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Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

anyone ever used a Cranial Osteopath

25 replies

robinredbreast · 30/08/2007 18:58

and did you find it any good?

dd was born with a slighty mis shapen head its not really evening out and we are thinking of trying aCranial Osteopath

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wastingmylife · 30/08/2007 18:59

Spent a fortune on this with both of mine when they were tiny. Not sure if it helped to be honest, but I thought it couldn't do any harm!

ConnorTraceptive · 30/08/2007 19:01

how old is your dd now?

we used one for ds for the same reason and it definately helped. It helped his neck musles so he didn't always lie in the same position and make it worse. He was quite severe so the osteopathy didn't completely fix the problem.

there's plenty you can do yourself to help the shape round out by reposition regularly to make sure she's not always lying in the same position, tummy time, avoid over use of car seat, bouncy chairs etc.

honeyapple · 30/08/2007 19:05

My DS had about 4 sessions with a cranial osteopath when he was about 6 wks old. It was due to him being a forceps delivery. He seemed a much happier baby after the treatment. Not sure how much it would help a mishapen head though as the pressure they use is really small and they are only manipulating the bones very gently. I think it would be worth contacting a cranial osteopath for their opinion though. And yes, it was expensive.

robinredbreast · 30/08/2007 19:06

shes 9 weeks
how much roughly does it cost ? and how many sessions did your dcs have ?

i try to change her lying on same side but she always moved back

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cocolepew · 30/08/2007 19:06

Both my DDs still go, aged 5 and 9. Worked a treat with DD1 as she was a big baby and forceps. She has NF1 and quite clumsy. We go every 3 months and I notice a difference in her speech(her mouth gets twisted and her tongue is too tight), and her balance straight away.

honeyapple · 30/08/2007 19:08

I'm afraid it was 8 yrs ago that I took my son... cost about £30 a session I think .

NAB3 · 30/08/2007 19:15

Definitely do it. Fab fab fab

robinredbreast · 30/08/2007 19:17

what was your experince nab?

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mckenzie · 30/08/2007 19:18

I think that there is a place in London that offers children discounted prices. (Of course you may be miles away in Scotland which makes that comment rather pointless. Sorry) And I think i heard about it on a post on mumsnet. Have you tried searching for old messages?

Personally I used cranial for both DCs. DS because he was a long time in labour and a back to back presentation. DD because she kept getting chest infections. I was very very pleased with the results and have had cranial myself too for an ear problem.

mckenzie · 30/08/2007 19:19

Our local clinic charges £40 per session i think.. DS had 2 I think and DD had about 4.

NAB3 · 30/08/2007 19:21

DD1 had plagiocephaly. DS2 had a tough start when in me and at birth and with DD's history wanted to get plagio ruled out. The man was so so lovely. Picked up on all DS's problems and we saw him quite a few times. Didn't see him for a few months and I got all worried again when a doctor said he was DS and he gave him another session and checked him and he was okay. Can't rec it enough and if you live in/near Kent you should see this guy.

Off for dinner now but will check back later if you have any ?s

muppetgirl · 30/08/2007 19:22

We did, can;t remember how old he was. He was ventouse and seemed very, very angry all the time. Apparently he had a few 'bubbles' at the base of his neck but the osteopath said it was a 'good' birth all in all. He was very colicky as well as angry, that's why we took him.

About £30 ish I think. Did it work? Not really as there wasn't really a problem (we found out by seeing him) but were happy to take him to check it out.

saladsucks · 30/08/2007 19:24

My DD was born with Ventouse (sp?) and had a funny shaped head. Cranial Osteopathy was amazing. We had 6 sessions which were all covered on BUPA - but I know he was an expensive man (£60 a session in outer london).
It immediately made a difference to her, she was calm and happy after each session, she settled really easily and slept really well. And she still does all of those things.
Highly recommended.

robinredbreast · 30/08/2007 19:25

but can it work on mis shapn heads

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robinredbreast · 30/08/2007 19:26

im in northampton by the way

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robinredbreast · 30/08/2007 19:29

nab i never heard of plagiocephaly
do you think thats what my dd may have ?
when did you know your dd had that?

how is your dd1 and ds now ?
how are there heads?

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cocolepew · 30/08/2007 19:42

Robin, it can help mis- shapen heads. My DD1 head and face was badly mis-shapen and her neck was non-exsistent!

robinredbreast · 30/08/2007 20:09

coco how many sessions did you have and from what age my dd is 9 weeks

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littlestar · 30/08/2007 20:09

DS had about 8 sessions from 6 weeks old - he was really colicky and I definitely think it helped, although it's hard to quantify. We took him to the Childrens Osteopathy centre in London which was brilliant because you donate what you can afford (there's no way our budget would stretch to £40 a session. I'm about to give birth to DD and will definitely take her for a few sessions even if there's nothing obviously 'wrong' with her as I think it really helped. I hope this helps - I can't really explain how it works but it definitely seemed to help DS.

CatIsSleepy · 30/08/2007 20:13

mckensie I think you are thinking of a place in Harley St, they might even do it for free if such things are possible?

we had a few sessions for our dd when she was about 6 weeks-she was a ventouse delivery and seemed to have a lot of anger about something or other!
hard to say for sure if it was the osteopathy or just her changing as she got a little older, but she did become calmer and started sleeping much better after the sessions.

Pickie · 30/08/2007 20:23

DD1 came out so quickly that she didnt turn properly so she had problems with her neck and couldnt latch onto my left breast, right breast was fine. 2 session and it was sorted and she was able to breastfeed from both sides.

In my opinion definately worth a try, you could maybe phone one and see if they do a initial free consultation and or give an estimate of the costs.

NAB3 · 30/08/2007 21:34

By robinredbreast on Thu 30-Aug-07 19:29:41
nab i never heard of plagiocephaly
do you think thats what my dd may have ?
when did you know your dd had that?

how is your dd1 and ds now ?
how are there heads?

DD1 is now absolutely fine. She didn't have any cranio treatment though. We went to Harley Street and she had a helmet to wear. She was also hypotonic but is fine now completely.
DS2 is okay too though we are watching his toes and leg support at the minute as he has had a few funny moments.

You need to get your childs assymetry measured. Not the circumference. It will have to be done by a doctor with something that looks like salad servers. If you took a picture of the top of your child's head looking down, I would be able to tell more. HTH.

cocolepew · 31/08/2007 08:02

My daughter only needed the 1 session, though, as I've said we still go regular, but this is for her NF1. Sometimes after the treatment they can feel crap for a day. dd1 was a few weeks old and her colick was terrible the next day but settled down. I can recomend (sp) someone if you live in N. Ireland! It also helps glue ear,speech problems,sinus etc.

Lolcats · 05/09/2007 00:35

My daughter had a flat head (plagiocephaly) from early on (2 weeks approx). She developed it due to a neck problem (torticollis) which meant she only used one side of her head to sleep on, and was likely due to the prolonged labour, and her being the wrong way round all that time.
Our GP gave us physio exercises to do with her at each nappy change, which improved the neck problem (though they were excruciating for us, as she screamed the whole time!). Unfortunately by that point, the damage to her head was already done. Her ears were mis-aligned by over an inch (if you viewed from above).
We did everything we could to minimise her lying down (sling, carried all the time, etc- which also helped with her reflux LOL) but even with repositioning, the head shape did not improve. Though she did sit unaided incredibly early, probably because of the practice.
She had a bulgy forehead, and one eye was smaller than the other due to the deformation (ok- she sounds like the elephant man- she was cute to us, but you could certainly tell something was amiss!). Her head was kind of trapezium shaped rather than an oval.
We went down the helmet route- Cranio, through Dr Blecher- and while it was heart-wrenching at the time I know we did the right thing for our daughter.
Our health visitor, and midwife dismissed me when I said there was an issue with her neck (even though she howled when I tried to gently turn her head). Thankfully our GP agreed with us, BUT did not take the flat head issue seriously.
I now see babies/children all the time with brachycephaly (flat across the back evenly) or plagio (flat to one side- wonky heads)- to some extent they can grow out of it, but not completely, and of course it depends on the severity of flatness in the first place.
Go to the MSN Group Plagio UK, read about people's treatment etc.
It is NOT cheap! It is not available on the NHS (seen as cosmetic, though orthodontic braces are just as cosmetic if you ask me, and about 50% of children get those, and dd would not have been able to wear spectacles had she needed them or a cycle helmet!).
It is a faff going to the appointments- nearest clinics to you are Leeds or London- especially when you're trying to minimise the amount of time in a carseat
It can also be very hard dealing with the stares, the sniggers, the pitying looks, the hastily looking away that you will get when you walk anywhere with your child wearing a helmet. All I can say is it certainly made me more aware of what parents who have a child with a permanent condition must go through on a daily basis, and my dd will be made aware at every opportunity that society today is diverse, and all the richer for it.
I know of another mum with similar problems for her ds, and they went down the CO route, but the results were not as dramatic. To be fair her ds wasn't as wonky, but you can certainly still see its not round. My dd has a lovely shaped head now- it will never be perfectly round, but no ones head actually is, and you would certainly never know she had had a problem.
Sorry about the length!

Lolcats · 05/09/2007 00:38

Arrgh (its late, Im tired) meant to say- GO TO YOUR GP NOW! If there is a neck problem, it needs correcting ASAP, even if you don't do anything about wonkiness. Torticollis can cause problems in the long run.
Tort aside, any steps you take in correcting the shape (CO or helmet or repositioning) need to be done while baby still has a nice malleable head (IYSWIM).

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