toileting slings

[sunandsea]

I just wrote a long post about toileting slings and lost it.

Briefly, I need to purchase a sling to use when helping my PALS with toileting and daily transfers. He can no longer help me when moving from chair to chair, chair to bed, or chair to toilet. I purchased two slings and both hurt him when we try to use them. One is a u shape and one is a hygiene. I asked for a pt/ot consult to help me with these and the pt who came admitted he didn't know much about them and is going to get back to me after doing some research. In the meantime, I'm watching you tube videos and reading here to learn as much as I can about how to successfully do this. My search here brought some names and I'm just wondering if anyone has anything new to add. The search showed older posts.

Are liko, guldmann and joerns still recommended? Anything new? I would appreciate any advice. There seems to be a big range in price but I'm more concerned with purchasing something that will work for him and me. I clearly didn't do it the first two times I tried. I've hurt my back doing the transfers and I need to move on using the lift as quickly as I can. My PALS has gained weight (a good thing!), lost some control of his core muscles, and is dealing with incontinence.

Thank you in advance for any advice!

 

[soonerwife]

The Joerns was suggested to me by an rn that volunteers her time to help ALS PALS and CALS. I don't have one yet so no idea how they work.

 

[JimInVA]

We have a Liko high back hygiene sling and love it. But it doesn't fit everyone comfortably. I know someone who bought two for themselves trying to find the right size. They are new and I believe at least one of them is available for resale at less than they paid.

Jim

 

[soonerwife]

The specific sling suggested was Joern's Healthcare Hoyer Universal padded U-Sling with head support. Again, I haven't purchased it yet so the suggestion is all I have.

 

[KateEmerson]

We have a Waverly Glen universal padded split leg sling with head support, I believe Prism Medical now owns them. We use it with our Hoyer lift and our Prism Medical overhead lift. We originally had a Hoyer universal mesh split leg sling ( made by Joern) that we got with the Hoyer. For us, the Prism works much better. It has 3 levels of attachments vs 2, it is much softer on the skin, it doesn't have the hard piece of plastic for the head and back like the Hoyer/Joern ,and it gives you 3 choices for length on each of the 3 levels of attachment straps(shoulders, hips, legs). We use it for all the transfers....bed to commode, commode to PWC, PWC to recliner, PWC to commode, commode to bed. We use different combinations of strap lengths depending on the transfer. My husband can use the commode with it on. I've learned the key to proper positioning and safety is making sure to get the sling tucked under the hip bones and then to tightly pull the split leg straps and under each leg up near the torso(privates). Hope this helps, Kate