As a father of twins, including one who previously wore a cranial remolding helmet, I’ve always enjoyed working with twin patients and interacting with other twin parents. Multiple births account for just over 3% of births in this country, so there’s only a small segment of parents who have had the pleasure of parenting twins. However, multiple birth is also a risk factor for deformational plagiocephaly and brachycephaly. In our practice, twins (and sometimes triplets) account for 10-20% of patients seen for evaluations for helmets, so we end up seeing a disproportionally larger number of twins and their families.
We met Levvy and Nash several months ago for an evaluation of their cranial asymmetries. At the time, Nash presented with significant asymmetrical brachycephaly, while Levvy had brachycephaly only. We advised their family that Nash would benefit from helmet treatment, as he is a boy with significant brachycephaly and plagiocephaly. Levvy, on the other hand, is a girl with significant flatness only on the posterior side of head, and had a much smaller head size. In her case, we advised their family to try conservative measures first, such as repositioning and tummy time, and to re-evaluate her cranial asymmetries at a later date.
Nash’s began helmet treatment soon afterwards, and the fitting and adjustment period went smoothly. At his six week follow-up appointment, we scanned Nash’s head to check on his progress. Given his growth during that period, the results were as expected, resulting in a much more symmetric head shape.
At that appointment we also scanned Levvy’s head to check on her progress. Despite all the tummy time and repositioning, her asymmetry remained the same. Given the significant progress seen from Nash’s helmet, and relative ease of use, their family opted to pursue helmet treatment for Levvy too.
Levvy was fit with her helmet last week and is doing great. She and her brother are thriving with their helmets, and still look super cute. Their family has been an absolute joy to work with, and remind me of my kids at that age. We can’t wait to see their new head shapes when they’re all finished with the helmet treatments.
Recent Comments