Ever since I became sensible, there have always been people discussing who has a rounder head! Why is so-and-so’s head flattened off in the back? The roundness or flatness of the head seems to have stopped changing at a very young age, but what factors are responsible for this? Let’s see what international journals have to say! (The following refers to authoritative international journalsJAMALatest published in 2024this article)
[Squamous head syndrome] Introduction
The symptom of a flat back of the head is medically called Flat Head Syndrome, or Flat Head Syndrome in English. The article goes right to the point: [Flat Head Syndrome] is a disease of infants and young children in the mother's body or in early childhood. Caused by prolonged pressure on the skull. As shown in the picture below, it can be roughly divided into two types according to the position of its flatness: 1. Plagiocephaly, 2. Brachycephaly. [Squamous head syndrome] occurs very early, and will begin to appear during the skull development stage of infants and young children before one year old. Approximately 13% infants will have this condition, but even if it does, it will not affect brain development or The level of IQ. According to statistics, since 1994 when back-lying was advocated in order to avoid Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), the incidence of Plagiocephaly Syndrome has begun to increase; in terms of risk factors, this syndrome is related to the length of crib use Longer birth, multiple births, premature birth, and delayed motor development are all related. In addition, if infants and young children suffer from torticollis (Torticollis), they are also at a higher risk of developing [platform head syndrome].
How to prevent【Squint head syndrome】
Considering that in order to avoid Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), it is still basically recommended to lie on your back. However, if a caregiver is around when you are awake, you can increase the tummy time by increasing the belly-down position. ), for at least 30 minutes every day, it will be able to effectively reduce the occurrence of [Squamous Head Syndrome].
howTreatment [Squint Head Syndrome]
Mild cases of "Squamous Head Syndrome" can be adjusted and treated by the caregiver alternately turning the infant's head in different directions; however, if it is severe "Squamous Head Syndrome", a "safety helmet" will be used Therapy], this therapy requires infants and young children to wear customized safety helmets. The recommended wearing time is 23 hours a day (even when sleeping), but this therapy is only recommended for infants and young children aged 4 months to 12 months.
In summary, it can be seen that the head shape is almost finalized at about 1 year old. Therefore, it is impractical for adults to adjust the head shape. It is recommended to achieve the desired head shape by adjusting the hairstyle. However, if you want infants and young children to have a rounder head shape, then the caregivers need to spend more effort to reduce the use time of the crib, change the side of the head more frequently and pay attention to safety at all times, thereby reducing the number of cribs. Long-term pressure on the side can prevent the occurrence of "Slanted Head Syndrome".
〈The author is former Attending Physician in National Taiwan University Hospital, and Master of Science from National Taiwan University〉