We’re happy to answer any questions you might have, with no commitment to proceed with treatment.
Iyla’s LOCband Lite success
Find out about Iyla’s flat-head syndrome treatment from her LOCband Lite 3D printed helmet. Great results after only 5 months of treatment.
- Patient name: Iyla
- Treatment: Plagiocephaly treatment
- Age: 5 months
- Orthotist: Saeed Hamid
- Travelled from: United Kingdom
As time goes by, we are having more and more little patients graduating from their LOCband Lite helmets. One of these is little Iyla, now aged 11 months. Iyla’s mum (Molly) was made aware of problems with her baby’s head soon after birth. She was initially referred by her GP to a Paediatric Physiotherapist, who gave Iyla some gentle stretches for her neck as she was diagnosed with Torticollis. This condition results in a baby preferring to rest their head in one position and is one of the primary causes of flat-head syndrome or positional plagiocephaly.
The physiotherapist also recommended lots of tummy time, repositioning and the use of an overnight pillow to help correct Iyla’s head shape naturally. After a couple of months of this regime, Molly realised that Iyla’s head shape was still not right. The physio suggested Molly try helmet treatment with LOC. Molly initially booked a virtual consultation when Iyla was nearly 5 months. This was followed by a full consultation shortly after, in our Bristol Clinic which is run by Saeed Hamid, director and head of Plagiocephaly care.
Are you worried about your baby’s head shape? Read more about positional plagiocephaly. If you would like to book a free consultation with a LOC orthotist, just contact LOC.
Related Video
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This is very much dependent on how fast your baby is growing. The faster the growth, the more frequently your baby will be seen so that the helmet can be adjusted. In general, reviews will happen at two to four-week intervals.
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The price of treatment covers:
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Yes – All babies that have completed their course of treatment with us have achieved a measurable improvement in head shape. However, you don’t have to take our word for it. Recent independent research conducted by a University Hospital in Germany has endorsed the treatment for babies with moderate or severe plagiocephaly. A larger, retrospective study has just been published that found complete correction was achieved in 94.4% of babies treated with helmet therapy. The results were conclusive: repositioning achieved acceptable correction in 77.1% of cases, but 15.8% were moved onto helmet therapy because re-positioning was not working. Meanwhile, 94.4% of the infants who started in the helmet-treated group achieved full correction, as did 96.1% of those who were transferred from the repositioning group into the helmet-treated group. Further information can be found on our Plagiocephaly Research page.
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If your baby has a temperature or a fever due to illness you must remove the band. The band can be put back on once the temperature has returned to normal.
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The optimum age for treatment is between four and seven months. This is because the skull is most malleable at this age and improvements to head shape tend to take less time and are more dramatic. That is not to say that helmet therapy should be ruled out if the baby is older than seven months. Routinely, babies up to the age of 16 months can be treated very successfully. The cut off age is around 18 months when the fontanelles (soft spots on the head) are no longer malleable. As babies grow and develop at different rates, it is always worth checking if you are not sure. There have been cases where a baby’s fontanelles have not fused yet by the age of 18 months, who have achieved successful, but less-marked results with cranial remoulding therapy.
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Torticollis is a condition in which a tight or shortened muscle in one side of the neck causes the head to tilt or turn to one side, resulting in the infant resting its head in the same position. In 2013, we analysed the data from all first appointments in our Kingston clinic and found that 20% of the babies examined had some kind of neck condition that was causing head immobility.