Neck Support

[beaner1]

Hi all,
I was wondering if the experts out there could advise me on a piece of equipment (or whatever!) that would help with supporting my husband's neck when he is trying to sit up - i.e. in his wheelchair. He's fine while in his special recliner, but when he has to sit in his wheelchair (which is just a regular manual chair), or when we're trying to bathe/shower, it's difficult for him to hold his head up, and he finds it difficult to breathe in that position. I tried one of those pillows that wraps around a person's neck, but he found it very uncomfortable, and couldn't breathe with it on.

Thanks in advance for any help!
Beaner

[anne]

Beaner.....the neck weakness was a big problem for my mom as well. She was fine when she would sit on her recliner. The only thing I could think of was a neck brace. It was hard to get a brace that was comfortable for her. She did not get much support from the soft brace and she found the firm brace was too uncomfortable.

[Al]

Someone posted pics of a home made or adapted brace here a while back. Anybody remember what it was under?
AL.

[Al]

Use search under neck brace home made collar.
At the bottom of this page is a topic 'neck brace' by Leo Greene. It has links for different braces.
AL.

[beaner1]

Thanks for your help, Anne and Al. I'll do the search and see what's there.
Beaner

[Beebe]

Hi there, There was also a home made brace I remember using a baseball cap??? and velcro. Do you remember that one, didn't go around the neck. I'll search. My Best to you, Beebe

[Mary Helen Barr]

The only thing that worked for my father (and we tried all kinds of neck braces) was homemade. We used a long cloth strap, like from a bathrobe, and I would tie one end onto the wheelchair back, loop it around his forehead and pull, and then tie the other end of the strap onto the back/side of the wheelchair. Sometimes I would also use a big, giant rubber band from a moving company. This really worked, but it looked a little barbaric. Friends would always joke about how this looked, but they understood that it worked fairly well. It got uncomfortable after a while, and he would ask me to untie his head. He could only take this for about 30 minutes at a time. It was enough to feed him a meal, or just to let him breathe and talk easier for a while.

[CindyM]

Landscape posted the directions for a home-made neck brace. http://www.alsforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3521&highlight=home+made+neck+brace

If I did the link right you should find them here.