Adaptive pants

[Bestfriends14]

Good morning all,

Does any one have any recommendations for adaptive pants for my husband? He is in a wheelchair full time and I am having more and more trouble getting his pants on. My body is so sore, I am exhausted, and I dread the process of dressing. His legs are getting too heavy and I no longer have the strength to lift them up to try and get the waistband under his legs and fully pulled up.

Thank you in advance

 

[affected]

we started simply going commando - keeping a rug on his lap. in cold weather you can put leg warmers on and thick socks for his feet.

 

[JimInVA]

We used a "hygiene" type of sling. I did a whole post on this back in 2014. Here's that link - Jim's Sling Review.

With the hygiene sling, one's entire back-side is unhampered as it is not covered by the sling. This would also include one's front parts. Additionally, we used slip on pants. These are pants with elastic waste bands (no zippers, buttons or flaps). Here's the process we used...

* Position the Sling - this would take me about 30 - 45 seconds to get it correctly into place.​

* Connect Hoyer to Sling - I'd connect all six loops... 3 on each side... to the hoyer lift.​

* Raise the Sling - I'd raise Darcey up as high as the lift would go.​

* Move PALS with Lift - I'd wheel Darcey from her PWC to the commode or toilet (depending on where we were).​

* Pull Down Pants - Because the waist is elastic, I'd simply pull down from the backside waistband and pull below and forward (until all toileting body parts were cleared).​

* Lower Into Place - Here, I'd lower her onto the toilet or commode... making sure the pants stayed clear. If just using a bed pan, * you'd lower the person to a comfortable height above the bed pan.​

* Wait and Repeat in the other Direction - I'd leave everything hooked while toileting. When done, I'd raise the lift (raising the PALS), do any wiping or cleaning as necessary, and then pull the pants back up. Really Easy Peasy!​

​

The elastic waisted pants were a dream. Not only was toileting easy but changing pants was also easy. I could make the change as she laid flat on the bed... or when toileting if they needed changing, there. For men, there are a lot of different types of elastic waisted pants. Those with stretch material, too, (like sweat pants) seemed to work best.

I hope you'll ask if you have any questions. This type of sling (we used it for everything) was a godsend. And the easy on/off pants were the bonus.

My best...

Jim

 

[Bestfriends14]

Thank you @ affected!

That's the sling, Jim! Ours (that I finally discovered last night) is very similar, just not so high in the back. It allows Wayne to sit up straight so it is not as brutal on his breathing. The other slings made him feel like he was going to suffocate, so transferring him was always very rushed. Now, to figure out getting pants on him because he still cannot be in the air for very long. I found these pants online this afternoon. Have you used these?

Wheelchair Gabardine Pants for Men

Men's handicapped adaptive clothing pants for wheel chairs offer both convenience and discretion to those who use a wheelchair, or who are incontinent or have incontinence issues.

www.silverts.com

 

[affected]

We used elastic wasted shorts and track pants until it became easier (particularly after his fall injuries, broken ribs, frozen shoulder etc) to go without once he couldn't really stand and transfer.

 

[Bestfriends14]

Thanks so much, Affected. My husband is fully wheelchair bound so stand transfers are out for him at this stage. We use elastic waist joggers, but I can't get them under his butt. I'm so sore and exhausted from yesterday, I have to say. I ordered 3 pairs of the above and I'm hopeful it will be easier to dress him. I can't keep doing to my body what I've been doing. If I'm injured, there's no one to help out as we are fully on our own.

 

[Jrzygrl]

I took Jim's advice and got the highback Lyko hygiene vest for my DH. He favored elastic waist sweatpants or flannel pajama pants. I usually just bought them a size too big. They worked for us. I did buy a pair of "adaptive" sweatpants with the zippers going down either side, but he preferred the regular ones.

That sling was a God-send for us. Thank you again, @JimInVA !

 

[JimInVA]

Joanna,

As Jrzygrl describes, Darcey also used only elastic waist sweatpants and pajama pants. And the waistbands always had enough "stretch" to get easily pulled down, past her butt and pulled to between her legs (where they were then clear of all toileting body parts). The "adaptive" pants just seemed unnecessary and more work. One of our resident PALS did an awesome article on adaptive clothing that can be found here - ALS From Both Sides: Adaptive Slacks for Easy Toileting.

My best...

Jim

 

[lgelb]

We gave up on elastic waist pants ultimately as well. The last ones that worked had snaps at the waist to create a more open way to put them on, but still weight is weight.

If you are at risk, don't push yourself, just use blankets and such. We had a wheelchair poncho that went over his head and then a fluffy blanket over his legs, with a second layer that was an "outdoor" stadium type blanket for outings, with the nylon layer on top. We secured whatever leg layers were used with bungies and clips.

 

[pittsburghgal]

I ordered 2 pairs of adaptive pants for my husband but found that they were too difficult to put on him. I ended up using sweat pants that I cut open along the back seam and just pulled on the pants and tucked them in under him. It looked like he was wearing pants when seated in the wheelchair.

Sharon

 

[Bestfriends14]

Thank you, Sharon. By the sounds of it, the adaptive pants will not be the panacea I'm hoping for. I'll have to cut his pants at the back seam, most likely.

 

[nona]

Diane wrote about making adaptive pants in her ALS From Both Sides blog. Here's the direct link

 

[KateEmerson]

Fortunately we had a seamstress in the family. We bought flannel elastic waisted pants, she cut out the “ back side” , the fly area, and the waistband. She left the backside commando, sewed a privacy flap on the front, and put Velcro on the waistband. It worked very well for us.

 

[Bestfriends14]

Thank you, Nona and Kate. Nona, the link has proven very informative and, Kate, I wish I had your seamstress!

Thank you again to everyone with your good advice. This forum is so helpful!

 

[affected]

I wish I could sew, those pants are well thought out Kate.