Posts Tagged ‘Dynamic Footrests’
Preserving Joint Integrity through Dynamic Seating
Daniel is a teenage boy with the diagnoses of cerebral palsy and seizures. He has significantly high muscle tone and has had varied success with tone management over the years. If his feet are not strapped to the footplates, he extends at his knees and his feet are then hanging far in front of the footplates. This increases the turning radius of the wheelchair, places his lower legs at risk of injury, and leads to a loss of position of his pelvis. As a result, his feet have been strapped into shoeholders for most of his life. This positioning has kept his feet on the footplates, but has created other issues.
Continue ReadingUsing Multiple Dynamic Seating Components on a Wheelchair
Dynamic components can be used individually, however combining these components can often maximize the impact Dynamic Seating can make and better meet the client’s needs.
Continue ReadingMovement at the Ankle – Dynamic Footrest Plantar / Dorsi Flexion Option
When seated in a wheelchair and the lower extremity is extended, extension may be seen at the hip, knee, and even ankle (plantar flexion).
Continue ReadingQuick Class: Dynamic Seating – Determining Which Dynamic Footrest Movements are Indicated
Dynamic Footrests provide movement in 3 directions: telescoping downward, knee extension, and ankle plantar flexion. This Quick Class discusses how to determine which movement to select for an individual client.
Continue ReadingQuick Class: Dynamic Seating – Assessment
It is not typically realistic to trial Dynamic Seating components as the frame may need to be modified. Instead, we can simulate the effects of Dynamic Seating during the assessment to determine if these components are indicated.
Continue ReadingQuick Class: Dynamic Seating – Footrest Resistance
The optimal level of resistance is critical to the functioning of Dynamic Footrests. In this Quick Class, we will review how to determine resistance at the telescoping and elevating features.
Continue ReadingQuick Class: Dynamic Seating – Improving Postural Control and Stability
Dynamic seating provides resistance to movement initiated by the wheelchair user, usually through spring or elastomer type mechanisms or other resistive, but mobile components. Movement against resistance has been demonstrated to increase strength in people with increased muscle tone without an increase in spasticity. Increased muscle strength can, in turn, improve both postural control and functioning.
Continue ReadingQuick Class: Dynamic Seating – Durability
Dynamic Seating is often used to prevent equipment breakage, specifically the wheelchair frame and seating system. The Dynamic components absorb strong, repeated, sudden, and/or sustained forces, hence protecting vulnerable areas of the seating and mobility base. But what about the Dynamic Components themselves? Just how durable are these?
Continue ReadingTyler – when tone management doesn’t work
Tyler is extremely strong and has broken numerous items on his manual wheelchair over the years. Tone management has not been successful however Dynamic Seating has been! A combination of Dynamic components at the hips, knees, and head have worked very well, decreasing both extension and dystonia.
Continue ReadingPhillip – Before and After Dynamic Seating
On the left, Phillip had rocked so much in his static wheelchair that the frame was worn to the point of allowing excessive movement. On the right, he is enjoying the smooth rocking movement of the Seating Dynamics Dynamic Rocker Back interface which allows him to move and maintains frame integrity.
Continue Reading