Sitting Properly to Avoid Pressure Sores

If you are traveling, make sure to take into mind the special sitting requirements that you will encounter. Bring a second cushion as a backup if possible. Without my Roho cushion, I suffer. Why take the chance?

Make sure that you are sitting on the best cushion possible based on your specific needs. The occupational therapist or doctor can prescribe this for you. If you are not sitting on the right cushion you can get pressure sores very easily. Pressure sores are bad and may require you to do bed rest in order for them to heal properly if they do heal.

If you have a disability that affects your ability to feel your behind, you are probably at an increased risk for pressure sores. Make sure to examine your behind at least twice a day. If you can not do this yourself, get your helper properly trained in what to look for and have them do it. Even if you can do it yourself, you should ask for guidance from your medical provider in what to look for in your special condition.

Several manufactures make wheelchair cushions. Over the years I have personally tried several of them and for me I like the Roho cushion the best. It is a cushion that is filled with air. The cushion has several projections that allow the air to move around with the smallest movements. Often, I forget or am too weak to do lifts which help with pressure sore prevention. So the Roho cushion moves and the pressure is adjusted when I adjust my wheelchair without me even thinking about it.

If you have ever had a pressure sore, you know what a pain it is. Make sure to use preventative techniques to avoid these unfortunate complications from being a wheelchair user. Make sure to always talk to your medical professional about any problems and special needs that you may have while sitting in your wheelchair.

Do you have any suggestions for the readers? If so please add to the comments and let us know. Maybe you have a brand of cushion that you like.

Free Fresco Taco from Taco Bell for first 1 million

Remember to ask for assistance even while at fast food restaurants.

Free Fresco Taco - Click here

Here is a great freebie! Remember to that a lot of Taco Bells also give senior citizens a free drink with purchase. My parents love this place!

Free $4 credit for Amazon Video on Demand

Click here to put in code Go to this link and put in the code AVODGIFT
I Love this, free movies right on your computer or TV if you have it set up for that!

Use old equipment if possible on trips

When flying or going away on trips, if you have a second back up set of equipment it may benefit you to use this instead of the good stuff that you rely on every day. I can not tell you how much damage has been done to my good wheelchair through traveling. Whether it be from airplane damage or just the wear and tear damage of exploring new teritories that I am unfamiliar with. Dings, scratches and other damage are far more likely to happen while traveling.

When away from your normal environment new obstacles that are unknown come out of nowhere to cause havoc and problems. It is now my philosophy to use the older generation of equipment or even rent if possible when traveling.

Even though most companies are supposed to fix the damage that they do, who wants to be away from their electric wheelchair for a day or two of their trip? Not me. I have never once claimed the thousands of dollars in damage that was done to my electric wheelchair by the airplane companies, as who has the time and energy to deal with it?

Airplanes can be especially damaging to wheelchairs. I have even seen my chair come out in pieces unrecognizable as they were suppose to give it to me at the layover only to find out that they had destroyed my baby. Not only is this frustrating but it takes away from your independence and confidence. So it is now my plan to have a rental electric wheelchair available in the cities that I fly to and to use an old manual or electric chair that I do not care about much to get to the destination. Although this will be difficult it is well worth the short disturbance to ensure that my daily normal activities do not get impacted by having my specially built chair in the shop for days, or weeks, or even months as I have sometimes heard from other people dealing with these issues.

Another approach is to purchase a second chair through Ebay and have it awaiting you at your destination, say mom and dads house. That way to they can practice the transporting of your specialized equiment in their non-specialized vehicle. If necessary they would even be able to evaluate whether you should rent an adapted vehicle, which will set you back about $150 a day if lucky.

Some of the more larger resort areas like Orlando offer services for people with disabilities where you can rent the whole package, electric wheelchair, van, and even a chaffeur or attendant if needed. In smaller areas though you may find this difficult to find. Ask around to the diffferent disability groups and see what your friends have done, see if they even know other people with disabilities in the area that you are traveling to that could be your expert.

As it is getting late, we will continue on this later, happy traveling!

Make Sure to Ask For What You Need

Most hotels are very accommodating if you just ask. I have had hotels send the engineer up to the room and even do on the spot retrofits if needed. At the Disney hotel they are extremely helpful. They will do so many things to help make your stay enjoyable and accessible, all you usually have to do is ask.

Also some hotels will give you free of charge a second room if you have an attendant. Again make sure to ask for this as an accommodation. Don't worry about the class of travel because even the cheaper priced hotels like Motel 6 have great accessibility programs. If you are going to a chain hotel, I suggest going to the local chain and check out the rooms ask about what they will do at the other hotel to help you out. The home hotel may also be able to pull some strings for you to make sure that everything is set up ahead of time at the hotel you are going to.

Some hotels will go above and beyond. I can say this for sure. One very memorable hotel stay was at a Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Portland Oregon. The hotel had just opened and had a great indoor pool. The manager went beyond what would be expected and they and another hotel employee got into their bathing suits and tested out the pool lift and then assisted me in getting in and out of the pool. If was fantastic to have the opportunity to go swimming then up to the hotel room and take a shower in the roll in shower, then relax. What a nice unexpected luxury. I would go back their in a heartbeat because of the great service and above and beyond help with accessibility issues.

Are you disabled?

If you are disabled and like to write about your travel experiences please contact me so that you can contribute to the blog. I would love to get lots of experts so that we can share some great information and resources.

Thanks!

Welcome!

This web site will focus on tips and hints for people with disabilities to use when they travel. Being an electric wheelchair user for over twenty years, I have extensive knowledge of traveling with a disabilities. I will cover the pitfalls of traveling and the best hotels to stay at. Also you can find tons of discounts and other information on this site and my sister blog on traveling, http://cheaplytraveling.blogspot.com/