Strive OP News

It is 2:14 a.m. in Sterling Heights and the baby monitor is glowing green on the nightstand. The house is quiet. The furnace has cycled off. And a mother is lying flat on her back with her eyes open, doing the thing that nobody warned her about, which is listening.

Not for crying. For breathing.

Her son is eleven weeks into cranial helmet therapy for plagiocephaly, and the helmet has been on...

Lacey Hoffman remembers the exact appointment. Her daughter Margot was eight weeks old, and the pediatrician in their Romeo office ran through the usual checklist: weight, length, reflexes, head circumference. Then came the line that would echo for the next six months.

“It’s cosmetic. It’ll round out on its own.”

Lacey nodded. She wanted to believe it. Most parents do.

But the flattening on the...

The insert cost $31 at the pharmacy, and the mother in Utica felt smart for buying it.

Her daughter, seven, had been complaining about her feet after soccer. Aching arches, tired legs, that whining fold onto the couch the second practice ended. The internet had opinions. A forum swore by a gel insert. A cousin knew a brand. The pharmacy aisle had a whole rack of them,...

Five Things That Actually Decide Whether Your Baby Needs a Helmet

It is late. The baby finally went down. You are lying in bed with your phone six inches from your face, typing “flat spot back of head” into a search bar, and forty minutes later, you have seen more before-and-after photos than any human being should see in one sitting. Take a breath. Here is what actually matters, in plain...

Welcome to the Strive OP Educational Series — a growing collection of videos designed to help parents understand their child’s care in clear, everyday language. In this installment, we’re tackling one of the most common questions we hear from families: “Why is my baby’s head flat, and what can I do about it?”

That flattening has a name: plagiocephaly.

Watch the full video:

What is...

What a Rolling Ankle Is Really Telling You

The parents in Rochester noticed it the way most parents notice these things, slowly, and then all at once. Their son was almost sixteen months. He pulled to stand at the coffee table like the other kids at daycare. He cruised the furniture with real determination. But the second he let go, his ankles rolled inward, his feet spread flat against...

There’s a question almost every parent asks without ever saying it out loud.

It sits behind their eyes in the exam room. You can see it in the way a mother’s thumb keeps tracing the same curve along her baby’s head — repeatedly, like she’s checking the answer to a problem she’s terrified she got wrong. She won’t ask the question. Most won’t. But it’s the only...

We’ve got exciting news to share: Strive Orthotics & Prosthetics is now on YouTube.

Our blog has helped families understand the conditions we treat. Now we can go a step further and show you. Our new channel gives you a face-to-face look at what we do, the little ones we help every day, and practical guidance you can actually use at home.

Our very first video is all about torticollis.

If you’ve noticed...

The cereal aisle at the Kroger on 14 Mile is where it usually happens. A cart rolls past, slows, then stops. Eyes drop to the baby strapped in the seat — to the small, molded shell wrapped snug around the head, decorated maybe with stickers, maybe a tiny painted galaxy. And then the look. You know the look. The one that’s half curiosity, half pity, and entirely unwelcome.

The insert cost $31 at the pharmacy, and the mother in Utica felt smart for buying it.

Her daughter, seven, had been complaining about her feet after soccer. Aching arches, tired legs, that whining fold onto the couch the second practice ended. The internet had opinions. A forum swore by a gel insert. A cousin knew a brand. The pharmacy aisle had a whole rack of them,...