neck pain

[pittsburghgal]

My husband, Frank, has had increasing neck flexion (chin resting on chest) and tilt to the right. His head is now so far forward that the wheelchair headrest supplies no support. He has a neck brace but even this no longer helps.

I am applying heat and he is taking extra strength Tylenol with little relief. He has a history of bleeding gastric ulcers so is limited in what medicines he can take. He also does not want to take narcotic medication because he is constantly dealing with constipation, which started about a month ago.

His neck is supported better in bed but he insists on getting out of bed and sitting in the wheelchair all day (7:30 AM to 7 PM).

I was wondering about getting a recliner chair for better neck support but am not sure if the hoyer lift would work with this. All of his transfers are by hoyer lift.

Does anyone have this problem or suggestions for what we can try?

Sharon

 

[swalker]

The headrest that came on my Permobil wheelchair did not support my head adequately. In searching for a solution, I discovered that there are many headrest options with some pretty amazing capabilities.

I was able to find one that can be adjusted to support my head. I don't know if a headrest could provide him the type of support he needs, but you might want to look into the Stealth brand of headrests.

If you google "headrest with strap" you can see a few other options. I don't use a strap and don't know how practical that would be.

Steve

 

[affected]

I hoyered in and out of recliner chair no problems.

He definitely needs the help of gravity by being tilted slightly. Some PALS strap their heads to hold them up in place too. As Steve says better head rests are worth looking at that might help provide more support with the strap.

 

[lgelb]

Yes, look into Stealth headrests with a strap on the front, but for customizability, the Savant Headrest™ might be better. You can see both on line.

It is great that he is still transferring, from the circulation/skin protection point of view.

A Hoyer will work with a lift chair if the legs can get wide enough to go around the sides of the chair. You can measure how wide your lift's legs will open and look at the dimensions of the chair. He would still need some non-standard neck support in a lift chair to control the lateral movement to the right, so I would focus on the wheelchair first since he already has that and it's his mobility device. But if you look into lift chairs, look at those where you don't have a pillow system at all, because basically you would be building your own.

Best,
Laurie