 |
 |
|
|
|
You
may have been a little startled to notice your baby's head developing
an unusual shape. The condition is not uncommon, it's called plagiocephaly
(pla'je-o-sef'ah-le), and often results from external forces applied to
the soft infant skull.
It might sound complicated, but plagiocephaly literally means "oblique head" (from Greek: plagio = oblique, and cephale = head) It's called a parallelogram deformity because, if you look down on the infant's head (bird's-eye-view), this is the shape you will see. From this angle it looks as if half of the head has been pushed forward, often accompanied by misalignment of the ears, facial asymmetry and bulging forehead.
Something
as simple as sleeping on the back can cause brachycephaly.
The head flattens uniformally, causing a wider and shorter shape. Increased
head height is also common in children with brachycephaly.
Scaphocephaly (Dolichocephaly) describes a head with
a long, narrow shape, and is particularly common in premature babies.
 | |||
Disclaimer: The information contained in Cranial Technologies' website should not be used as a substitute for the medical advice of your physician. There may be variations in treatment that your physician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances. If you have questions regarding treatment of an infant currently in the DOC Band®, clinicians at the center providing treatment should be contacted directly. For feedback or general questions about our website, please email the webmaster at wbmgr@cranialtech.com Website Last Revised: January 12 2007 Created: August 16 2002 ©1997-2008 Cranial Technologies Inc. All rights reserved. DOC, DOC Band and Dynamic Orthotic Cranioplasty are Trademarks of Cranial Technologies, Inc. U.S. Patents 5,094,229; 5,038,312; 5,951,503; 6,346,353.
|
