16 replies to this topic

[elisabeth]

As I currently have a pressure sore I've been lurking around this section and came across this post which nearly made me cry with joy!

I lead an extremely active life working at two jobs as well as Uni, and I have amazing friends I love hanging out with so my social life is constantly on the go as well, but unfortunately due to this pressure sore EVERYTHING has been put on hold again while I get treated in hospital. It might sound strange but I really don't care about being spinal injured anymore, I never really have ... I just want to get on with my life but I have not been able to do so because of this darned pressure sore.

I cannot perform pressure lifts by myself, and as I am so active I don't have the time to do a pressure lift every hour as I have been told I should. Hence when I saw that a cushion existed which could mean that I could get up while my pressure sort heals, and that it could significantly reduce the chance of a pressure sore recurring I was over the freaking moon.

So my question is has anyone else got or tried the Airpulse PK, does anyone know someone else who uses one and what do you do if you want to get them serviced if you live anywhere in the States that is not near the company, or anyone else from other countries, what do you do if you need help servicing it?

ANY experiences with this cushion I would greatly appreciate hearing before deciding to buy one. I know they are expensive but it is much more taxing on me psychologically to be trapped in a hospital bed when I have a beautiful life out there waiting for me to live it. I'm going to consult my doctor as well as a physiotherapist, but in my mind is the most important thing is to talk to people who have experienced these cushions

Edited by elisabeth, 21 April 2007 - 07:40 AM.

[bigwheelzrme]

As I currently have a pressure sore I've been lurking around this section and came across this post which nearly made me cry with joy!

I lead an extremely active life working at two jobs as well as Uni, and I have amazing friends I love hanging out with so my social life is constantly on the go as well, but unfortunately due to this pressure sore EVERYTHING has been put on hold again while I get treated in hospital. It might sound strange but I really don't care about being spinal injured anymore, I never really have ... I just want to get on with my life but I have not been able to do so because of this darned pressure sore.

I cannot perform pressure lifts by myself, and as I am so active I don't have the time to do a pressure lift every hour as I have been told I should. Hence when I saw that a cushion existed which could mean that I could get up while my pressure sort heals, and that it could significantly reduce the chance of a pressure sore recurring I was over the freaking moon.

So my question is has anyone else got or tried the Airpulse PK, does anyone know someone else who uses one and what do you do if you want to get them serviced if you live anywhere in the States that is not near the company, or anyone else from other countries, what do you do if you need help servicing it?

ANY experiences with this cushion I would greatly appreciate hearing before deciding to buy one. I know they are expensive but it is much more taxing on me psychologically to be trapped in a hospital bed when I have a beautiful life out there waiting for me to live it. I'm going to consult my doctor as well as a physiotherapist, but in my mind is the most important thing is to talk to people who have experienced these cushions

Elisabeth
I use one. I got one around November of 06 after I had a stage 3-4 sore. At first I wasn't sure if it was worth it either and in like you as thought it was simply amazing the claims and testimonies made about it. I still have the sore due to osteomyelitis/bone infection and have been on IV antibiotics for that and the wound vac. I've been on almost complete bed rest to do that but what I can tell you about the cushion is that if it wasn't for the cushion I could not get up at all due to the most excruciating pain involved with a sore. On any normal cushion, gel/foam I cannot sit up at all on one of those even with a lot of pain med. But with the airpulse and a small amount of pain medication four to six hours is fairly tolerable any longer and you start to get uncomfortable. So I'm hoping once I get healed pressure sores, will be a thing in the past. As far as servicing it and so on you will need to talk to the company about that. They seem extremely helpful to me.
But before you buy I would like to let you know a couple of things that I wished I had found out before I made my purchase. Buying retail from the company direct is going to cost you over $3000 but you can go to planet mobility on line and get it for less than $3000.
There is also another cushion very similar called the http://www.easecushion.com/ which is about $2000.
I have no idea which is actually the best product they both seem very similar in appearance and how they work. So hopefully this will help and give you another option to your problem.
Wishing you the best

Edited by bigwheelzrme, 22 April 2007 - 03:00 AM.

[robjames]

Hello, my name is Robert, I live in Australia I am writing to you to inform you about the product Airpulse PK cushion which you have on your website, is a product which I have tried out and paid a lot of money for, only to find that he does not work, does not do what they say it will do on the website .

I am a quadriplegic C4, in April of this year I was confined to bed because of pressure sores. Through desperation, trying to solve a problem by decided to give the Aquila Corp. products Airpulse PK pressure relieving cushion a go.

As soon as I got it to live it to me, we took it out of the box and tried to plug in the air hoses into the base units outlet, which immediately broke off with very little force, so I hhad to send the whole cushion back to the US. After getting it back, I sat on it for the first time for only 3 hours, after which I discovered the cushion had caused a very bad bruise on my bottom. I had an Occupational Therapist do proper mapping on this cushion which showed completely different results to the mappings Aquila Corp has on their website.

So I have a $5000 AUD cushion ssystem which does nothing and I can't resell it if it doesn't do anything. The company refused to help me in any way and with no refund whatsoever , so my warning to your members is , Do Not Buy a Aquila Airpulse PK Cushion, they are hopeless. Get one of the gel flotation cushions, without mentioning any brand.

Thank you
..

[oldwheelz]

I had a Ease cushion, Didn't think very much of it. I bought it used so I didn't lose much. If you think about it the air pressure changes. This not the same as lifting your butt. So there is more or less pressure but you are still sitting all the time. It just sounds so easy but if I had thought about it more I wouldn't have wasted my money. Back to the Roho

[Tippy]

I have been a C5-C6 for over 30 years. I have had ROHO High Profile cushion for most of the 30 years. To make a long story short, the ROHO went flat (estimated to 6 to 8 hours) and I was left with a deep pressure sore that had to be opened up and healed from the bottom up (used a Wound Vac). Way too many months of bedtime! The area never did recuperate to where I had no problems. I finally had to have a flap surgery done. I'm not taking any more chances with a ROHO. There's no way of knowing (when you have no sensation and no one with you) when the ROHO is low on air, and problems can occur within a few hours. I ordered an Airpulse PK about a week ago and it should be delivered soon. I'll give it a try and I'll definitely post the results on this forum. It is hard to find many people with this cushion posting results. Of the posts that I have read (about 15 total), all have been positive with the exception of one. I placed the order through a local supplier and it was expensive -- over $3500. Medicare is a definite negative on paying for it, but hopefully my insurance is going to help out. If it works and I do have to pay the total amount, it will be well worth it as all of you with similar problems know.

Tippy

[john S.]

As I currently have a pressure sore I've been lurking around this section and came across this post which nearly made me cry with joy!

I lead an extremely active life working at two jobs as well as Uni, and I have amazing friends I love hanging out with so my social life is constantly on the go as well, but unfortunately due to this pressure sore EVERYTHING has been put on hold again while I get treated in hospital. It might sound strange but I really don't care about being spinal injured anymore, I never really have ... I just want to get on with my life but I have not been able to do so because of this darned pressure sore.

I cannot perform pressure lifts by myself, and as I am so active I don't have the time to do a pressure lift every hour as I have been told I should. Hence when I saw that a cushion existed which could mean that I could get up while my pressure sort heals, and that it could significantly reduce the chance of a pressure sore recurring I was over the freaking moon.

So my question is has anyone else got or tried the Airpulse PK, does anyone know someone else who uses one and what do you do if you want to get them serviced if you live anywhere in the States that is not near the company, or anyone else from other countries, what do you do if you need help servicing it?

ANY experiences with this cushion I would greatly appreciate hearing before deciding to buy one. I know they are expensive but it is much more taxing on me psychologically to be trapped in a hospital bed when I have a beautiful life out there waiting for me to live it. I'm going to consult my doctor as well as a physiotherapist, but in my mind is the most important thing is to talk to people who have experienced these cushions

I use one when I plan to be up a long time or have had an accident in the roho. You got to be sure it is set up for your butt. It is worth reading the manual before getting up on it for anytime. What is cool is when you have a sore it can be programmed not to fill the cells under the wound at all. All dry float cushions are designed so you sink into them but never quite bottom out. The roho for example does not need air pressure. It needs a little volume though. The airpulse will give you pressure and if its too much it could cause problems.

john

[Martin55]

Hi, I have a SCI For 30 years C5/C6 Complete, I had a flap operation on a deep sore so got an Airpulse PK two years ago. I used for about 10 months but found it was bruising my bum from sitting on it. So i had to stop using it, now i'm back on the hi profile ROHO. It was a waste of money.
best of luck Martin

[crazy8]

I too have had a history of pressure areas, flap surgery, etc. I am on a Roho cushion in my chair, but I spend a lot of time in bed, and I really need to get a new mattress. Can any of you tell me what you think is the best air mattress for someone with a history of pressure sores?

I had a Pegasus air mattress that I loved, but I can't find anyone who sells them anymore in the USA. Anyone have any input on what you use as a good mattress? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Respectfully,

Crazy8

[guy771]

Hello, my name is Robert, I live in Australia I am writing to you to inform you about the product Airpulse PK cushion which you have on your website, is a product which I have tried out and paid a lot of money for, only to find that he does not work, does not do what they say it will do on the website .

I am a quadriplegic C4, in April of this year I was confined to bed because of pressure sores. Through desperation, trying to solve a problem by decided to give the Aquila Corp. products Airpulse PK pressure relieving cushion a go.

As soon as I got it to live it to me, we took it out of the box and tried to plug in the air hoses into the base units outlet, which immediately broke off with very little force, so I hhad to send the whole cushion back to the US. After getting it back, I sat on it for the first time for only 3 hours, after which I discovered the cushion had caused a very bad bruise on my bottom. I had an Occupational Therapist do proper mapping on this cushion which showed completely different results to the mappings Aquila Corp has on their website.

So I have a $5000 AUD cushion ssystem which does nothing and I can't resell it if it doesn't do anything. The company refused to help me in any way and with no refund whatsoever , so my warning to your members is , Do Not Buy a Aquila Airpulse PK Cushion, they are hopeless. Get one of the gel flotation cushions, without mentioning any brand.

Thank you

I own one of these cushions and I feel it is the best product in its class on the market. After reading your post I make some assumptions and observations. First you say you broke off a fitting with very little force. As with any product you need to be able to follow instructions and use a little common sense. The base unit fittings have to be "seated" to accept the hose fitting as is clearly explained in the instructions. If this is not done and you try to jam the hose fittings into the base unit fittings one can assume that something may be strained and break. This is probably why they clearly spell it out in the instructions. I have the instructions booklet and I know for a fact that they explain this.

Next if you read the instructions you will see that there are several degrees of inflation that you can inflate the cushion to. One must again use some common sense here. They specify a starting point that customers need to try for a short period of time. If adjustment is needed you have the option of putting more or less air into the pad. I personally think this is brilliant because personal preference, body type, sitting posture, chair type, amount of tissue under the boney prominences will all play a part in the ideal amount of inflation to optimize the pad for that individual. The first time you sit on ANY new cushion you have to exercise a little dilligence and not over do it. Your body is sitting on something entirely different than what it has been used to so you need to approach this process in progressively longer sitting sessions to let your body adjust. I am surprised your therapist didn't explain this to you.

Next you talk about a mapping and the results look different that those on the website. You must not know about pressure mapping. Each and every person that has a pressure map done will have different results. The type of pressure mapping system will read differently and even the same type of pressure map will register different results based on the time since calibration, full scale limits, number of sensors, surface area covered on the mapping surface and the knowledge of the operator. I would guess that the people at Aquila are simply showing the pressure mapping results that their cushion can achieve when they post pressure mapping samples. Surely no reasonable person would expect to replicate exact pressure mapping as another person of a different weight and body type and with a different pressure mapping system.

I question your comment about the company not helping you in any way. They have been fantastic to work with for me when I had questions. I bet if you contacted them again they would work with you. Maybe the issue is something got broken in shipping and it simply needs to be looked at by the company. Do yourself a favor and contact them and have them evaluate the cushion. if the cushion was sent by UPS it is very possible that it got bashed during shipping. They are not gentle with packages.
..

[advanced-mobiity]

There is a product called Flow Cushion. you can research it at www.flowcushion.com. I checked Medicare and it does seem that alternating seat cushions are not covered. there also used to be a billing code for the airpulse pk, but it is no longer. Here is a direct Medicare Link for DME Providers. If you find a cushion, you can search this site and see if it is a covered item,
http://www3.palmetto...1F13EFE56BFD1B5
Good Luck

[john S.]

I too have had a history of pressure areas, flap surgery, etc. I am on a Roho cushion in my chair, but I spend a lot of time in bed, and I really need to get a new mattress. Can any of you tell me what you think is the best air mattress for someone with a history of pressure sores?

I had a Pegasus air mattress that I loved, but I can't find anyone who sells them anymore in the USA. Anyone have any input on what you use as a good mattress? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Respectfully,

Crazy8

If cost is not an issue then get a Hill-Rom low air loss mattress. Sores actually heal while you lay on them. It won't be covered by medicare or medicaid. They no longer pay for preventative medical treatments. Our government only believes in preventative wars. Then they short change the vets so the drug companies make a killing and if you don't agree you're a traitor.

[advanced-mobiity]

I too have had a history of pressure areas, flap surgery, etc. I am on a Roho cushion in my chair, but I spend a lot of time in bed, and I really need to get a new mattress. Can any of you tell me what you think is the best air mattress for someone with a history of pressure sores?

I had a Pegasus air mattress that I loved, but I can't find anyone who sells them anymore in the USA. Anyone have any input on what you use as a good mattress? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Respectfully,

Crazy8

If cost is not an issue then get a Hill-Rom low air loss mattress. Sores actually heal while you lay on them. It won't be covered by medicare or medicaid. They no longer pay for preventative medical treatments. Our government only believes in preventative wars. Then they short change the vets so the drug companies make a killing and if you don't agree you're a traitor.

Actually John Medicare does pay for Hill-Rom's bed and or mattresses. I have not talked to Hill-Rom specifically but Medicare shows a specific billing code for both. Hill-Rom's Air Fliudized Bed is billed as an E0194 and is still a current code. Their Silkair low air loss overlay mattress shows a current billing code as E0372.
I have one customer that is a double amputee and has their air fluidized bed and says he no longer gets any pressure sores. I supplied him with a Roho Quatro Select High Profile seating cushion for his chair, he says that also works well.

[crazy8]

Thank you for the information on the mattress. Is there a specific name or model number for the Hill-Rom low air loss mattress that works best for pressure areas? Of course cost is always an issue, but avoiding another pressure sore nightmare is worth a lot to me. Can anyone give me a ballpark figure of approximately how much a new Hill-Rom mattress will cost me? I have no idea if this is going to be something that costs 500, 5000, or 50,000 dollars.

Thank you also for the medicare info. from Advanced Mobility. That would be awesome if I could get Medicare to help pay for this, since it truly is a medical necessity for those of us with pressure areas.

Has anyone else had any experiences with a Pegesus bed? I had rented one for many years, paid for my my insurance, and it was great. However, the insurance company then purchased a brand new one for me and now the warrenty is up and it keeps breaking down. It is hard to find anyone who knows how to fix it, and it is very expensive.

Thank you all so much for your replies and helpful information. It is GREATLY appreciated!

Respectfully,

Crazy8

[john S.]

I too have had a history of pressure areas, flap surgery, etc. I am on a Roho cushion in my chair, but I spend a lot of time in bed, and I really need to get a new mattress. Can any of you tell me what you think is the best air mattress for someone with a history of pressure sores?

I had a Pegasus air mattress that I loved, but I can't find anyone who sells them anymore in the USA. Anyone have any input on what you use as a good mattress? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Respectfully,

Crazy8

You need any of a number of Low Air Loss Mattresses. Look to be sure they bleed at least 80 cubic liters of air per minute minimum. The more the better. I can't get a low air loss mattress in Ohio on Medicaid/Medicare. I did find one on Craigslist and got it for $150.00 US. it is my heaven on Earth. I treat my SilkAire mattress like it is gold, (It is a $6000 mattress). make sure the mattress you get fights maceration, (moisture and heat).
Best wishes in getting a good mattress. (do not buy the SAT piece of junk)

john

[Tippy]

You need any of a number of Low Air Loss Mattresses. Look to be sure they bleed at least 80 cubic liters of air per minute minimum. The more the better. I can't get a low air loss mattress in Ohio on Medicaid/Medicare. I did find one on Craigslist and got it for $150.00 US. it is my heaven on Earth. I treat my SilkAire mattress like it is gold, (It is a $6000 mattress). make sure the mattress you get fights maceration, (moisture and heat).
Best wishes in getting a good mattress. (do not buy the SAT piece of junk)

john

John, I had been using a Hill-Rom Flexicair low-loss air mattress and I have had excellent results. I too have used other air mattresses, but the Flexicair is by far the best. I can lay on my sides or back for up to 8 hours with no skin breakdown. I have Medicare and it is fully covered.

[Brad]

Hello, my name is Robert, I live in Australia I am writing to you to inform you about the product Airpulse PK cushion which you have on your website, is a product which I have tried out and paid a lot of money for, only to find that he does not work, does not do what they say it will do on the website .

I am a quadriplegic C4, in April of this year I was confined to bed because of pressure sores. Through desperation, trying to solve a problem by decided to give the Aquila Corp. products Airpulse PK pressure relieving cushion a go.

As soon as I got it to live it to me, we took it out of the box and tried to plug in the air hoses into the base units outlet, which immediately broke off with very little force, so I hhad to send the whole cushion back to the US. After getting it back, I sat on it for the first time for only 3 hours, after which I discovered the cushion had caused a very bad bruise on my bottom. I had an Occupational Therapist do proper mapping on this cushion which showed completely different results to the mappings Aquila Corp has on their website.

So I have a $5000 AUD cushion ssystem which does nothing and I can't resell it if it doesn't do anything. The company refused to help me in any way and with no refund whatsoever , so my warning to your members is , Do Not Buy a Aquila Airpulse PK Cushion, they are hopeless. Get one of the gel flotation cushions, without mentioning any brand.


Thank you

I own one of these cushions and I feel it is the best product in its class on the market. After reading your post I make some assumptions and observations. First you say you broke off a fitting with very little force. As with any product you need to be able to follow instructions and use a little common sense. The base unit fittings have to be "seated" to accept the hose fitting as is clearly explained in the instructions. If this is not done and you try to jam the hose fittings into the base unit fittings one can assume that something may be strained and break. This is probably why they clearly spell it out in the instructions. I have the instructions booklet and I know for a fact that they explain this.

Next if you read the instructions you will see that there are several degrees of inflation that you can inflate the cushion to. One must again use some common sense here. They specify a starting point that customers need to try for a short period of time. If adjustment is needed you have the option of putting more or less air into the pad. I personally think this is brilliant because personal preference, body type, sitting posture, chair type, amount of tissue under the boney prominences will all play a part in the ideal amount of inflation to optimize the pad for that individual. The first time you sit on ANY new cushion you have to exercise a little dilligence and not over do it. Your body is sitting on something entirely different than what it has been used to so you need to approach this process in progressively longer sitting sessions to let your body adjust. I am surprised your therapist didn't explain this to you.

Next you talk about a mapping and the results look different that those on the website. You must not know about pressure mapping. Each and every person that has a pressure map done will have different results. The type of pressure mapping system will read differently and even the same type of pressure map will register different results based on the time since calibration, full scale limits, number of sensors, surface area covered on the mapping surface and the knowledge of the operator. I would guess that the people at Aquila are simply showing the pressure mapping results that their cushion can achieve when they post pressure mapping samples. Surely no reasonable person would expect to replicate exact pressure mapping as another person of a different weight and body type and with a different pressure mapping system.

I question your comment about the company not helping you in any way. They have been fantastic to work with for me when I had questions. I bet if you contacted them again they would work with you. Maybe the issue is something got broken in shipping and it simply needs to be looked at by the company. Do yourself a favor and contact them and have them evaluate the cushion. if the cushion was sent by UPS it is very possible that it got bashed during shipping. They are not gentle with packages.
..

Some very good insight here. Common sense must prevail or you're going to get into trouble every time. My mom uses the Airpulse PK cushion and for the first year we had not so much as stressed out tissue in the IT region. It was wonderful! But when we had to send the cushion to the manufacturer for some basic maintenance, that's when our troubles began anew. In the short seven day interim, she bruised the IT region on her right buttock which in turn opened up a 9cm tunnel along a scar tissue tract under her surgical flap. It was likely the 12 hours straight on a static cushion that must have triggered the breakdown. About 30 hours after mom was put on the ROHO, a loaner Airpulse cushion arrived. But apparently the damage was already done, we theorize. The subsequent staph infection only made the ordeal horribly worse. I guess we may never know precisely what happened but I can tell you what did not happen. We did not take a cautions approach to the number of hours up in the wheelchair during the time mom was on a change of cushions. If she had it to do over again, she would have cut in half her hours in the wheelchair and then use the ROHO (which she had used for years) very carefully until her own Airpulse PK was returned.

Well, we're in our 4th month of recovery from an incident that took a mere 7 days to fully present. The time mom enjoys up now is due to the effective pressure management of her Airpulse PK cushion. She's gone from 9cm to 4.4cm and enjoys about 7 hours up in about 2 hour(no more than 3 hour) intervals . The time up is always being reviewed. If it weren't for this cushion, mom would be confined to bed 24/7 which is as you must know the conventional approach to serious breakdowns. Anyway, I plead with you not to give up on this cushion.
Brad

Edited by Brad, 08 February 2008 - 01:38 PM.

[john S.]

You need any of a number of Low Air Loss Mattresses. Look to be sure they bleed at least 80 cubic liters of air per minute minimum. The more the better. I can't get a low air loss mattress in Ohio on Medicaid/Medicare. I did find one on Craigslist and got it for $150.00 US. it is my heaven on Earth. I treat my SilkAire mattress like it is gold, (It is a $6000 mattress). make sure the mattress you get fights maceration, (moisture and heat).
Best wishes in getting a good mattress. (do not buy the SAT piece of junk)

john

John, I had been using a Hill-Rom Flexicair low-loss air mattress and I have had excellent results. I too have used other air mattresses, but the Flexicair is by far the best. I can lay on my sides or back for up to 8 hours with no skin breakdown. I have Medicare and it is fully covered.

in Ohio they tell you that you must have two stage four pressure sores to even be considered. They use to be covered as a preventative medical device for persons at high risk or that have sores.

john