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Plagiocephaly Treatment Costs

The total cost of our LOCband Lite plagiocephaly treatment package is £2,560. This includes: pre and post-treatment scans and photographs of your baby's head a bespoke LOCband Lite cranial remoulding helmet all your baby’s required review appointments clinical support (by phone, email or WhatsApp) appropriate cleaning fluid for the helmet copies of any reports sent to your GP/paediatrician to inform them of your baby’s progress An initial payment of £1,280 is payable when you decide to proceed with the treatment and the remainder is payable at or before the fitting appointment.

Review Appointments

In general, physical reviews are scheduled every two to four weeks depending on your child’s growth and the progress of the treatment. Initially these will be in person so your baby’s helmet can be adjusted. As treatment progresses, video reviews may be offered or requested. We appreciate that travelling with a young baby can be difficult so if you and your orthotist agree then video reviews can be substituted for physical assessments. The success and efficacy of the plagiocephaly treatment is our priority, however we do not want it to impact on family life any more than necessary. While 95% of patients do not require a second LOCband Lite orthosis, there may be certain clinical presentations where your baby may require a second LOCband Lite to complete their treatment. In these circumstances, there is an additional charge for the second LOCband Lite.

One–week turnaround between assessment and fitting at our Kingston clinic

If your baby is being treated at our Kingston clinic, we are now able to offer a one-week turnaround between your agreement to proceed with treatment and the fitting of the bespoke LOCband Lite helmet. Normal lead times are two weeks. If you are interested in this service, please discuss this with your clinician.

PRICES

Plagiocephaly & Craniosynostosis

LOCband Lite Assessment FREE Full LOCband Lite Plagiocephaly Treatment Package, which includes: £2,560 - LOCband Lite Orthosis £1,360 - LOCband Lite Treatment Course £1,200 2nd LOCband Lite Orthosis* £730 Repositioning Review £100 LOCband Lite Express Fit (Kingston clinic) Additional £250 Cranioband Treatment Package £POA *95% of patients do not require a 2nd LOCband Lite orthosis.

Tree of Hope

Some parents who have struggled to fund LOCband treatment have been helped by the Tree Of Hope Charity. Tree of Hope endeavours to provide assistance to families of sick and disabled children trying to raise money for specialist medical surgery, treatment, therapy and equipment. As a small charity, funds are limited, but they do everything they can to help parents achieve their fundraising goals. The process starts with a telephone or email application from the parent/carer/guardian of the child in need of assistance. Call 01892 535525 or email help@treeofhope.org.uk Your case will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. The Tree of Hope will get back to you and hopefully provide the hands-on help and support that is needed.

Headstart4Babies

If parents have difficulties with the funding of treatment, Headstart4babies, a UK-based charity (registered number 1112256), will provide help and advice to families and assist their fundraising efforts, using third-party providers such as JustGiving. You can e-mail them by clicking this link Headstart4babies. If you wish to show your support for Headstart4babies, you can make a donation at their JustGiving web page.

Locations:

Locations Kingston upon Thames (HQ) Cambridge Romford Manchester

Plagiocephaly FAQs:

How frequently do we need to attend reviews?

This is very much dependent on how fast your baby is growing. The faster the growth, the more frequently your baby will be seen so that the helmet can be adjusted. In general, reviews will happen at two to four-week intervals.

What does the price of the treatment cover?

The price of treatment covers: all your baby’s required appointments from start to the end of treatment, no matter how many are required to achieve the improvement in head shape that you are happy with; the cost of manufacturing the LOCband and supply of appropriate cleaning fluid for the band; all reports to your GP/paediatrician/ cranial osteopath/physiotherapist, including a final scan report with objective measurements of change achieve; full telephone support from your clinician during treatment, and, if necessary, extra review appointments at short notice.

Does cranial remoulding therapy really work?

Yes - All babies that have completed their course of treatment with us have achieved a measurable improvement in head shape. However, you don’t have to take our word for it.
Recent independent research conducted by a University Hospital in Germany has endorsed the treatment for babies with moderate or severe plagiocephaly. A larger, retrospective study has just been published that found complete correction was achieved in 94.4% of babies treated with helmet therapy. The results were conclusive: repositioning achieved acceptable correction in 77.1% of cases, but 15.8% were moved onto helmet therapy because re-positioning was not working. Meanwhile, 94.4% of the infants who started in the helmet-treated group achieved full correction, as did 96.1% of those who were transferred from the repositioning group into the helmet-treated group. Further information can be found on our Plagiocephaly Research page.

What should I do if my baby is ill or has a temperature?

If your baby has a temperature or a fever due to illness you must remove the band. The band can be put back on once the temperature has returned to normal.

What is the best age to start treatment?

The optimum age for treatment is between four and seven months. This is because the skull is most malleable at this age and improvements to head shape tend to take less time and are more dramatic. That is not to say that helmet therapy should be ruled out if the baby is older than seven months. Routinely, babies up to the age of 16 months can be treated very successfully. The cut off age is around 18 months when the fontanelles (soft spots on the head) are no longer malleable. As babies grow and develop at different rates, it is always worth checking if you are not sure. There have been cases where a baby’s fontanelles have not fused yet by the age of 18 months, who have achieved successful, but less-marked results with cranial remoulding therapy.

What is torticollis?

Torticollis is a condition in which a tight or shortened muscle in one side of the neck causes the head to tilt or turn to one side, resulting in the infant resting its head in the same position. In 2013, we analysed the data from all first appointments in our Kingston clinic and found that 20% of the babies examined had some kind of neck condition that was causing head immobility.

Why should I choose LOC in preference of another clinic?

The clinics and clinicians that provide this treatment in the UK will have received similar training and experience. However, we are the only clinic that manufactures its own helmet and our clinicians are closely involved with the process for each individual helmet that we produce. In addition, we do not restrict review appointments to a set number, we are extremely flexible and respond to individual parents' needs so that the best outcome can be achieved for each baby.

How does helmet therapy work?

The LOCband is non-invasive and works by applying gentle, constant pressure over the areas of the baby’s skull that are most prominent while allowing unrestricted growth over the flattened areas. The band consists of a soft foam layer inside a thermoplastic shell. As the baby grows, the band will be adjusted frequently to gently guide the skull into a more symmetrical shape.