wheelchair cushion covers

[Katilea]

When I got my own first Quickie manual chair years back I had a camouflage cushion cover made in same blues.

It was made by Wheeliefactor in UK. I checked their website address but the site isn't there now and I rang number embroided into cushion and keep getting 'line unobtainable' I'm thinking maybe they shut down or gone out of business?

Anyone know of anywhere else that does these? either UK based or will ship to UK?

I wanted one with dark reds/pinks in to match my new chair coming in June.

Thanks

Kati

[Burgerman]

What cushion do you use? And what are its dimensions?

[Katilea]

My cushion was just one NHS gave me with that chair I think it's memory foam and has a gel in the middle or something. Its 17 x 17 x 3.

I found another number for them I tried ringing but they hung up on me three times before the Typetalk operator could explain. I'm waiting to hear from covers-plus (emailed them), though they only have plain covers featured on their site.

I really liked the camouflage one though!

Kati
P. S do you have any recommendations for a good cushion better for full time use? I hear lots about Jay and Roho and gel and air but no idea which is best for what?

[Burgerman]

I and a great many other users swear by their Jay2 gel cushiions. I have 3...

They have very good "breathing" shear (easy sliding) covers, and the front, and the edges are firm. So transfering is easy. They seem to last a long time too. I dont get pressure issues, and they give very stable seating. But they are heavy to move about...

I have a ROHO Quadro too. It was given to me by a freind. It looks like a bunch of small air balloons in black, and has a loose fitting fabric cover. Looks pretty boring compared to the Jay2 Cover... But it is supposed to be better for people at very high risk of skin problems. It has to be kept inflated to exactly the right level. Too much and you get no real benefit, and too little and your bones hit the seat base on bumps! Instant damage. So if you use one of these be careful. Its also supposed to be better for stabiility with it having 4 seperate air chambers. (quadro!) So if you push one corner all the air doesent vanish into the other three...

However it doesent offer anything like the easy transfering (its a pig for me! A real fight. The thing only works when you are fully on it...) of the firm edged Jay2 cushion.

And the same for seated stability. It makes me a bit seasick when on slopes and things. So if your skin can manage with a Jay2 cushion, then its better. If not then you need to suffer the ROHO... In any case both are massively better than the cheap foam efforts provided by the NHS, one of which caused me a 12 month bed seshion with serious pressure ulcer.

[Swan T.W.]

http://www.covers-plus.co.uk

[Katilea]

I think I'd prefer the Jay2.

I can shift my weight and with involuntary movements I'm not still for long so don' t have quite same issues as someone with paralysis would there, but it does need to be comfortable for me to be able to sit/lie in as I be in it for longer periods of time.

At moment I can't sit for longer than a few hours in standard manual chair before it gets painful.. not cos cushion particuarly, but cos of my trunk muscles get tired as chair doesn't give me enough support now I have ataxia in trunk muscles. I don't want to have to have a huge manual chair too though after spending £2,500 on the Da VInci one thats folds down small - front part folds under seat and back on top similar to Quickie Revolution. (had it custom done in chrome and black suede upholstery for brothers wedding a few years back that's why it cost so much!)

I did look at a lateral support system from Qbitus that goes over back of wheelchair back but the foam is an inch thick on top of the depth of the back of my chair it would push me too far forwards. I could do with just the side pads that can be stuck on with velcro directly onto my chair back or something.. just for when I need manual chair but they haven't answered when I asked if they could supply just the pads.

The powered chair will have the lateral support built in the NHS said which I prefer to having to have obvious pads on the side.

I dunno if a chest strap wrapped around my trunk and the chair back, would give enough support just for occasions I had to be in the manual chair for a few hours? (meals out with family etc.. they dont have a van for a big electric chair) As the Da Vinci chair has no arm rests either to stop me falling off over a bump.

As that one wouldn't get used as much now and for as long I don't want to be spending loads on it. So was thinking of either pads that could velcro on for side support or some kind of belt.

[ex-Gooserider]

Cushion choice is very much a matter of individual fitting and personal preference... I tried the J2 that BM likes, and it felt to me like I was sitting on a soft rock, very uncomfortable. The Roho I tried was comfortable when sitting square on it, but as BM said, it is a real problem transferring on and off of it.

What you need to do is find a GOOD seating specialist, and work with him/her to find what works for you.... As a first step, I would suggest getting "pressure mapped" which is a process where they put different cushions on the chair, topped with a special mat that has a grid of pressure sensing elements in it - this connects to a computer that measures the pressure on each point in the grid and shows a map of your butt and how much pressure is being placed on each part of it. You (in theory at least) want a cushion that "maps" to as close to the same pressure everywhere. It is likely that you may find several cushions that will look pretty good on the pressure mapper, and what you should then do is borrow as many as they will let you try at a time to see which ones are still comfortable after you've sat on them for a few hours...

We can tell you what works for us, but it is extremely hard for any of us to really make a good recommendation as to what will work for you...

Same deal with your question about the use of a positioning belt - all I can suggest is that you can probably find something fairly inexpensively (go to the clothing store and get a long belt?) and try it to see how it works for you...

ex-Gooserider

[Martin O Refurbisher]

Our upholsterer can make anything you wish, in any available material. If you can send a sketch, or description, I'll be happy to send you a quote. Send to molaw5@netzero.net

Best
Martin

[Martin O Refurbisher]

I would endorse finding a supplier who can pressure map cushions. This gives good factual data.

Most of my clients who have seating problems use either Jay cushions or air pocket ones from various suppliers. Personally, I use a gel cushion, but the best suggestion I can make is to try the range and see which works best for you.

Best,

Martin

[Katilea]

The one I got with my first Quickie chair has been the comfiest.. that is kind of like a memory foam, it has some kind of gel in the middle or something? It is bigger than the cushion that came on the Da Vinci chair as they made the frame an inch smaller, so just put regular foam inside as the 3" cushion they originally gave me made me too high up.. the guy must have measured it wrong. As it only arrived the week before the wedding I didn't have time for any modifications just got cheap smaller cushion and stuck extra foam at end to lift knees slightly. Some pics on here:

http://www.livingwithataxia.org/profile ... avel-chair

Although Da Vinci chair is great as compact travel chair to shove in a boot for a quick trip into town or few hours out in pub, I don't find it as comfy as my original Quickie chair/cushion to sit in.

I'd like the cushion for my Quickie Salsa to be really comfy though as that's the one I will be in for most of every day. The one I got with first chair doesn't have a brand name, I'd have to see if NHS could remember which one they gave me but it was in 2005!

I know the J2 and Roho are very expensive was just wondering whether they were worth it as most expensive isnt always the best. I relaised recently after seeing video of the new Permobil M300 that struggled to get up a small slope and back wheels shoot up in air when going down one! I always thought they were the rolls royce of wheelchairs so to speak! But seen loads of complaints mainly on US sites where people can get them on Medicare about them rocking in vans, screws coming loose etc, none of which I've had with my much cheaper chairs I have to say!

[Burgerman]

The real problem with that chair, and EVERY chair is programming. Without access to an OEM programmer yourself, so you can test and try for a long time then they are all hopeless.

The problem is that 3 weeks later you will want ti fine tune some more. So just getting access is hard enough, but you really NEED to own one.

The biggest problem is turn deceleration, at high and low speeds (means that it keeps going left say, long after you decide not to! Bang goes your knuckles and feet as you head for the door frame.) This is NOT your fault.

And turn acceleration. Which is the opposite. Its designed to allow users that mash the joystick about like they are stiring a pudding to move in "controlled slow fashion"... Which it does by delaying or ramping up joystick response slowly to whatever you choose. So say 1/4 stick to the right, may take some seconds to build up.

What it actually does is this. It means you make a course correction or try to turn a little to hit a doorway squarely at sensible speed, and nothing happens immediatly. Like steering your car but the steering had no effect. So naturally you add more "turn" since you dont want to crash!

THEN the first part kicks in after a delay. So you are now turning, but then the extra correction you really didnt want also kicks in! Crash ahead!
In a panic correction you try to stop turning, but the turn DECELERATION keeps it turning long after you decided it was too much! So that extra turn you didnt need keeps happeninh! Its a hopeless system designed to make the chairs almost unsteerable by anyone with normal reactions and good joystick skills.

Also forward acceleration needs increasing at the slow and fast ends or the spectrum. I set all of these parameters to 100 percent which is OFF. OR INSTANT. This may be too jerky for some especially with limited hand skills, but a happy medium can be found. But turn deceleration especially is a real problem. Of course the various tech guys are clueless in the extreme, so good luck getting any help here!

And actual turn rate needs DECREASING since its now accessible when you want it almost instantly with max power. Once the above are changed the difference is nothing short of remarkable, it totally transforms every chair.

[Katilea]

oh yeah it had that one the Dragon on by Dragon mobility (not invacare dragon).

When I tried that one, the lady had put some kind of anti-tremor feature on as I'd mentioned mild involuntary movements in my email. I found it even harder to control than a standard one for that exact reason.. it didn't respond first time I'd moved it so thought I hadn't moved it enough and moved it again. I found it really difficult to drive. At least if it moves straight away even if jerky it gives me an idea how much to move it next time to compensate.

When I tried the TDX that started jerky but he was able to do something to it, was still same speed but less jerky so I wasn't kind of 'bunny hopping' out of the door! The Salsa was a smoother ride at the clinic than the home demo so I suspect they had already adjusted it based on the adjustments they had made to the TDX for the driving test the time before.

A standard programming won't suit everyone obviously it depends on a persons issue and fine motor control or having enough movement in arms etc, but considering the high starting prices of Permobil I didn't expect the standard model to tip like that when the much cheaper ones I had tried myself didn't! The guy isn't even going fast on the video.. he's barely set off moving! It might be understandable if he was going too fast down a steep slope!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGMKTkjC ... e=youtu.be

Kerbs I had to cross to get to park are steeper and all 6 wheels stayed on ground on both the TDX and the Salsa M.

[Burgerman]

Mid wheel is a horrid engineering compromise.

The weught is mainly on the drive wheels. Whith "some" weight on the rear. So ignoring the front wheels, its really a front drive chair. The wheels in front are "sprung" into the ground to stop you falling forwards when decending a slope.

Now. IF they are sprung hard enough to stop you rocking or tipping forwards, then they take weight off the drive wheels. So you get stuck on gravel, or get high centred very easily... If they are sprung softly enough then they allow you to rock and wobble and fall forwards (lifting the rear ones) as you decelerate or decend a ramp.

This is all adjustable, and the manufacturers invent all kinds of linkages, fancy sounding suspension to try to get over this, but at the end of the day its a horrible compromise. 6 wheel chairs are triumph of marketing over engineering. There isnt a good compromise here. It either rocks and has good traction, or the opposite...

[ex-Gooserider]

Not sure of the brand, but I did see a very nice folding manual chair at a conference I went to last fall. It was made using the latest carbon fiber and high tech "vacuum bag" molding technology, with the various parts joined by piano style hinges. As I recall the seat and back were rigid, but hinged in the center, I forget just how they did the leg rests, and some of the other details, but they were claiming extreme lightness, and stiffness comparable to a rigid frame chair. After pulling off the cushion and wheels, the chair folded to a package about the same size as the stack of the cushions and wheels.

I didn't try it, and forget the details as I wasn't shopping for a different manual chair, but it looked quite impressive and the comments I overheard from folks that had tried it were pretty positive.... The chair did look quite different, as there weren't any of the usual tubular parts in the frame, it was all flat panels that interlocked. It sort of reminded me of one of those plastic crates that folds flat when you don't have anything in it....

ex-Gooserider