5/7/2023 0 Comments Babies with misshapen heads![]() ![]() But parents can breathe easy knowing that for the most part, positional skull deformities, like flat head syndrome, don’t affect brain growth or intellectual development. It usually comes about because your little one favors snoozing with their head turned to the same side, sleep after sleep. Flat head syndrome is marked by a flat spot on one side-or the back-of a baby’s head. Plagiocephaly is most often referred to as flat head syndrome…and for good reason. But do baby helmets work for flat head? And why do so many infants have flat spots on their heads anyway? Here, learn all about flat head prevention and the treatments that actually work. More and more babies today are wearing what’s dubbed cranial molding helmets to help fix flat head syndrome. You may have noticed a very specific accessory on many of the babies you see at daycare drop off, strolling through the park, or peppering your social feeds…and no, it’s not tiny Vans or trendy baby turbans. What Causes Flat Head Syndrome in Babies.Please contact your pediatrician or other healthcare provider with concerns over your baby’s head shape or any other medical concern. There are many medical diagnoses associated with a misshaped head that were purposefully excluded due to the basic focus of this article. This article, like all of my articles, is NOT medical advice. Note: I am a pediatric physical therapist writing with the purpose of sharing evidence-based information to the pediatric community. ![]() ![]() Deformational Plagiocephaly-A Focus on Prevention. Physical therapy management of congenital muscular torticollis: a 2018 evidence-based clinical practice guideline from the APTA academy of pediatric physical therapy. Evidence-based care of the child with deformational plagiocephaly, part 1: assessment and diagnosis. Craniosynostosis and deformational plagiocephaly: when and how to intervene. Archives of Craniofacial Surgery, Apr2020, Vol. Diagnnosis and treatment of positional plagiocephaly. A population-based study of craniosynostosis in metropolitan Atlanta, 1989-2003. Accessed Sept 2, 2020.Ģ) Boulet SL, Rasmussen SA, Honein MA. Pediatrics On Call- American Academy of Pediatrics. Pediatrics Research Roundup, Identifying Misshapen Heads - Episode 10. Looking for help with positioning, positional plagiocephaly prevention, or torticollis treatment? Worried about a flat head? Contact Boost Babies today! All home-based services are 1-on-1 with a Doctor of Physical Therapy.ġ) Hill, David and Jooanna Parga-Belinkie. Looking for more information on helmet therapy? Check out this article. Keep an open dialogue with your pediatrician and other healthcare providers about your baby’s head shape including changes. The earlier treatment begins, the better the results. This condition is typically due to external forces acting on the head and may be influenced by head position preference, sleep position, or Congenital Muscular Torticollis (1,3).Īs we say in the pediatric Physical Therapy world, refer often and early. Deformational Plagiocephaly is a condition that may be identified when one side of the back of the skull is flat shifting the same side of the front of the skull forward like a parallelogram. Head shape observation from a bird’s eye view is also performed during infant wellness visits to determine skull asymmetries. This condition is called craniosynostosis and occurs in about 1 in 2,500 U.S. Early fusion of these skull bones results in a misshaped head due to the brain’s continued growth. It allows the baby’s head to push through the birth canal and also allows room for brain growth after birth (1).įrom day one, clinicians are physically and visually examining the sutures and shape of the infant skull in order to make sure the bones are not joined together (or fused) too early. This separation of skull bones is very advantageous for newborn development. Most babies are born with the bones of the skull separated or unfused in what we professionally identify as sutures. If you are a parent, you may remember your pediatrician pressing on your newborn’s skull during your baby’s well visits. At your first visit to the pediatrician, head shape and development are key parts of the newborn evaluation. ![]()
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