😬 Torticollis 🤨 Plagiocephaly 😟 Craniosynostosis, & 😲 Orthotist

What do these strange words mean? And why is your poor innocent baby being called by these names? It’s so scary when a baby that is born perfectly normal begins to show signs of these frightening conditions. Yet, there are several situations where the pleas for professional help go unanswered. You would think that with the advent of advanced and precise cranial therapy helmets it shouldn’t be so complicated to start treatment at the appropriate time, as early as possible. However, there are certain scenarios where helmet therapy and physical therapy for cranial issues are delayed or never regimented. Let’s review the two most common issues that must be treated the sooner the better.

Helmet Therapy for Plagiocephaly: More commonly called flat head syndrome is prescribed for infants whose flatness is measured and evaluated for the need for a cranial helmet. The helmet is usually worn for 23 hours a day and is custom fitted to the baby’s head shape. It supports the skull while at the same time letting the head gradually grow and round out by itself. The baby’s head can double in size during the first year and therefore if the baby’s head seems unusually shaped, he or she will require helmet therapy.

Torticollis: Better known as twisted head syndrome or wryneck, torticollis can come about during birth or when a baby is sleeping or laying in a certain position. The baby’s head will be tilted one way and the chin will point in the opposite direction. This condition is usually treated with physical therapy by stretching the neck muscles to strengthen them.

Reasons for a Delay or Absence of Correction Therapy

Many of us living in the United States take correctional and physical therapy for granted. Whether it’s braces for our children’s teeth (now we have the once-a-month Invisalign for those who are fortunate to be able to purchase this series of monthly changing braces), eyeglasses and contact lenses or most importantly cranial therapy helmets for babies, they are readily at our disposal. This is not true in many foreign countries. You would be quite surprised and horrified at the number of requests we receive on our messaging service from all different parts of the world literally begging us to help their babies. Here are some examples of true to life requests and pleas.

Question: ”We live in Cyprus and our baby is nearly eight months old. There is no place here to purchase and be fitted with a helmet. Can you make one up for us without us being there in person?”

Response: Unfortunately, we could not help these disappointed parents since cranial therapy is so exact, we must have the patient in our office to be measured accurately.

Question: “We live in Trinidad and would like to get a helmet for our baby’s head which is badly misshapen. Can you please send us a potty for us to create a mold of his head which is the old-fashioned way of measuring for a cranial helmet?”

Response: No, as we only use the star scanner and not the casting method. The devoted parent from Trinidad did not give up so easily and offered to pay a good price if we would make an exception for them. `

Question: ”My baby is three years old and I have noticed deformational plagiocephaly. Her skull is flattened on the right side at the back and the face is flattened on the left. What would be the best treatment for her at this age?”

Response: Again, it was quite painful to answer that at this age we can no longer help her.

Question: ”My son has a mild case of plagiocephaly that hasn’t gone away with tummy time. Unfortunately, I could not get a helmet in my country when he was an infant and he is now three years of age. Is there any way to correct this problem or is it too late?”

Response: By now you are seeing a pattern and already know the answer to this poor parent’s query. By two years of age, the skull bones close so there is no conservative treatment. Surgery will be the only alternative and with mild plagiocephaly the surgeon would not deem such a radical correction as necessary.

Question: (Melbourne, Australia) “Do you know of a cranial center in my city to recommend? My fourteen-year-old son’s facial asymmetry is getting much worse over the past year since he had a major growth surge. His misaligned eyes are making him nervous.”

Response: Cranial therapy is available for newborns because the bone plates in the skull has not yet fused together which makes the skull fixable through helmet therapy. Unfortunately that’s not the case for a fully developed skull of a fourteen-year-old.

Question: ”Can you still treat flat head syndrome for an eighteen month old baby? When my baby was five months old, I brought his flat head to my pediatrician’s attention and was told that there is nothing to worry about it will fix itself, but it did not and he now has a very pronounced flat head.”

Response: Such a sad outcome for an innocent baby and his mom.

One person was curious if flat head syndrome was genetic. The jury is still out on this verdict since there could be other reasons why certain families have a tendency for flat heads but here is how her question went: “Both my fiancé, his mother, and even his son have flat heads. I would like to know if this can be genetic or did their parents all make the same mistake with allowing the baby to lay in the same position?” I thought this was a great question and it got me thinking that I should do more research on the genetic side of flat head syndrome.

The messaging questions go on and on and are so heartbreaking to read and answer in a dignified and not condescending way. Most of the foreign parents had little choice in the matter except for traveling long distances for cranial therapy. It would be wonderful if someone could develop a tele computer software that would be able to measure the head remotely. So far, we have not added such a program to our system. The star scanner is so intricate and exacting and so successful, it brings tears to the eyes that these parents are suffering from afar.

What about the moms and dads in our good old United States of America? What could prompt them to refuse cranial therapy treatments that are so readily available to them? Well, let’s begin with the doctors. There are a minority of doctors who do not recommend cranial therapy but insist that the problem will take care of itself. New parents or those who have not had experience dealing with head abnormalities will trust their doctor implicitly and not go for a second opinion. Then when the baby is a year or two, they will realize just what a life sentence they have given to their child. By that time, it is too late for conservative cranial therapy.

Often, instead of getting better the flatness or twisting of the head gets worse and there is very little to be done about it. A flat head is bad enough for a girl but if she is lucky enough to have thick or curly hair it can be camouflaged to a certain degree. A boy’s head abnormality will show up for all his friends and peers to see and make fun of. Not a good place for a young boy to be at the start of his social climbing.

(Financial considerations are of course on top of the list. Some insurance companies cover cranial therapy and helmets, while others do not. There are other assistance options to be investigated as well.)

Final Thoughts

Cranial therapy helmets have been around long enough for parents and professionals to know they work. However, they will only work if started at the right time usually by the time a baby is four months and not after eight months. It is a win-win situation for all parents, babies and their doctors. No parent should feel sorry for their baby. The baby adapts to the situation within a week and siblings also can be involved in helping with adjustment. With every kind of decoration and sports team available, siblings can fight it out humorously to decide which colors and pictures to put on the helmet. It’s not forever and no parents have to live regretfully for failing to take care of this problem. It gets much more complicated for people who live in countries where cranial therapy helmets are not yet available. Foreign parents are educated from the internet, and many have researched options for the baby’s misshapen head or neck issues. Yet they are powerless to help their child with no therapies available to them except tummy time.

No availability of cranial helmet therapy is the only excuse for failure to treat your baby. Sometimes the deformation is so mild that home therapy such as tummy time, holding the baby for longer periods to prevent further flatness and some simple exercises that move the baby’s head from side to side are all that is needed. This is not something a parent should decide on their own. If you notice a disturbance, trust your instincts, go for a second opinion, and talk to other parents who have gone through cranial therapy with their babies. You will be pleasantly surprised to hear the happy endings to many stories like yours.