15 replies to this topic

[Liviu]

Hi everyone,

I recently developed a small presure sore in the sacral area from sitting in the wheelchair. As I am very bony in that area, i have a high risk of skin breakdown.

I am currently using a honeycomb cushion, but it is not very effective. I heard that most efficient cushions against pressure sores are the gel and the air ones. As the air cushions can be too thick and I am an active user, I started looking for gel cushions.

I managed to find a supplier for the following cushion in Romania(flo-tech image):
flo-tech cushion

The price is not a small one(350EUR) so I need to be sure it will really help me with my pressure issue before buying it. Therefore, please tell me your thoughts on the flo-tech image cushion from the above link, do you think it would solve my pressure issue? If not, maybe you can recommend over cushion types most suitable for me?

I would really appreciate any advice.

[nomis]

I hope you mean a cushion to stop future re-occurence and that in the meantime you are staying out of your chair, airing that small pressure sore until it has safely gone.

Air-filled cells as in Roho cushions have the convenience of being able to tie down specific cells to create a free space for an offending area. I'm biased towards the gel/foam combination of the Jay range.

It's a very personal choice but hopefully some others will have some good ideas from their experiences.

[Edinburgh Colin]

Hi Liviu,

I use a Jay Easy cushion which is very similar to the flowtech with the gel pad in a cut out of the foam body of the cushion. I had a Jay Active before but found that I was sinking into it (or felt I was) so changed to the Easy, very content with this cushion.

Another cushion I tried for a very short while was a Varilite Zoid foam and air cushion. This is a foam insert cushion with an air bladder that fills with air driven by atmospheric pressure, once you sit you can bleed out air until you feel stable enough. Even if the air cells fail then you still have a basic foam cushion until you can repair or replace it. The gel cushions when they fail tend to have a quite firm under cushion with a cut out pool in it for the gel pad and so are not good if there is an issue.

Jay Cushions
Varilite Cushions
Ideally you should still be guided by a professional as the consequences of getting this wrong are huge. If you get sores you could be in bed for months waiting for them to heal with all the associated complications of life that presents.

Good Luck

EC.

[Nicus]

Hi

If its possible please do pressure mapping with a variety of cushions to find the one with the evenly spreading of pressure. Notably its not always the best cushion that works the best.

Good luck.

[Bobo1974]

I've always been partial to the RoHo cushion. I've only needed one in the 12 years of being disabled and not one pressure sore

[Astack23]

The roho high profile cushion really helped me.

[Liviu]

thank you all for your replies!

nomis, on 26 July 2011 - 10:10 AM, said:

I hope you mean a cushion to stop future re-occurence and that in the meantime you are staying out of your chair, airing that small pressure sore until it has safely gone.

Air-filled cells as in Roho cushions have the convenience of being able to tie down specific cells to create a free space for an offending area. I'm biased towards the gel/foam combination of the Jay range.

It's a very personal choice but hopefully some others will have some good ideas from their experiences.

Nomis, yes, I meant I need a cushion to stop re-occurence. The pressure sore is gone allready, I developed it 4 months ago, but now I am looking for a cushion for every-day active use. Does anybody know if a stable seating position can be achieved by sitting on a Roho cushion?

Edinburgh Colin, on 26 July 2011 - 10:34 AM, said:

Hi Liviu,

I use a Jay Easy cushion which is very similar to the flowtech with the gel pad in a cut out of the foam body of the cushion. I had a Jay Active before but found that I was sinking into it (or felt I was) so changed to the Easy, very content with this cushion.

Another cushion I tried for a very short while was a Varilite Zoid foam and air cushion. This is a foam insert cushion with an air bladder that fills with air driven by atmospheric pressure, once you sit you can bleed out air until you feel stable enough. Even if the air cells fail then you still have a basic foam cushion until you can repair or replace it. The gel cushions when they fail tend to have a quite firm under cushion with a cut out pool in it for the gel pad and so are not good if there is an issue.

Jay Cushions
Varilite Cushions
Ideally you should still be guided by a professional as the consequences of getting this wrong are huge. If you get sores you could be in bed for months waiting for them to heal with all the associated complications of life that presents.

Good Luck

EC.

Indeed, the Jay- Easy cushion which you recommend, Colin, is much like the flo-tech. Unfortunately it is very hard to find such things as good wheelchairs/ cushions in Romania. The different medical shops generally have just 2-3 cushion sizes in stock, nobody sells smaller sizes like I need for my wheelchair. After googling a whole day I managed to find a company which can provide a custom size flo-tech cushion on demand. I could not find other good gel cushions.

Also, I have no knowledge of specialists in wheelchair positioning in Romania who could help me in choosing the right cushion. I have to blind-pick a cushion, this is why I need your help.

So, Colin, please tell me how much you can sit in the wheelchair with the Jay-easy cushion without having the skin red and how stable is your position with it. I like to practice sports in the wheelchair so I wouldn't like to have a wobbly cushion. I need to be able to sit 4-6 hours in the wheelchair in the office, do you think it would be safe with a Jay-Easy similar cushion?

Nicus, on 26 July 2011 - 11:01 AM, said:

Hi

If its possible please do pressure mapping with a variety of cushions to find the one with the evenly spreading of pressure. Notably its not always the best cushion that works the best.

Good luck.

Hi Nicus, unfortunately I don't have the possibility to try a variety of cushions, for the reasons I explained above to Colin.

[Edinburgh Colin]

With the Jay Easy I can spend 16 hours continuously in my chair, pressure relieving at least once an hour and my skin is fine. I'm now 27 months post injury so getting pretty bony on the sharp points. It's very stable by nature of the design so would be fine.
I had a flow tech in hospital for a few weeks and it was quite comfortable, I think the main body foam is softer than the
Jays but that should not matter if anything they will be lighter.
If you can get a Flowtec in the right size I'd go for it to protect yourself now. You can then continue to research other solutions at your leisure if the flotech is not 100% satisfactory. Getting the right size is really important to position yourself in the chair and on the gel pad.
Good luck.
EC

[madhouse73]

sorry for hijack

Ec did you get your Jayeasy from nhs as they are looking at new cushion due to devloping my first ever pressure sore not helped as am struggling to stay of my arse and out my chair so keep agravating it

[Trinity]

madhouse73, on 28 July 2011 - 07:41 PM, said:

sorry for hijack

Ec did you get your Jayeasy from nhs as they are looking at new cushion due to devloping my first ever pressure sore not helped as am struggling to stay of my arse and out my chair so keep agravating it

Madhouse, can you get pressure mapped? it really is the gold standard when choosing a new cushion, if your local wheelchair services don't offer this Stoke Mandeville definitely do and I am guessing Stanmore do too, if you are not under either of these hospitals get a referral to their seating clinics, they will tell your local WCS what cushion to provide you based on evidence rather than cost or availability

[Edinburgh Colin]

Madhouse, I did get it from the wheelchair service, I was on a Jay Active from them and my second chair thru Accesss to Work has an Easy. Told the NHS on the phone the Active was to sloppy and the Easy worked better and they bought me a new one. Never even had to go in and see them!

[WC_Sage]

Liviu,

Regarding "... anybody know if a stable seating position can be achieved by sitting on a Roho cushion? ..." - if you prefer an air cushion and need stability, then a Vicair Vector or Vicair Adjuster offers substantially more stability than the Roho structure. The Roho and Vicair cushion designs are completely different in their approach to using air as the primary weight-bearing medium.

[mellowgator]

i use the stimulite honeycomb cushion and really love it. it's light and easy to clean and i haven't had a breakdown in the 10+ years i've been using it. you are the first one i've heard of whose had a problem with this cushion. do you do weight shifts during the day? i hope you find a cushion that suits you.



mellowgator

[wheeliebear75]

I think the biggest difference (I've had ONE gel cushion by JAY & didn't like it as much as my ROHO) is that the gel cushions are thinner but add more weight, but the air type such as "ROHO Quattro" which is what I use has a LP 3' version & a HP 4' version.....I changed to the HP & my ASS LOVES IT!

[Mary-Anne]

I would like to repeat the advice to get a pressure mapping done.

[mike13]

Not trying to change the subject, BUT I just went to the wound center for my 1st. pressure sore in 7 years. I have a Jay gel cushion and the wound center really recomended the rojo, because of the ability to adjust the pressure so that you can aleviate the pressure that started this in the first place. WOW they recomend it to me, and I come home to do research on it and BAM! thanks for the input everyone, you helped me and did not even know it...
But, I do need to set-up that seating advisor, I bought my wheelchair used. used chair, new tires, see ya bye. No fitting.. so thats first on the list.