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Plagiocephaly (flat Head Syndrome) – First Steps And Treatment For Infants With Abnormal Head Shapes
Don’t panic, head shape abnormalities are becoming more common in infants, and in many cases, are easily treatable with repositioning techniques. In more severe cases, some treatment using a cranial remoulding orthosis can significantly improve the head shape (corrective helmet). The first thing to do is to talk to you GP or health visitor about your baby’s head. The examination of your baby should involve looking at the head from the top, sides, front and back. If there is neck muscle imbalance or a delay in development, your GP may refer you to a physiotherapist and possibly a paediatrician. Your GP may also refer you to a specialist to assess your baby’s head shape and ensure that the sutures are all open and to check for any other skull shape disorders. The specialist may order an X-ray, CT scan or MRI. These tests are done to rule out craniosynostosis, the premature fusion of the plates in a bay’s skull. Whilst this condition is rare, treatment is surgery to remove the section of fused skull and allow normal development. This is usually performed by a neurosurgeon or a craniofacial surgeon. Much more likely, however, is that your baby has deformational plagiocephaly, brachycephaly or scaphocephaly. These conditions are head shape abnormalities caused by external forces causing flattening on areas of a baby’s skull, which is much softer than an adult skull, and can all be treated with repositioning techniques (tummy time) or corrective helmets. --What are the treatment options?-- Once diagnosed with a head shape abnormality, your GP should discuss treatment for the conditions. Initial treatment for plagiocephaly is using repositioning techniques, which aim to alleviate pressure on flattened areas of the head by moving the baby into lots of different positions during the day. Your GP or health visitor should also discuss “tummy time” with you. This is one of the best repositioning techniques, and simply means putting your baby on his or her tummy, whenever the baby is awake and supervised. Tummy time is not only a good way to take the pressure of the flattened areas, it also helps to build strong neck and back muscles, these will help your baby to learn to roll, sit and crawl as they grow. In mild to moderate cases of “flat head syndrome”, treatment using “tummy time” alone can be enough to allow your baby’s head to correct itself. However, in moderate to severe cases, tummy time will probably not be enough to significantly improve the shape of your baby’s head. If your baby is over 4 months, and you have been trying to increase tummy time but the shape of their head has not improved, it is worth getting an opinion from a specialist plagiocephaly clinic. Once examined, treatment using a cranial remoulding orthosis (helmet) may be the best option. Unfortunately this treatment is currently not available on the NHS, as they feel that it is a purely cosmetic condition that will improve with time. Most of the clinics will offer a free assessment and can advise as to the severity of the condition before recommending the best cause of action. Kate Chauhan is the Clinical Specialist Orthotist at SteeperClinic, a facility in the UK that specialises in the treatment of head shape abnormalities including plagiocephaly in infants, using both repositioning techniques and the STARband cranial remodelling orthosis (helmet). Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Kate Chauhan is the Clinical Specialist Orthotist at SteeperClinic, a facility in the UK that specialises in the treatment of head shape abnormalities including plagiocephaly and flat head syndrome in infants, using both repositioning techniques and the STARband cranial remodelling orthosis (helmet). |
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