Freddie’s plagiocephaly journey

Freddie’s mother, Elizabeth, first noticed that Freddie had a flat spot on one side of his head when he was about three months old. It was not present at birth. Freddie’s condition was a very typical presentation of positional plagiocephaly or flat head syndrome as he favoured sleeping with his head turned to the right and that is exactly where the flattening was. A baby’s skull is made of several plates of bone that are not tightly joined together when we are born, so they are soft enough to be moulded by external pressure.

The probable cause of Freddie’s preferred sleeping pattern was a compressed nerve in his neck which was diagnosed by an osteopath when he was four months old.

Freddie’s parents tried repositioning, but Freddie just liked sleeping the way he did. By six months, Freddie’s parents were becoming more concerned about the flatness on the right-hand side of his head, and his eyes did not seem to be level anymore. It was their osteopath who recommended they seek advice from the London Orthotic Consultancy.

Freddie was seen by Jo Drake, LOC’s clinical lead for craniosynostosis, in November last year. Head measurements were taken. Freddie’s cranial vault asymmetry at 11mm was at the top of the moderate range, a normal to mild asymmetry would be 0-6mm asymmetry. LOC recommends cranial remoulding therapy with its LOCband Lite for babies with moderate or severe plagiocephaly.

Elizabeth comments: “We decided to go ahead with treatment, if it’s fixable, let’s fix it. We were really impressed with Jo, very clear, calm and confident that Freddie’s head shape would be improved. It took a few days for Freddie to get used to the helmet because he had a habit of rubbing his head against the bars of his cot when settling down to sleep and of course he could no longer to do that with a helmet on. He soon got over that.

He was in his helmet for just four months. We had regular reviews and I was impressed that Jo even took account of our wish to be seen in the middle of the day to fit in with travel time and Freddie’s nap times. We are so pleased we decided to go ahead with the treatment, the improvement in head shape has been dramatic. We would not have been able to forgive ourselves if we had let it be. No wonky head now.”

At discharge Freddie’s cranial vault asymmetry had reduced to 2mm, almost totally symmetrical.

If you’re worried about your baby’s head shape, get in touch today. You can fill out our free flat head diagnosis form or contact us to book a free consultation with an orthotist.