New Treatment Rounds Out Flat Spots on Babies
August 18, 2005 | Pregnancy and Newborns
Hospitals across the nation have seen a spike in the number of babies getting treatment to round out their flat heads. The medical term for the condition is called positional plagiocephaly, it can be treated with the simple use of a helmet.
The therapy first began at Seattle’s Children’s Hospital. Baby Jonathan has been in helmet therapy for two months, and his parents say they’ve already seen major improvements. Three of his four siblings have gone through the same therapy, and each time his mom says she noticed the problem early on.
“They both started to get what looked like a bump on their forehead, and that’s when I thought we needed to go and have that evaluated,” said Jonathan’s mom. Doctor’s say the condition is usually brought on from keeping a baby in one position for far too long. The weight of their head against a firm surface, like a mattress, produces the flat skull.
“This can be quite a deforming condition. You can have children that have such significant deformity that it really presents a major psychosocial impact for the child as they grow up,” said the doctor.
The craniofacial clinic at Children’s Hospital sees up to 600 children with the condition each year, but doctors say they don’t like to begin this type of therapy too early. “We do see aggressive repositioning does work to improve the head shape before then,” said the doctor.
The helmets are custom made for each child and they’re worn 24 hours a day, with the exception of bathing. The therapy can last about four months. “It took about a night to get used to, and it wasn’t really bad. They’d wake up and when they’d turned over or to the side, and it just took a little adjustment for them, but it was not bad at all,” said Jonathan’s mom.
While this approach doesn’t appeal to all parents, this mother believes the effort is well worth it. For her boys, the results will last a lifetime. The helmets cost anywhere between $1,500 and $3000. Most of that cost is covered by insurance.