STAR Family of Cranial Remolding Orthoses

At birth, my daughter Jenna had a misshapen head. At the time, we didn't know anything about deformational plagiocephaly, but thought that over time her head would round out. Over the next several months we noticed that the right, back side of her head was becoming even more flat. At age six months, Jenna's primary doctor diagnosed her with plagiocephaly and referred us to a pediatric plastic surgeon. The plastic surgeon had a three-month wait for an appointment, and we were advised to reposition Jenna and keep her off of her back.

Jenna showed no improvement throughout the three months of repositioning. The specialist diagnosed Jenna with moderate to severe Plagiocephaly and prescribed a STARband. The STARband allowed us to receive treatment close to home at a more reasonable price than other bands.

At 9 months of age, we scheduled an appointment for Jenna at Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics in Independence and it was there we met her orthotist, Paulette. She answered all our questions and concerns and was wonderful with Jenna. She showed genuine concern for our daughter.

On October 21, 2002, Jenna received her STARband. From the time we put the STARband on Jenna, it never bothered her, and she never tried to take it off. Within a few days Jenna was wearing it 23 hours a day. After 2 weeks, we saw wonderful correction. Jenna would see Paulette about every 3 weeks and Paulette would trim out a little foam in the areas that needed room to grow. Jenna improved at every visit, and Paulette was as excited as we were. On January 21, 2003, Jenna graduated from her STARband and we were told that she no longer needed to wear it. We were thrilled because the original time estimate for treatment had been 5 months.

We were so happy that Jenna no longer needed her STARband, but we were sad that it meant that we no longer needed to go to Hanger to see Paulette. She became our friend during the time Jenna wore her STARband, and was no longer just an orthotist. We still stop by her office occasionally, and always give her the most recent pictures of our daughter Jenna who now has a beautifully shaped head.