We went today for Ian's evaluation and after a bunch of italian was thrown our way (no it wasn't really italian but just a bunch of termology that is new to us). Scans were done where they place a tight white bonnet over Ian's head and then the scans that were done are being sent to our family dr who will write a Rx and then the orthotics place can proceed with insurance. In the meantime we want to talk with our dr to get his opinion after seeing the scans. However he is on vacay this week so we really won't know anything till later next week. As of right now Marcus and I are leaning towards going the helmet route no matter what. As the ortho guy explained to us that in the long run not just for appearances but also developmentally other problems could arise such as TMJ which can cause the locking of the jaw and major headaches and then in order to correct the problem they would have to break the jaw to realign to correct the issue. So for now we are playing the waiting game and hoping our Dr had a great week off.
Let's get technical Ian has a little Positional Plagiocephaly which in normal language translate to the asymmetric shaping of his head. Normally caused by undue or excessive pressure on one side of the occipital (posteror or ) area of his head. This gives his head a general parallelogram shape. He has a little brachycephaly which is the symmetrical flattening of the back of his head. Like positional plagiocephaly, it is generally caused by positioning. This flattening is marked by its symmetry across the back of his head. There are fewer medical issues that can be ties to brachycephaly, but is often even more noticeable then the asymmetrical flattening that is seen wit plagiocephaly. Ok so that really isn't normal language at all I can say I very rarley use the term asymmertic or parallelogram. So take it for what you want and want to translate it too. The book also had pictures but we don't have a scanner you can google if you'd like to look into further.
For the Positional Plagiocephaly measurement Ian is a 7 which falls into the moderate. For the Brachycephaly Ian's precentage is 96% normal is 85-90%
Are you confused yet? It was great having both of us there to have 2 sets of ears to hear it all. They gave us a handy dandy little book and had I gone by myself I would've tossed Marcus the book and said "here ya go" and pulled answers out of my butt to whatever questions he would have had.
Okay, I can literally say, I know exactly what you're going through!! If there is one thing I can tell you and almost be certain about, it's don't plan on your insurance paying for the helmet or the plastic surgeon visits. We had to pay 100% of the cost involved in Carter's helmet and it ran around $3,000. And that's been the case with every parent I have talk to that's had a kid with a helmet. I guess the insurance companies get off by calling it "cosmetic", even though if it isn't correct you could run into bigger problems in the future. Once you swallow that pill, the helmet is actually a really nice thing. It really does work!! After having it for only 2 months, Carter's head is already looking so much better. And his head was BAD! Also it protects their little noggins during this vulnerable stage in life and that I love! And you may worry about how he will adjust to it and sleep in it. Well Carter was fussy the first few hours and that was it. He slept right through the first night he had it and it's never been an issue. He actually rubs his head and pulls on his ears when we take it off. But yeah, I would do it. We had the option to wait as well, but it hadn't corrected itself in 5 months, so I wasn't going to wait any longer. Good luck!! If you have any questions about it, I'm here for ya!
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