Image 360 Boca Raton Helps Hundreds of South Florida-Based Children with Plagiocepahly

BOCA RATON, Fla. - July 8, 2013 - PRLog -- When Mariangela Romero found out that her son Marcel was suffering from a condition where the left side of his skull was flat, she was shocked and saddened. The specialist in Miami that she and her husband met with said the only option was to have Marcel wear a device, known as a Doc Band Helmet, nearly 24 hours a day until the skull was reshaped – which could take months if not years. Mariangela Romero accepted that Marcel would have to constantly wear the helmet, but she would not accept that the helmet had to look so medical and bare.

Luckily, Cranial Technologies of Miami, the company that supplied Marcel with his Doc Band, informed the family of Image 360 Boca Raton (formerly Signs Now Boca Raton), a local signage and branding company, which was generously offering its design and printing services to local South Florida families at no charge. The Romero family traveled from Miami to Image 360 in Boca Raton where they met with the design team that would create a Doc Band wrap for Marcel.

“The reason why it was so important for us to have Marcel's helmet designed is so people out in the world don't look at my baby like if there is something wrong with his head but instead look beyond that and smile at his helmet and see this as a fun thing not a medical condition,” said Mariangela Romero.

Image 360 Boca Raton owner Mary Sol Gonzalez first became involved with the cause in 2011, when a parent of a child suffering with Plagiocephaly (or the flattending of one side of the head) stopped by the Image 360 office emotional and in need of help. “The parent wanted to do something special with the Doc Band Helmet her child had to wear,” said Gonzalez. “The existing helmet was boring and plain and we decided adding a little color and a fun character would make the child and parent smile a little more.”

What began with the goal of making just one child smile has quickly turned into hundreds of smiles. Image 360 Boca Raton has already donated more than 50 DOC Band (a device for the head which consists of an outer plastic shell with a foam lining) wraps to children suffering from Plagiocephaly. It has committed to providing close to 100 more DOC Band wraps free of charge to special needs children in South Florida in 2013.  

According to a new study that was released today in the August issue of the journal Pediatrics, nearly half of all two-month old babies suffer from Plagiocephaly.

Gonzalez says Image 360 Boca Raton is the only business and/or organization to design and create Doc Band wraps in Florida. She says they are also one of only a few locations to do it for free in the entire country. (Other businesses require parents to mail in their Doc Band helmet and pay to have it designed, painted, etc.)

“I truly feel this is more for the parents of the children,” Gonzalez added. “It’s the parents that feel the discomfort or sadness when people look at their children. When their child is wearing a fun design on their helmet, people may still stare but typically to complement the featured design.”

Andrea Patenaude, who came to Image 360 Boca Raton in 2012 in need of a helmet for her three-year-old Logan, said: “When the time came to accept that my son would need to be fitted with a DOC Band to address his issues I was very concerned about how it would impact him. I wanted to find a way to make him want to wear it and feel good about wearing it. Image 360 Boca Raton was recommended and it was a great experience from beginning to end. They set me up with an amazing designer who not only made a fabulous design using the characters that Logan loves, but let us participate in the wrapping process. The team made a process filled with uncertainty, certainly great.”

About Plagiocephaly
Positional plagiocephaly is a disorder in which the back or one side of an infant's head is flattened, often with little hair growing in that area. It's most often the result of babies spending a lot of time lying on their backs or often being in a position where the head is resting against a flat surface (such as in cribs, strollers, swings, and playpens). Because infants' heads are soft to allow for the incredible brain growth that occurs in the first year of life, they're susceptible to being "molded" into a flat shape.

An education campaign launched in 1992 to have healthy babies sleep on their backs is credited with a 50% decrease in the infant mortality rate in the U.S. from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. But along with the decline has come greater awareness of a condition called positional plagiocephaly, in which an infant's head is flattened or misshapen, from too much time in the back position in the first months of life. Other studies have put the rate of positional plagiocephaly anywhere from 3% to 61%. A new, large sample of 440 healthy infants finds 47% of babies ages 7 to 12 weeks had the condition. By this age, plagiocephaly resulting from the use of forceps or other instruments during delivery typically would have resolved, says researcher Aliyah Mawji,an assistant professor of nursing at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Ongoing flat spots on the back or one side of an infant's head "are signs that the baby has not been given enough opportunities for repositioning" to prevent pressure on the flat areas and gradually correct the head shape, says Mawji, lead author of the study in the August issue of the journal Pediatrics, published online today.

Learn more at http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/sleep/positional_plagiocephaly.html# (http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/sleep/positional_plag...).

About Image 360 Boca Raton (formerly Signs Now Boca Raton)
Image 360 Boca Raton offers a range of high-quality services, including: ADA Braille Signs, 3D Lettering, Banners, Digital Graphics, Post & Panel Signs, Tradeshow Branding, Vehicle Graphics and Wraps, Wall Logos and Graphics, POS signs, and more. In 1983, Signs Now / Image 360 pioneered the computer-designed signs concept and led a revolution in the way signage is produced. Today, the professional team has access to the most advanced training systems and technology in the industry. As a result, Image 360 provides the special care and close personal attention one can expect from a local business owner, while its network provides global resources to effectively execute graphics, banners and signage projects of any scope. Image 360 Boca Raton represents Boca Raton and its surrounding markets. Image 360 Boca Raton is located at 6560 East Rogers Circle in Boca Raton, Florida. Learn more at http://www.image360.com/bocaratonfl.