If you are concerned about your baby’s head shape and need advice, the next step is to contact us for a free pre-assessment to assess the severity of any head shape deformity that your baby may have and discuss plagiocephaly treatment options.
In the first instance, we usually recommend plagiocephaly treatment without helmet (cranial remoulding) therapy, depending on the age of your baby and the severity of the flat head syndrome. The treatments usually include both repositioning and tummy time methods. With these treatments becoming less effective after four months of age, if your baby is in between four and seven months of age and you have already tried repositioning and tummy time, we would usually recommend plagiocephaly treatment with a helmet. However, we can start cranial remoulding treatment up to fourteen months of age. To learn more about how severity is defined, please read our related article.
Plagiocephaly Treatment Consultation
At Technology in Motion, we can help you establish whether your baby needs plagiocephaly treatment, which is often used to treat a combination of plagiocephaly and brachycephaly. During the consultation, we can answer any questions and concerns you may have about plagiocephaly treatment without helmets and with, offering our advice on the best form of treatment for your baby. For more information about what to expect from your initial appointment, read our informative blog post on what happens at a plagiocephaly evaluation.
If we are in any doubt about the nature of your baby’s head shape deformity, we will not treat but instead advise that you seek further investigations. If necessary, we can also write to your GP, copying in yourself and your nearest craniofacial unit, to help you to find the most appropriate treatment. We estimate that one in a hundred infants who see us have an unrecognised condition that requires further investigation, which is sad but true.
Repositioning Techniques and Tummy Time
If your baby is under four months old, we usually recommend repositioning techniques to develop their core strength and motor skills and protect against a more severe form of plagiocephaly. Our repositioning guide offers top tips from parents and professional guidance from clinical orthotics on how to use repositioning to improve your baby’s head shape naturally, without the need for further flat head syndrome treatment.
There are many repositioning techniques that you can try, such as:
- putting your baby on their tummy to play
- propping their upper body if your baby is young
- carrying in a sling
- simply turning their head as they sleep.
These simple techniques can help to remove pressure from your baby’s head so that it can naturally return to a more normal shape. If you wish, we will see you after about one month to see if this plagiocephaly treatment technique is resolving the condition. For more information on how to make tummy time and repositioning easier, please see our previous article.
Surgery
Surgery isn’t usually needed for the most common forms of positional plagiocephaly and flat head syndrome.
However, when a baby has a prematurely closed suture known as craniosynostosis, we sadly cannot treat this and can offer only post-surgery treatment. We will refer you back to your GP who can, if necessary, refer you to your nearest craniofacial unit for further investigations. To Read blog about synostosis treatment and surgery, please read our dedicated page.
Plagiocephaly Treatment with the TiMbandAir
If repositioning techniques are showing no obvious signs of sufficient improvement, we may recommend a plagiocephaly treatment using a cranial remoulding helmet to bring about a permanent correction.
Take a look at our prices and funding page to see a full breakdown of the total cost for both the TiMbandAir, with lots of helpful advice to help you pay for your baby’s plagiocephaly treatment through sponsorship and community fundraisers. For more information on the most effective age for treatment, our blog post on how old is too old for flat head syndrome offers detailed insight into why we have a recommended window of treatment using the TiMbandAir. In general, however, earlier interventions give a fuller and quicker result.
How Long is Plagiocephaly Treatment with the TiMbandAir?
Depending on age, plagiocephaly treatment with the TiMband Air usually lasts between three and six months, with treatment length being dependent on head growth. We know how much a head will grow in a certain period of time, and when the TiMbandAir is outgrown, this is the end of treatment. To Read blog about how long it takes to correct plagiocephaly, please read our previous related blog post.
Plagiocephaly Treatment Near Me
With various clinics throughout the UK, you can easily find the nearest Technology in Motion clinic to you on our clinic location page. Every baby, no matter which location, will receive expert care from one of our qualified and registered clinicians, led by Steve Mottram, the UK’s leading clinician in the field of plagiocephaly treatment and flat head syndrome correction.
Steve Mottram MBAPO,
Managing Director of Technology in Motion and creator of the TiMbandAir.