psp and sitting in chair sliding over to right side

[Morag1952]

My husband Jim is about 5 years in with psp has nearly lost all speech has no balance on his own he sits in his recliner nearly all day and we have carers in 4 times a day. Recently he doesn’t sit up straight always leaning over to his right side have tried a cushion at that side but is not really helping anyone got any advice to help keep him sitting up straight.

[KB_1_]

Good morning. My dad also does this. I got him a big U-shape pregnancy cushion that goes round and supports him. It’s like he’s having a big hug.. I got it from Amazon, Nuliie pregnancy cushion. The cover comes off so can be washed etc. hope it helps x

[Umzain]

Hiya, please try to get a referral to an occupational therapist (OT) Your area should have an OT team that comes out to housebound patients.

They can do a specialist seating assessment for an appropriate chair for your husband. They should be able to get chairs that provide the support he needs.

Which part of UK do you live in?

[Morag1952 in reply to Umzain]

We live in Scotland will speak to OT again re chair support

[Umzain in reply to Morag1952]

A “tilt in space” chair where the whole chair tilts rather than just the back may be more appropriate to stop him from leaving to one side, but this would need to be assessed by an OT. Hope you manage to get some help x

[Rose1sunflower]

As previous reply, please contact local OT service. My husband is exactly the same, leaning over to the right. The OT assessed him and supplied a Rise recliner chair, where the cushions can be changed to give him support at the side. It doesn’t stop it but helps a little. Also the chair in recline position takes the pressure off the lean and makes things more comfortable. He even has a recline shower chair now too.

[Bergenser]

Dear Morag1952

There are many recommendations in this previous post

healthunlocked.com/psp/post...

Our Neurophysio added exercises and stretches to straighten the upper body. She suggested moving the side table to the opposite side of my husband's chair, and to try to get him to sleep on the opposite side so the muscles around the hips would release a bit.

One particular exercise involved picking up objects from a box at the front or the side of the chair, and put them down into a separate box - making him have to stretch the opposite way from the leaning.

I would recommend the "lateral support wedges" from Amazon as discussed in previous posts.

Good luck with this. Sitting straighter helps with breathing and with eating/drinking and swallowing so it's worth the effort to try to correct the leaning.

Xx