Home » Patient Stories » Our STARband journey by Aileen and Loki

Our STARband journey by Aileen and Loki

At every health visitors visit over the next few months I repeatedly asked about this as I was becoming increasingly concerned. The answer was always the same “don’t worry, it will right itself” I was asked if he played on his tummy at all, which he did, but I was not once told the importance of it. As time went on, I was adamant that his head shape was far from normal and having had no joy from various Health Visitors I booked an appointment with a GP. I explained my concerns and was once again dismissed with, “it will right itself and his hair will cover it”.

I began looking on the internet and this is where I first heard of plagiocephaly and brachycephaly. I was shocked by the information I found and that the people who should know hadn’t explained it to me!

Operation reposition!

I immediately began to follow all the advice that I could. Loki was already having some tummy time but I encouraged more including positioning favourite toys at either side, I ensured I was feeding him from opposite sides, changed his position in his cot and even turned his head whilst he was asleep to vary his resting position. He was not often in a car seat and never longer than 30 minutes. I changed the way I carried him and when we were sat having cuddles I would lay him on his tummy on my knee. Playing aeroplanes became a favourite game!

With no improved to his head shape, I booked another appointment with a different GP and went armed with all my new found information and all the repositioning techniques I’d been using. I was again disappointed to be given a similar kind of speech and told to “stop looking for the perfect baby and concentrate on his good points.” I was quite upset and frustrated, I mentioned The Steeper Clinic and spoke of the helmet treatment, however, the GP had no knowledge and thought it sounded ridiculous!

Appointment booked!

9th Dec 2010 was our first 140mile round trip to Leeds. We met Kate and I was nervous about what the scan would reveal. Loki had a stocking placed over his head and tied under his chin. Although he didn’t have much hair Kate explained it would make the scan clearer. On either side of his head next to his ear a sticker was placed with two black dots. These were for the alignment. Over to the scanner we went, it looked like an open photocopier. I lay Loki down and although the scan takes just 1.5 seconds for the beam to move over his head and get the measurements it’s a long time for a little one to stay still! I think we had a couple of attempts to get the perfect one. None of this bothered Loki though, Kate held his chin and I steadied him by holding his arms but he took it all in his stride.

Our measurements (mm) were:

Circumference: 429.5
Cephalic Ratio: 0.975
Oblique Diagonal Difference: 11.9
Anterior Ear Shift: 1.9

We were right on the border of severe! It was clearly obvious when you looked at his head but I don’t think I imagined it would be that severe. I felt relieved but at the same time could have cried inside. Kate recommended a helmet and we went ahead straight away. Faced with a choice of designs it just had to be camouflage. The scan was sent over to Florida whilst we were there as this is where the STARband is made.

The Fitting

Exactly two weeks later and just before Christmas on 23rd December we went back to Leeds for our fitting. A model of Loki’s head had been made up with plaster added where the rounding needed to be. Comparing this to Loki’s head, I wondered if we’d ever get there. The STARband helmet looked quite large and uncomfortable at first and there was quite a bit of ‘fine tuning’ to be done. The initial fitting took a couple of hours with the helmet being put on, lines drawn on, then taken off to have parts carved out. This was repeated until Kate was happy and Loki was comfortable. By the end of it Loki was tired and ready to go home. He had been a little solider though.

The Hard Work Began

As the time in the helmet has to be built up, I found the first few days quite difficult. The first day the helmet was worn for an hour then off for an hour, the second day on for two off for one, third day, on for four, off for one and before the end of the first week, following the guidelines we were at 23hours a day. There was a lot of sweating at first and quite a bit more water being drunk. This soon settled though. Loki took it all in his stride, my confidence soon grew and it all became part of our daily routine.

I found it best to remove the helmet for half an hour in the morning for cleaning and to let his head breath. Then in the evening it was removed again for his bath when I would shampoo his hair. The smell is not pleasant but I did get used to it.

Loki happily played, ate and slept in his helmet; it really didn’t bother him. It even gave him a bit of added protection when learning to sit up!

We travelled back to the Steeper Clinic in Leeds every two weeks for a check up. I was always able to contact the clinic in between if I had any questions. Our check-ups were to ensure rounding was being achieved where expected by looking at his head and checking for pressure points inside the helmet. Adjustments were made to the helmet as Loki grew. We had a scan on most of our visits too; I was extremely keen to see progress as often as possible.

The Results

The results were just amazing, better than I could have imagined. We saw improvements at every scan. I thought after the first week that I could see some improvement but convinced myself it was my imagination! The first scan was proof I was right though and from then on it just kept getting better!

16 weeks later we were down to 2.8mm and it was at this point we said goodbye to our STARband.

Loki quickly adjusted to not wearing his helmet and likes to feel his head a lot and thinks it’s funny to take hats off his head. I couldn’t be more pleased that I didn’t listen to NHS professionals and found The Steeper Clinic. They have changed Loki’s life for the better.

« Back to Patient Stories

We offer free, no obligation consultations at our clinic and can advise you on the best treatment option available for your baby.

Get the FREE newsletter

Name: Email: