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Wheelchair Woes
Loved reading this recent column from Brianna about her wheelchair woes. They sounded awfully familiar to mine and I’m about to embark on a similar experience to hers. Truth be told, I hate my chair. I’m just so uncomfortable. We took my custom-molded seat from my old chair and placed it on the new one, so I thought it’d be an easy transition. But I somehow don’t fit well into it even though it’s the same mold, just a different frame. I don’t know. But it’s been 2.5 years of discomfort, so I’m finally pulling the trigger for a new seat. I hate adjusting to new things, but it’s really necessary this time. What seat do you have on your chair? Do you have extra padding for support?
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7 Replies
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“There must be something in the air!” — Sorry, I couldn’t resist using that line here. I’ve been having difficulty sitting lately as well. I usually blame it on a change of weather or season. Living in Iowa, major humidity swings makes for aches, pains, and changes in cushion comfort. I use a high profile Roho with a low profile cover. The smaller cover “holds” the cushion more firm. I also have one lateral support and 2 hip supports. I adjust the air pressure in my Roho, to find an optimal balance of my neck and upper torso. PT has suggested wedges instead of over-inflating the Roho, but I can’t make it work. I recently came up with an idea. I use the air packaging that comes in some boxes, cutting to a desired size, and wedging where needed. Another helpful item everyone has is cardboard. It can be cut and double folded to a desired size for support. I feel your pain!
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I have a Jay Hybrid seat. It has foam edges and a ROHO style center.
I think I hate it, but just can’t figure out why. If I over inflate it, I feel like I am going to fall out of the chair. If I under inflate it, it just hurts. I can’t seem to find a good spot, but always struggle with it.
The only good thing is it has helped with my circulation by just not cutting off blood flow. It is better than any other cushions I have tried in the past, but that is not a great recommendation.
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Wouldn’t it be neat if someone invented a cushion with multiple air chambers which could be adjusted by an app? A tiny air compressor hooked to the chair battery.
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Get on that!
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I’ve never heard of this kind of seat before. Interesting how you both have had trouble though. I like Kip’s idea and think we should all band together to create one epic seat. ???? It would at least take one problem off our plates.
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Or we might just create a new cushion we could all agree does not seem to work for us ;<)
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You’re probably right Dennis. Everyone’s needs are so different it makes designing something that works for everyone virtually impossible. I’m all about using technology advancements to our benefit though!
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