Length of Therapy

[OwensMom]

I don't mean to be second guessing the good news we got today but I wanted to ask you ladies something. When we asked the surgeon how long Owen would have to wear the helmet if we chose the endoscopic procedure, he told us it would be 3/4 months. It sounds to me like most of your kiddos had to wear helmets a lot longer than that? Could he be giving us an unrealistically short time? I guess it's silly to ask, he's the surgeon and he should know. Just wanted your take on it.

[MBSzafranski]

Bens surgeon said 3-6 months. We are 2 months in and have made great progress. I would guess it will be 3 more months before he is done.

I know where you are coming from. I think Dr. Jimenez, the one who pioneered the endo procedure, keeps his patients in helmets for 12-18 months. I also read somewhere that anything over 16 weeks does not make much difference. Like everything else in cranio land, every doctor has their own way of doing things.

I hope this helps a little bit. I am interested to see what everyone else says because I have wondered about this myself.

[daniellelucille]

Jocelyn wore hers just shy of 2 months. They told me 3 or 4 months. She took to is fantastic and her head looks better than our non-cranio sons (who's head doesn't look bad at all)!

What company is your son's helmet through? We used Cranial Technologies.

[kfa329]

I know Dr. Jimenez likes to continue helmet therapy until 18 months of age. I was hoping to get it off earlier, but I guess they get the best results from the longer treatment.

[Jax's Mommy]

We have been told my son will wear his helmet until hes one. According to his comments at the appt this week he said his head is "overcorrected" which i did not see. I dont think it looks overley round but thats what i was hearing from the doctor so maybe we will be out of the helmet early....i have no idea!!!!

[CalinaLily]

Calina was in a helmet for 9 months... But our surgeons told us that they were happy enough with the results after 4 months -- our orthotist urged us to keep her in the helmet longer because of how much better she'd get... so we stuck with it and stuck with it... We decided ahead of time that we'd stop when she turned 1, but somehow those stinkers convinced us to stick it out for another month past her birthday. :)

We looked at the difference between 4 months of helmet therapy and 9 months, and it wasn't drastic, but it did correct some asymmetry. I'd say looking back that the progress was actually so slow I kind of regret leaving her in the helmet that long.

Truth is, there IS NO STANDARD for this method of treatment. Every surgeon is different, every orthotist is learning as they go. The results are shockingly good considering that fact. LOL Dr. Jimenez is trying to set the standard for endoscopic treatment + helmet therapy, but our surgeons think his approach is a bit extreme (forcing the kids into helmets only days post-op & for SUCH a long period of time)... We were so thankful to be able to wait for her incisions to heal, and then were free to continue helmet therapy as long as we were comfortable with the process. I can't imagine the outcome being all that different. Time will tell, I guess!!

In any case, I don't think 3-4 months is unrealistic. Our surgeons were happy with the results by that point.

[OwensMom]

Thank you for all your input. :) It was a pretty big deal because I figured we could manage all the trips (4 hours each way) for a few months, but not a year--which is the number I originally heard from the pediatrician. Now she says that the surgeon is the one who would know, and if he says 3/4 months that's what it should be. Such a relief. Guess now it's time to put a call into the surgeon and get things rolling.