Savant Headrest....

Status
Not open for further replies.

mare

Senior member
Joined
Jun 5, 2008
Messages
771
Reason
Lost a loved one
Country
US
State
PA
City
Lafayette Hill
Hi all; it's been a long time. I see lots of new"faces"; hopefully some "oldtimers" are still lurking about to give me some help.

My husband has increasing neck weakness & experiences "bobble head" in the van to the point that he doesn't want to go out anywhere. It hurts his head & he says it is just so fatiguing. We have the Headmaster collar, but that doesn't help with the lateral movement.

Wondering if any PALS have a Savant Headrest? I've seen it in the MDA magazine; have only seen one person with it (Zenarcher). The w/c rep is not familiar with it, and they don't have a sample for us to try.

Since this will be an out-of-pocket expense & very pricey at that, I'm looking for some feedback from anyone who has one.

Thanks- and Happy Spring! (well, it's coming!):grin:
 
i'm not familiar with that headrest but it looks interesting.have you googled reviews on it, there might be something helpful on it. i use the headmaster at times but i use the brace more often. it has more control and it has more adjustments for a custom fit. neck weakness is hard to compensate for it is so individualized. good luck i'll be interested to hear about it.
 
Thanks, marypat.
A quick search doesn't turn up anything; and nothing here....hmmmm, maybe THAT tells me something?!?

What brace do you use?

What other solutions do PALS use for head control while riding in a van?
 
We have one and like it. What it does for us is he has head drop forward and the headrests offered were like a horseshoe to hold sides up but nothing for the forward lean. This gives us front support that being said that means ALL the weight of his head is on the strap on the forehead. I made a pad to go over the one with it and sometime use a piece of egg crate foam also. It was six months before we found this one so I don't know if we started earlier if that would have helped. The pic shows support around neck for us those don't do any good because of the forward drop. Yes it cost $600 out of pocket from patterson medical but it was better than the hang. We have had it a year now.
 
I asked my OT about the headrest she said they are rare but she has heard of success with them. Georgia thanks for the info. i am interested in it as well now that I've heard of them. Also, my OT did some adjusting to the headrest on my PWC now and made it much better for my neck. Since our bodies change so much with ALS it's good to have someone re-check positioning and alignment every so often.
 
post went to moderation,
 
I loaded some pictures in my albums to show him before and as we picked up the head because of the lean. They didn't load in order so you will have to read the caption to see what I am showing.
 
Thanks, georgia; you're a peach!;)
 
Hi Mare,
Welcome back! Missed ya! We also have the headmaster from the loan closet. I thought the Savant looked like a great option for the same reasons! Some searching in pediatric medical arenas sometimes helps, but I have not found anything better----in this case the savant sounds like the answer. It is amazing how creative we all get....velcro, pillows, foam, etc... crafters have nothing on us! I wasn't much help...but thinking about you none the less!
 
Well, I went ahead & ordered the headrest. I'll update & post pictures when we get it.

Sure hope it helps 'cause we've got places to go & people to see!:wink:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top