# My baby's misshapen head is not correcting itself.



## becoming (Apr 11, 2003)

My baby has had a bumpy, ridgy head since birth. He's 5 months old today, and it's not fixing itself. There's a hard ridge across the top of his head that goes from ear to ear, it looks like it's drawn in near his temples, and he had a little flat, depressed place in the middle of his forehead. I took him for one session of craniosacral therapy with no noticeable result. Here's a couple pics that I think show what I'm referring to:

Pic 1

Pic 2 (notice the ridge along the top of his head here)

Pic 3 (notice the "crease" in his forehead)

What do you think? Should I have him evaluated, or is this normal baby stuff?


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## KatWrangler (Mar 21, 2005)

I posted on the other thread.

But to me this doesn't look normal and certainly not something that can correct itself. What does your Ped say? I really think you should be seing a specialist. If this is something that needs to be corrected by surgery, the younger they are the less invasive the surgery is.


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## Past_VNE (Dec 13, 2003)

Cross-posted in your other thread:

becoming, if you are concerned, you should definitely look further into this. Pediatricians and other docs are utterly notorious in the craniofacial circles for dismissing any troubles as "normal baby head oddities". We didn't do well checks, but a doctor friend dismissed us in the same ways as I've read repeatedly from mamas online whose child had a problem with their skulls.

I'm not saying your son does have troubles, but does look like he may have craniosynostosis, which my son had. It's not distinctive in the photos to make me think, "Oh my, he definitely has cranio!!" but yet, the ridges and the 'bi-temporal narrowing' (the pinching at his temples) is suggestive of a concern.

Craniosynostosis is congential fusion of one or more of the sutures (growth plates) in the skull, which causes the head to grow improperly.

It can be cosmetic only, or can cause raised intracranial pressure that causes a host of problems. There is no way to tell which a child will be ahead of time, so surgery is the safest bet. Traditional surgery is a scary affair, but there is an excellent alternative surgery, using a tiny incision and and a camera, which takes less than one hour.

As for diagnosis, please please rely on my or other "been there done that" advice. An x-ray or standard cat scan is a complete waste of time, money and is useless exposure for your son. Neither can show the skull in the proper way to diagnose or rule out skull problems. The only way to show the necessary parts of the skull is via a 3-D cat scan.

No matter what the pedi says, if you are worried, go see a pediatric neurosurgeon, immediately. The less-invasive surgery is most successful if done before 6 months of age.

We diagnosed our son ourselves, via Google, at 2.5 months old. We got a 3-D cat scan at 3 months old, sent the results to the surgeons we chose and had the official diagnosis via our emailed photos and cat scan without ever seeing them in person. (We lived in PA and the surgeons are in San Antonio, TX. They invented the endoscopic surgery in 1997 and are the premier doctors for craniosynostosis.) After learning their credentials, we were 'sold', and icing on the cake was their pro-BF, anti-circ, babywearing etc. ways. www.craniosynostosis.net

I am very willing to chat further about this if you are concerned, via PM, AIM/MSN Messenger or via phone.

I hope this was helpful to you, becoming.







s

(The second link in my siggy is not entirely accurate, esp. about post-surgery, which is better than they state, but it's one of the best links I could find.)


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## Panserbjorne (Sep 17, 2003)

i would get him in to see a craniosacral therapist ASAP.


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## chiro_kristin (Dec 31, 2004)

It may take more than one session of CST or another therapist, or a chiropractor who does cranial work. I would give CST a few more shots before going the surgical route, especially at 5 months. Possibly CST combined with myofascial release.

No cranial abnormalities are normal, IMO.


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## amyjeans (Jul 27, 2004)

first off- OH MY GOSH WHAT A CUTIE PIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I totally agree with the cranial sacral work as well as chiro work. At that age, the skull is still very "movable" and can be gently manipulated into place after several treatments. I have it done on myself and it is a wonderful peacefull experience.
all my best!


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## KittyKat (Nov 17, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *amyjeans* 
first off- OH MY GOSH WHAT A CUTIE PIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I totally agree with the cranial sacral work as well as chiro work. At that age, the skull is still very "movable" and can be gently manipulated into place after several treatments. I have it done on myself and it is a wonderful peacefull experience.
all my best!

The skull is only "movable" IF the bones have not prematurely fused!

It is important to find out if they have or not before proceeding with alternative therapies. Time is of the essence because surgery to correct craniosynostosis is much more successful and less invasive the younger it is done.

When my fourth child was a baby, the pediatrician noticed he had no soft spots on his head at all. No detectable fontanel anywhere. She very rightly called the specialist that same day, and immediately called us and told us to get him in for a CT scan ASAP. We did some internet research and what we found scared the crap out of us. We prepared ourselves for the worst, just in case.

As it turned out our son's head was fine, but we were very glad to have had it checked, because if he HAD needed the surgery, he could have ended up with brain damage or optical nerve damage (depending on where or how severe the skull fusing was) if it went undetected.

OP, I suggest getting in touch with a specialist, and having a full scan of your son's skull bones to check for craniosynostosis. It's much better to have him checked and find that his skull is not fused than to continue with alternative therapies when surgery is needed.


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## Metasequoia (Jun 7, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *firefaery* 
i would get him in to see a craniosacral therapist ASAP.


Quote:


Originally Posted by *chiro_kristin* 
It may take more than one session of CST or another therapist, or a chiropractor who does cranial work. I would give CST a few more shots before going the surgical route, especially at 5 months. Possibly CST combined with myofascial release.

No cranial abnormalities are normal, IMO.


Quote:


Originally Posted by *amyjeans* 
first off- OH MY GOSH WHAT A CUTIE PIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I totally agree with the cranial sacral work as well as chiro work. At that age, the skull is still very "movable" and can be gently manipulated into place after several treatments. I have it done on myself and it is a wonderful peacefull experience.
all my best!









:

My youngest had a flat back of the head from being zero station for a month. We went to a chiro who used Craniopathy, it's a blend of craniosacral & chiropractic. She got the one side to come out within 3 sessions & then I ran out of money. I'm going to start taking him again after the holidays to get the other side to come out. He was less than 2 months when she worked on him before.

I'm currently taking Dd1 to Kinderssage, craniosacral therapy to help widen her palate - CS is AMAZING!

I would think that a craniosacral therapist would be able to tell if the skull moved or didn't move, especially at 5 months, but I'm not for sure.


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## Panserbjorne (Sep 17, 2003)

I guess that was my point. Someone who knows about the normal human structure and doesn't see things in shades of grey would be my starting point. I don't trust doctors because everything is always in "the range of normal." A CST who knows and understands proper structure would be able to properly advise on the next step. And they would be inclined to suggest non invasive alternatives if they were appropriate.


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## Lilcrunchie (Jun 16, 2004)

I worked as a pediatric physical therapist in early intervention before having my kids. I'm not a doctor, and this isn't medical advice, but I'd have him evaluated. I agree w/ the PPs that things like craniosynostosis should be ruled out.

Is he on target developmentally so far? Even if he is, if it would end up being something like craniosynostosis, you want him evaluated ASAP because a skull fusing around a growing brain can lead to problems. Do you know how his head percentiles are tracking?

I am totally supportive of alternative and complementary medicine, but having worked in EI, I personally would *not* feel comfortable evaluating this by myself if I were practicing (it would be out of my scope of practice to evaluate it anyway), and I personally would probably seek a medical specialist vs. a chiropractor. No flames please.

There is a huge range of "normal" as you know, but at the same time, time could possibly be of the essence. It is IMO worthwhile pursuing.

I know for kids with plagiocephaly (flattening of the back of the head), there are pediatric neurologists/orthopedists that can fit a child w/ a helmet that will reshape their head over time. That is a possibility that might be worth pursuing depending on the severity.


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## jul511riv (Mar 16, 2006)

Craniosynostosis, got a friend who's ds was just diagnosed. He goes in for surgery in a month (hes about a week old). Please look into it. Charastics are the same as what you are describing.


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## Demeter9 (Nov 14, 2006)

Oh my God he is so cute I just want to pick him up and kiss him all over.

Normal. Totally normal. He's got a great head shape too. To my eye.

Of course, we say that my family living proof of the interbreding of the neanderthals because the guys in the family all have a brow ridge. I've seen quite a few babies in my family that have had that line you are talking about. It is usually gone by 3.


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## suprgrl (Sep 27, 2005)

I would have it checked out. My 4mo was just diagnosed with this and will be having the surgery in Texas on February 7th. We may take him to CST between now and then. I second what Past_VNE says about the TX docs. So far I am very impressed. We haven't had the surgery yet, but so far they are great... knew who I was after only talking to them once on the phone, too! "Hi, this is Ronna Mal..." Oh, yeah, Ezreal's mom...."


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## caedmyn (Jan 13, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *KittyKat* 
The skull is only "movable" IF the bones have not prematurely fused!


It's a misconception that the bones in the skull fuse. They are always moveable, even in adults. That's the whole reason cranial sacral therapy works, because the skull bones do move ever so slightly. Now whether CST can fix craniosyntesis (sp?) I don't know.


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## Past_VNE (Dec 13, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *caedmyn* 
It's a misconception that the bones in the skull fuse. They are always moveable, even in adults. That's the whole reason cranial sacral therapy works, because the skull bones do move ever so slightly. Now whether CST can fix craniosyntesis (sp?) I don't know.

That's the catch, caedmyn, you got it!

I despise allopathy/western medicine in most cases and perhaps as an example of our possibly extreme distaste for it, I'll say that last week, my husband had a very likely case of appendicitis. With homeopathy, fasting (water only for a day, then broth, then homemade fruit smoothies for two days), enemas and lots of rest, my husband is now happy, healthy and with an intact appendix. (Despite pleas from MDC mamas to rush him to the E.R.







)

*However, CST just can't touch craniosynostosis* and the potential side effects of leaving a child un-corrected are so severe that I beg anyone concerned about it to see a G-O-O-D pediatric neurosurgeon first...pronto...then move on to natural remedies if there is no cranio. Time is truly of the essence to spare the child the horribly invasive traditional surgeries called "calvarial vault remodel" (removing, reshaping, replacing the skull) with much pain, swelling and further surgeries down the road. A young child (under 6-9 months) can be corrected with the endoscopic procedure and will be much safer, and in less pain.

I'm babbling, sorry. This is one of the places where I am grateful for modern medicine.

Oh...and here's a neat link. Read most, but not all of it: http://boundbygrace.net/wp/2007/02/


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## Panserbjorne (Sep 17, 2003)

And we all have places where we are. IF my kids had a broken bone or a serious structural anomaly I would be as well.

I have never used conventional medicine for my kids, despite one of them having MAJOR issues. CST and homeopathy were a godsend. However I would never suggest not getting hte WHOLE story before making a decision in how to proceed. I agree that if it is indeed craniosynostosis it needs proper attention.

I would just suggest since there is a spectrum (as with anything) to get BOTH sides of the story and do your own research.


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## nextcommercial (Nov 8, 2005)

He's super cute!!!!

I have the same ridge. It is still very obvious when you feel it. If I ever lose my hair for any reason, I will buy a wig.

You really need to get him checked. It is worth banging down a few doors to have him seen by the right doctor. Pediatritians poo poo a lot of things that they shouldn't. Sometimes you need to fly in on your broomstick to get what you want.


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## bri276 (Mar 24, 2005)

Quote:

However, CST just can't touch craniosynostosis and the potential side effects of leaving a child un-corrected are so severe that I beg anyone concerned about it to see a G-O-O-D pediatric neurosurgeon first...pronto...then move on to natural remedies if there is no cranio.
ITA. Time is of the essence. I'd find the neuro department at your best local children's hospital, and if your insurance doesn't require references, I'd just call today and make an appt myself. If you do need a reference, call the ped and politely demand that they fax a referral to the neuro center *today*.









at the very least, you'll be able to stop wondering. sometimes not knowing is the worst.


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## Metasequoia (Jun 7, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *caedmyn* 
It's a misconception that the bones in the skull fuse. They are always moveable, even in adults. That's the whole reason cranial sacral therapy works, because the skull bones do move ever so slightly. Now whether CST can fix craniosyntesis (sp?) I don't know.









:


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## mommahix (Jul 1, 2013)

This is a very old post, but I wonder if there is a follow up from Becoming. I joined because I found the pictures of your sweet baby and my 6 month old has a very similar head. We already have an appointment scheduled Aug 7th with a ped neurologist. But it can't come quick enough.


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## BBJ2016 (Sep 26, 2016)

*HELP PLEASE. What happened to you nearly 10 years later?*

Hi there,

To those who previously posted.. I'm just wondering. In fact, I'm desperate. My nearly 4 month old honestly looks EXACTLY the same as the little one in these photos. He has a ridge down the front of his forehead, which I hadn't noticed, nor had anybody else, until the health visitor mentioned it. She also said he had small fontanelles and has told me to get to the doctor. He also has pinched temples and a ridge across his head from ear to ear. I'm freaking myself out. What was the outcome for your babies please please please?

I hope everything was OK.


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## BBJ2016 (Sep 26, 2016)

mommahix said:


> This is a very old post, but I wonder if there is a follow up from Becoming. I joined because I found the pictures of your sweet baby and my 6 month old has a very similar head. We already have an appointment scheduled Aug 7th with a ped neurologist. But it can't come quick enough.


Hello,

Do you have an update on what happened at your appt? I'm freaking out as I have the same problems with my 4 month old at the moment?

Please


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