Misshaped Head, Plagiocephaly

First let me clearify, I am NOT a Physical Therapist (who often could/would assist in a referral such as a helmet), but I do work with delayed and disabled children, have supervised PTs and have a sister who is a pediatric PT. Every PT I know here in PHX typically make referrals to Hanger for the simple reason that they are more affordable.
Hope that helps! :)

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My son, who is 3 now, wore a band from C.T. from 5 months to 11 months of age. At the time we didn't know much about Hangers product, and were refered to CT by our DR. So I can't say much about Hanger, but I will tell you that we had a WONDERFUL experience with CT. They did a great job and were incredibly helpful and friendly. However, I totally understand the insurance thing. Our insurance did cover CT, but only after their insurance specialist appealed our claim to get it covered. I have heard it's rare for insurance to cover their service and product 100%. I'm sure they both have similar products. Another thought...you could try calling a physical therapy office that deals with pediatrics. With my son, we did PT for 6 months also, because he had tortacollis which was causing the mis-shaping. I know the PT we saw was seeing several kids with bands/helmets at the time. I remember him telling me about Hanger having a product. Maybe if you talked to an experienced PT they'd be able to tell you any differences they've seen between products. I'd be happy to give you the name and number of our PT if you need it! Good luck, and remember you're doing a great thing for your child. Our sons head was very mis-shapen from always laying on his left side. Even his ears were mis-aligned. He now has a beautiful, round head and symetrical face! Good luck to you!

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This is kind of long! Sorry! My son went to Hanger in Tucson. We were devastated when our PT told us our son would have to wear that awful helmet- Oh the images and thoughts that went through our heads! We went to Hanger and they made us feel so much better!!!! The process was so much easier, they explained everything so well, and the financial dept. took care of everything with our insurance company. This was about 3yrs. ago and I can't remember for sure but we either paid $300 or $500 out of pocket.

The one thing you should ask is the difference in how they fit the helmet. When we did it at Hanger they put a funny looking stocking cap on his head and took something that kind of looked like a bar code scanner and ran it along the cap. It told the computer the shape of our child's head immediately and the process didn't take more than a few minutes. Our guy at Hanger told us that at CT they used a plaster casting process. The child had to have a plaster casting on their head until it formed a mold of their head. He said it was pretty traumatic for the child and the parents to go through that. I don't know if they still do it that way, but it would something to ask about.

The other great thing about Hanger is they told us that if our son ever needed a new helmet (if he outgrew it, if it got damaged, etc) there was no additional charge. You pay the one fee and that's it. You also don't pay a fee for each visit or adjustment.

Hanger also lets you pick out the design or color for the helmet and there's no fee for that either! Not a big deal but I thought I'd mention it! The bonus for us was that our son was wearing it when he first started learning how to walk! His head was very well protected and he didn't get all the nasty bruises on his head that my nephews got when they would fall down trying to walk!

Good luck with everything! Be ready for some really rude people out in public and some that are just curious! The worst for us was when we went into a Chinese restaurant and the guy seating us and our server both flicked my son's helmet. If I had thought fast enough I should've flicked them in the head and said how do you like it! How dare he!!!!! Other than that we just had people that were curious and would ask us about it.

At first it's really difficult to think about your child having to wear it almost 24 hrs. a day, but do what they say and keep it on as much as possible. I don't know how old your child is that will be wearing it, but the younger they are the easier it is and the faster it will go.

Let me know if you have any other questions! We are so thankful that we did it and my son hasn't had any problems since then (his was caused by torticollis).

I'm a SAHM to two boys. My oldest will be 4ys. in 3 days (UGH!) and my youngest is almost 1 yr. My wonderful husband and I are about to celebrate our 7th wedding anniv.

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I have had 2 friends go through this and needed the helmet. One told me the only place that would help her was Hanger.

The other said she was going to have to go to Utah to get it done and I suggested Hanger. She checked them out and got hers there also with out a long trip across state.

Then my god daughter had to get a back brace and I said Hanger because not only has my friends used it my dad who only has one leg has been with them since before they changed their name to Hanger when he was 22 and lost his leg. He is now 59 years old.

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We researched both companies and did an evaluation for our twins at both facilities. Neither accepted our insurance so we decided to go with CT since it is their specialty and Hanger does a variety of things. Our experience at CT has been great and our twins didn't do a plaster mold to get their helmet, but CT uses a 3D camera to get all the measurements. They then create a mold from the images of the "original shape" to compare the progress at each appointment. CT was very expensive ($5K) for our twins. I'm glad we did it, but would recommend doing it sooner rather than later. We waited until 9 months and I don't know if their heads will be perfectly symetrical in the end, but they do look much better. Twins don't mind the helmets at all and they have been a great protector from nasty falls while learning to walk.
Basically, I have been very pleased with CT. Staff is wonderful. But I am sure we would have had a good experience with Hanger too. Go with your gut...that's what I did. Twins only have a month left with their DOC bands, yeah!

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My son had plagiocephaly also. His helmet/band cost was around $3000, but our doctor gave all of the info to our insurance company and ordered the helmet from there. I don't actually remember where it came from. I had done some online research and his helmet had the components that were typical and necessary for his needs. They all seemed very similar to me and I think it's probably true that both companies use the same materials and have the same processes. It's important to have a good helmet/band, but I think it's more important to have a professional who really knows how and when to adjust the helmet/band. My son only needed his for 10 months. I hope you are done that quickly (or faster).

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I can't help with the comparison- we went to crainal tech- but what I would like to say is do it as soon as possible for the best results- we waited and it took longer to correct and its not perfect now ( much better tho)

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Hi L.,
I haven't done any research, but I am an ICU nurse and we get a lot of patients who require braces of some sort. We always use Hanger. They are super responsive and have been wonderful to work with in all my interactions with them. Good luck!

C.

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L.,

My daughter just completed use of the cranial band from Hanger. Our insurance (United) initially refused to cover it but then did after we went through the appeals process. They were great at Hanger (Liz is the technician if you're in Tucson) and Meadow only had to wear the band for about 4 months and even had a couple of week long interruptions due to fever. I don't know how severe your child's plagiocephaly is or how old, but they custom fit the band to your child's head and will make adjustments to the band if any little red spots come up on your child's head (due to pressure). The key to the therapy working is to keep the helmet on 23 hours a day (or as close to that as you can get). Exercises to strengthen and even out neck muscles help too. Meadow didn't seem to mind at all and was as happy with the helmet on as without. I would suggest that you go with Hanger and not feel that you are not giving your children the best.

Good luck! And feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions!

L.

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Not all stores sell the same item for the same price and I'm thinking that's probably the simple difference between the costs of the same item.

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I am not sure what is the best, we went to C.T. and had a fabulous experience. We noticed changes in my sons head within the first week. All I know is that C.T. is supported by the craniofacial surgeon Dr. Beals. But if money is an issue you probably won't go wrong with Hanger. C.T. does provide free assessments and you may see if you could negotiate price with them.

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