Our experience with Cranial Technologies was a nightmare. We definitely do NOT recommend them to fellow parents.
* We used Cranial Technologies to helmet our baby at 5 months, for 12 weeks. Our orthotist was Julie and we are extremely dissatisfied with the service we received.
* Our baby's head asymmetry DID NOT IMPROVE at all, even though we followed all the instructions, wore the helmet 23 hours a day, and kept all our appointments for adjustments. To make matters worse, the helmet damaged our baby's eye & created an indent on our baby's skull - and the neurosurgeons said they permanently damaged the skull bones & this was not a soft tissue issue.
What to expect at Cranial Technologies:
(1) *** COST ***
Most insurance companies do not cover helmets, unless you have a severe case. Our insurance didn't cover under 12mm of asymmetry. Our baby had 8mm of asymmetry, and the insurance denied the claim.
- Cranial Technologies charges $5000 to the insurance. Based on your deductible & copay schedule, you are likely to pay 40-50% of that out-of-pocket, even if insurance covers it.
- If the insurance does not cover it & you decide to pay out-of-pocket (which is what we did), the cost of the helmet is $2500.
Note that this is the cost PER HELMET. In most cases, Cranial Technologies recommends a second helmet (or a third - I even read stories about 4 helmets!). So if you want to continue treatment, you will have to keep paying this cost per helmet.
(2) *** SCANS ***
They provide head scans free of charge, but be aware that these scans are just to get your foot in the door. Once you decide to get a helmet, they will NO LONGER scan your baby's head to provide you with the asymmetry numbers. You might hope for improvement throughout treatment, but you won't have any evaluation or proof based on numbers. All you will have is their word... what a clever business model indeed!
We had weekly appointments at first, and biweekly afterwards. All Julie did was put a sock on our baby's head, and assure us that it was improving. ALL YOU GET IS A VISUAL EVALUATION throughout treatment! And of course, they claim their helmet is working. When I (repeatedly) pointed out that my baby's head shape is not improving & you can clearly see that his flat spot is not getting any better, all I heard from Julie was: "I disagree, I disagree, I disagree...". Obviously I was right and she was wrong, but would never admit it.
Everything these staff members tell you comes from a SCRIPT. Do some online research, and you will see that this is everybody's experience with Cranial Technologies. They are a corporate chain focused solely on profits, and nobody there cares about your baby's head shape. They will admit no wrongdoing and just keep repeating themselves.
The only scan you will get is midway through the treatment - BUT WITH NO NUMBERS or NO REPORT. Again, this is just a VISUAL EVALUATION - which is your orthotist's opinion. She'll look at the scan and tell you it's improving. Even when the helmet is not working, there is nothing you can do about it.
(3) *** RESULTS ***
You get a final scan at graduation, and an accompanying report 2+ weeks after your graduation.
Our baby's head shape did not improve at all after the treatment. See the exit report pictures attached.
When we talked to our orthotist Julie about it, she said while the report shows ZERO IMPROVEMENT, the helmet treatment was still a SUCCESS (!!!). We were told the asymmetry numbers are there for insurance purposes only and they don't mean much. All we should care about is her visual assessment - and if she thinks it improved visually, we shouldn't question it.
Julie also told us: yes she can see some very minor flatness behind the ear still - but that's "the most difficult area to treat, so what are you gonna do". -- This is why we got the helmet in the first place! We were told our baby had a flat spot on the side of his head & were promised that the helmet could fix it. And when we were prescribed the helmet, we were told it was MODERATE TO SEVERE, but once their helmet failed to treat it, the exact same asymmetry was suddenly "VERY MINOR". In other words, "we already have your money, and we do not care".
4) *** DAMAGE ***
Our baby suffered:
- Permanent eye damage, since the helmet squished his eye for 12 weeks straight.
- Permanent skull damage, since the helmet pushed in and damaged the bones under the velcro. They claimed this is soft tissue accumulation, but it never went away.
Final note: Even if your child has a severe case & needs a helmet, consider getting a second opinion from other clinics in the area - they also offer free consultations and free technologic scans. I should also note that the Neurosurgery department doctors at CHOC do NOT recommend Cranial Technologies, but they work with Hanger Clinic instead. These are the most prominent medical doctors in SoCal specializing in children's head shape, so they should know. read more