (physical therapist and Main doc.) all said that my daughter who in my oppinion's head is very flat in the back DOES NOT need a helmet. My pediatrian just said to do as much tummy time as possible and even told me that she has enough head control at this point (plus rolls over anyways) that she can sleep on her tummy. I've heard from tons of people that it will correct itself.

On a side note, someone else said to do the exersaucer as much as possible, which i used to think to, but after just getting back from our NICU follow up and meeting w/ a physical therapist i was told exersaucers are terrible for babies that do not yet stand on their own and EVER WORSE for babies w/ tortacolis (sp?). So I because of this we will not be using our exersaucers until they are standing on their own just to be safe.

SLPMel · June 2012

tootlebug:
SLPMel:
DS will be getting a helmet as soon as insurance gets it together! DS has a significant flat spot-it is very visible to everybody. He has an asymmetry of 14.4-and our insurance covers it as long as it is over 6mm.
There has been discussion as to increased ear infections, jaw alignment, etc. We can see from his scan that his ear are pushed forward, as well as you can see the one side is higher than the other.
It is completely free to get them scanned-I will tell you that when I asked the person scanning DS yesterday about DD flat spot, she told us not to worry about it.
We've been in PT since he was 2 months old-we've tried everything, it just is not going away. It took me a while to get DH on board-and it kills me that we've lost 3 months that he could have had it on!
When we got my son scanned, one of his ears was "higher" than the other and his ears were supposedly "pushed forward. But he absolutely did not need the helmet. And he looks perfectly fine today, and did then. Everyones face can be a little asymmetrical. I'm not saying that your child does not need it you know best. I'm just saying that the DOC band place had us totally played and my son was totally fine. I understand that some kids really need it.

You can see the bumps and flat spots, including bumps over his ears and a protruding forehead. This is more than a "little asymmetrical". I'm glad you were willing to take that chance that it would work out fine-we just aren't willing to lose this time to change it if necessary, especially given the severity.

Insurance approved it since his is considered "medically necessary" and we ordered it today!

lmydogally · June 2012

crystaleyes39:
tootlebug:

I highly doubt the helmet is needed.

back to the pedi to our regular doc, and she said he absolutely did NOT need the helmet. That the helmets are great for those that truly need it, but those places also need to make money. She was right, his head completely corrected after a year....and it didn't even look that noticeable to begin with.

This exactly. My pediatrician and NICU follow up doctors (physical therapist and Main doc.) all said that my daughter who in my oppinion's head is very flat in the back DOES NOT need a helmet. My pediatrian just said to do as much tummy time as possible and even told me that she has enough head control at this point (plus rolls over anyways) that she can sleep on her tummy. I've heard from tons of people that it will correct itself.

On a side note, someone else said to do the exersaucer as much as possible, which i used to think to, but after just getting back from our NICU follow up and meeting w/ a physical therapist i was told exersaucers are terrible for babies that do not yet stand on their own and EVER WORSE for babies w/ tortacolis (sp?). So I because of this we will not be using our exersaucers until they are standing on their own just to be safe.

Just to clarify, my advice wasn't to have her baby spend as much time as possible in an exersaucer, I just added that mine do spend awake time in the exersaucer along with tummy time. They also are in a hug a bee insert and it's mostly the baby who does not have Torticollis.

But I do advice you to find a pedi chiropractor especially if he is in PT and it's not helping. We went for two months with no results.

lmydogally · June 2012

Also, as per out PT and chiro swings and bouncy seats are also bad for Torticollis. As is the car seat and the stroller. So you weed all that out and oh goody, your kid gets to do nothing but lay on a play mat all day. How fun for everyone.

tootlebug · June 2012

SLPMel:
tootlebug:
SLPMel:
DS will be getting a helmet as soon as insurance gets it together! DS has a significant flat spot-it is very visible to everybody. He has an asymmetry of 14.4-and our insurance covers it as long as it is over 6mm.
There has been discussion as to increased ear infections, jaw alignment, etc. We can see from his scan that his ear are pushed forward, as well as you can see the one side is higher than the other.
It is completely free to get them scanned-I will tell you that when I asked the person scanning DS yesterday about DD flat spot, she told us not to worry about it.
We've been in PT since he was 2 months old-we've tried everything, it just is not going away. It took me a while to get DH on board-and it kills me that we've lost 3 months that he could have had it on!
When we got my son scanned, one of his ears was "higher" than the other and his ears were supposedly "pushed forward. But he absolutely did not need the helmet. And he looks perfectly fine today, and did then. Everyones face can be a little asymmetrical. I'm not saying that your child does not need it you know best. I'm just saying that the DOC band place had us totally played and my son was totally fine. I understand that some kids really need it.
You can see the bumps and flat spots, including bumps over his ears and a protruding forehead. This is more than a "little asymmetrical". I'm glad you were willing to take that chance that it would work out fine-we just aren't willing to lose this time to change it if necessary, especially given the severity.
Insurance approved it since his is considered "medically necessary" and we ordered it today!

imo if insurance approves it I think that is a huge sign....it's really hard to get those approved!

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