PlagioCare treatment will now be known in the UK and Ireland as the TiMband. PlagioCare has been in existence for three years and has successfuly treated thousands of infants in the UK and Europe.

We believe it is the best plagiocephaly or flat head syndrome treatment system available due to its rapid results, lightweight helmet style, brilliant child friendly photographic scanner and final verification of treatment for all parents with before and after scans with software to review at home. The treatment is exactly the same, it’s only the name that is changing.

What Is Plagiocephaly?

Plagiocephaly is the medical term for a common condition in which the back or one side of an infant’s skull shows significant flattening. It is often noticed as the bald patch that infants develop appears to be on the flattened side of the head. Clinical reports estimate that plagiocephaly may affect as many as one out of every 30 infants. Babies are born with soft, mouldable skulls so that they can pass through the birth canal and continue to be flexible to accommodate the rapid brain growth that occurs in the first two years after birth. When infants spend a lot of time sleeping with their heads in one position, a positional or developmental plagiocephaly may result.

In most cases, the early signs of positional plagiocephaly are detected by parents or grandparents and the first thing to do is to simply by reposition the head away from the flattening while he or she sleeps. Babies must always be placed on their back to sleep. Some infants with a flattening will need more targeted intervention and this can be physiotherapy or osteopathy to help release a tight muscle allowing full range of motion in the neck. If this is unsuccessful, a helmet will return the head shape to a more normal shape gently and quickly. If you do decide that helmet therapy is the appropriate choice, there is plenty of help and advice available to you.

Helmet Therapy for Plagiocephaly

Helmet therapy works by applying a gentle, continuous pressure to your baby’s developing skull, rounding it out throughout the day. This pressure does not hurt, and once your baby gets used to wearing this new piece of clothing, it will not interfere with any of your baby’s normal developmental activities. The helmet is adjusted so that your baby’s head can keep growing normally. It is made to an accurate photographic scan of your baby’s head shape and is made of light foam with a semi flexible shell is moulded. Helmet therapy may be recommended between four and five months if repositioning therapy has proven ineffective. Treatment effectiveness varies with the age of the infant and the severity of the plagiocephaly, but in most cases, your infant will usually wear the helmet for about five months.

Advantages of Helmet Treatment

There are many advantages to plagiocephaly helmet therapy. It will lead to a more normal symmetric skull shape, which will allow children to participate more fully in sports activities for which they will need to wear protective headgear. A more symmetric skull means more symmetrical facial features! This can affect many aspects of your child’s subsequent life.
Helmet therapy will also reduce disorders that may occur in later life due to asymmetry. Many dentists now believe that TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder) is due to a misalignment of the jaw. TMJ is often linked to severe pain and speech disorders in its adult sufferers.

Helmet treatment, when indicated, will help your baby with plagiocephaly grow into the happy, healthy child with all the potential for future life
Since 2003 Technology in Motion has been providing treatment for plagiocephaly and brachycephaly (flat head syndrome), conditions which involve the deformation of the head of an infant.

Symmetric brachycephaly before treatment

Parents usually notice that their baby has an irregular shaped head at about 8 weeks old and are usually told that it will correct itself naturally and that it is just cosmetic.
Our advice is that as soon as flattening is noticed, then a parent should immediately start to reposition their baby. You can find information on this on our repositioning guide. This can assist in preventing the condition worsening and hopefully start to see improvement starting. If natural improvement of the plagiocephaly available it will happen in these first early few weeks of life. For an infant under four months of age we recommend repositioning.
Will my baby’s plagiocephaly self correct?
Our experience is that if the plagiocephaly or brachycephaly is not improving on its own by five months of age then it probably won’t improve greatly without some assistance. The treatment that we use to correct flat head syndrome is a PlagioCare treatment which rapidly accelerates return to a normal head shape. Treatment time for plagiocephaly depends on a baby’s age and takes between three to six months. The image below shows before and after images in a typical case of plagiocephaly with a brachycephaly. This little boy achieved this result after only nine weeks of treatment.
Since 2003 Technology in Motion has been providing treatment for plagiocephaly and brachycephaly, conditions which describe a head shape deformation. We usually have over 100 infants in treatment at any one time and we are widely regarded as the leading clinical team managing flat head syndrome.

Causes of Flat Head Syndrome

Cranial birth deformities can be the result of intrauterine restriction which can be caused by several different factors. Positional moulding in the uterus (in utero moulding) occurs due to the inhibited position of the baby in the womb. It is more frequently seen in multiple births due to the restricted positioning of the babies and their heads. In other cases deformities of the head present at birth can be the result of birth injury caused by methods of assisted delivery (intrapartum moulding). There is also a greater incidence of plagiocephaly developing in infants born prematurely as their heads are much softer. Fortunately, the majority of these deformities caused both in the uterus or during birth improve naturally without need for treatment during the early months of the infant’s life. The exception occurs when for whatever reason when the infant is positioned in a way that exerts more pressure on one part on certain area of the head. In this case, the syndrome may worsen by simple gravitational force turning an initially minor plagiocephalic deformity into a potential long-term problem requiring treatment.

Besides deformities present at birth, paediatricians have reported increases in the number of children with cranial deformities in recent years, particularly unilateral flattening of the occipital bone at the back of the head. This increase has been, at least statistically, compared with the significant decrease over those years in the numbers of cot deaths or SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). The connection assumes that the increase in flat head syndrome can be attributed to parents following the positioning recommendations aimed at decreasing the risk of SIDS; specifically, the recommendation that healthy young infants should be placed down on their backs for sleep. The back to sleep advice has reduced Sudden Infant Death significantly and parents should always place their babies on their backs when sleeping. However, during the day when the infant is awake and the parents is with them they should spend at least half of their waking hours without pressure on the back of the skull to allow it to reshape naturally. If no improvement is beng seen by the age of five months then plagiocephaly treatment should be considered.

Treatment of Flat Head Syndrome

Initial treatment usually involves repositioning of the baby onto their tummy to reduce the pressure on the affected area, known as ‘Tummy Time’. This should be done for extended time periods during the day. In addition, repositioning cots and other areas in which the infant spends their day will force them to look in different directions to see parents or other areas of interest around them. It should be noted if the infant cries or appears to have discomfort when they are repositioned as this may indicate a problem with neck pain and this possibility should be addressed as tightening of the neck muscles can be common in infants. This treatment should continue until the age of 5-6 months.
If the problem remains unimproved, parents should consider treatment of flat head syndrome with a helmet for a child while still less than 14 months of age. The ideal time to begin treatment is 4 to 7 months but correction can be gained from starting treatment up to 14 months of age. A cranial remoulding helmet (orthosis) can be designed that provides painless contact over the prominent areas of the skull while leaving protected voids to provide a pathway for growth by the affected areas for more symmetrical skull growth.

Rehabilitation

Depending on the extent of your injury, you may need to visit a Physiotherapist for rehabilitation. Your therapist will work with you not only to help your current injury heal, but also to strengthen the injured area to prevent future injuries. Follow your therapist’s instructions to the letter and be sure to practice the strengthening and range of motion exercises you will be prescribed.
Wear a knee brace

Wearing a knee brace, such as a CTI Prosport during your recovery process will help you heal faster. If your skiing injury involved damage to the ligaments in the knee, wearing a brace will stabilise your knee and prevent re-injury during the healing process. Why is a knee brace so important? Braces prevent lateral and twisting movements in the knee, especially important in ACL and other ligament ruptures and injuries to the meniscus. At the same time, they still allow for smooth, controlled bending and extending movement so that the joint doesn’t stiffen up, inhibiting healing. The best kind of knee brace for a skiing injury is one that provides a high level of protection, such as rigid framed, hinged styles. Your Orthotist or Physiotherapist can help recommend one that is right for your specific injury.

Other Tips for Recovery

- Warm and cold therapy can help loosen up the ligaments and tendons to ease pain. The heat will allow improved blood supply and alternated with cold therapy to squeeze out swelling and dead tissue cells, will improve your range of motion and also prevent the injury from stiffening up.
- Eating a healthy diet with proper nutrition is very important when you have had any kind of injury. Your body needs vitamins and minerals to repair itself and those in food are much more readily available than those in tablet or capsule form. Include plenty of calcium and iron-rich foods, such as low-fat dairy products, lean meats and greens such as spinach.
- To heal properly, your body also requires plenty of sleep. Working too hard and stressing yourself out will only lengthen your healing time. Get your full eight hours of sleep every night and take it easier during the day. You might find that raising your leg onto a pillow will help swelling to reduce.
- Practicing relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, visualisation and even yoga can be quite effective in speeding up healing. They are also very effective for helping to deal with the pain that accompanies these types of injuries.
- Talk to your Orthotist or Physiotherapist about supplements like selenium and chondroitin and whether any of them would be appropriate for you. Don’t add supplements to your diet without checking with your doctor first as some supplements can interact with prescription medications.
- Take prescribed medications as directed. They may be preventing swelling, which inhibits healing and will also reduce pain so that you can move easier and work through your rehab exercises.

Technology in Motion treat clients with ACL ruptures and repairs who have an unstable knee or need to protect it during sport in several clinics across the UK. Please visit their website for more information.

One of the many quotes from a client is: ‘We have been totally impressed and delighted with the care and professionalism that has been shown to our son by Steve and Sandy. They are indeed a credit to the Healthcare that is available in this country, and they are undoubtedly the leaders in their field.’

Technology in Motion is now delighted to announce the start of further expansion by our association with North London’s Prestige Healthcare clinic in Barnet. This is our second London clinic complimenting our existing Wimbledon clinic and is our sixth UK clinic ensuring that we continue to meet our clients’ needs by delivering a high quality local service.

Our partnership with Prestige Healthcare means that we are now able to deliver a local North London service offering the very best to our clients. This clinic offers all of the services that Technology in Motion is known for and our clients find that it is now easier for them to access our services.

Technology in Motion continues to offer a national service for correction of head shape deformity such as plagiocephaly and brachycephaly (flat head syndrome) for young infants and knee bracing for sport injury or arthritic problems and we choose the very best brace to relieve the problems for which our clients seek our services.

We continue to be the UK’s leading provider of cranial remoulding treatment and since introducing this therapy to the UK in 2003 we have treated thousands of babies nationwide. We are always looking to further the support and care that we give to clients, whether they be babies with plagiocephaly and brachycephaly or adults with knee injuries such as an ACL rupture to continue their sport or for daily use or to relieve the pain of knee osteoarthritis.

Steve Mottram, Managing Director and the UK’s leading cranial specialist says:

‘We at Technology in Motion are delighted that the transition from a wholly owned to an independent company has gone so smoothly. Our clients continue to compliment us on our services and we strive to make their experience with us one which exceeds their expectations. This new phase of our development, working with the clinicians and staff at Prestige Healthcare at their new centre is another milestone in the company’s journey. We are impressed by the facilities and the clinicians and know that our clients will receive excellent care in this new location. ‘

For more information, visit us at: www.technologyinmotion.com, call us on 0330 100 1800 (local rate) or email us at info@technologyinmotion.com

Founded in 1993 Technology in Motion has been offering clinical service for all orthopaedic conditions requiring orthotic intervention. It continues to offer PlagioCare™ treatment for infants with plagiocephaly , the fitting of knee braces; CTI braces for knee ligament injuries or bracing for knee osteoarthritis.