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Wondering how many of you use orthopedic beds and what kind?

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Posted 2/20/2013 9:45 AM (GMT 0)
I know we are always harping on newer CPers to not rely solely on their meds for pain relief but I never see anyone mention their sleeping arrangements.

It was one of the first things my physical therapist recommended that I have. This was some years back but I'm wondering if maybe they don't do that anymore.

Also,my most recent therapist sent me to Bed,bath&beyond to purchase a small cylinder pillow to use whenever I sit down and then between my knees while sleeping. It's the best $8.99 I have spent.It's nothing fancy or medical and its only about a foot long but taking it with me and using it to support the lumbar region of my back if I have to sit down very long in a chair has made a world of difference.

I can tell how much it helped by my ability to get up out of the chair without looking like a tin man stiff as a board.

Just wondering about the mattress and wanted to share the pillow deal,I know there are many lumbar folks here.

I originally used a mattress with a water insert and went to the memory foam about 4 years ago.

For the most part my nights or at least my sleep time is in the orthopedic lazy boy.

Thanks for your input.

Vickie
Posted 2/20/2013 11:33 AM (GMT 0)
hey vickie, i do have the temperpedic adjustable bed. it really has helped me. i can adjust the legs to take the pressure of my back. the only thing thats kinda hard is...i bought the queen size and when you adjust any part wether it be the head or foot, the whole bed has to go up or down. so, my husband has to sleep the way i do. lol which he dont mind though. he said that didnt matter because he would rather do that and me sleep with him as apossed to in the recliner.

now if you get the king size then that one is split to where you can adjust both sizes . mine also has the vibration system and that works good at times. when your back hurts you can turn on the vibration and ut feels really good.

whats good about it too is that if you claim medical on your taxes, you can claim the cost of the bed.

hope this helps.... janet
Posted 2/20/2013 12:37 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Janet! Im thinking many of the newer Cp folks may not even have thought about or been advised that your mattress can have a great impact on how well you get around during the day and how much actual rest you get and both of those are very important issues.

I know when we travel and I have to sleep in motel beds or other peoples beds I can tell a huge difference in my mobility as well as my pain levels. I recall a time a few years back we stayed in a chalet in the Smokey mountains and there were these bunk bed things in every room except the master where my daughter and her husband were sleeping naturally and I was in the room with my grandkids in one of those bunks,the next morning I couldnt even get out of it!! They had to help me out and the next 2 days were horrible, I spent it on the couch literally not able to move more then turning over.

Now I make sure when we travel what kind of beds they have and always use a Hampton Inn even though they are a bit more expensive they use only orthopedic mattresses. So worth the few bucks extra. Even if we use the RV I have a memory foam 4 inch mattress pad thing I put on the pull out sofa or it would be the same thing as the Chalet deal over again.

Vickie
Posted 2/20/2013 2:39 PM (GMT 0)
The subject of beds has come up a few times but it is pretty rare.

Having a supportive yet comfortable bed to sleep on is important for anyone and for those with CP is can approach critical. Unfortunately when it comes to being able to get a new bed many CP patients are in a catch 22 since they only have limited incomes due to their pain.

I currently sleep on a pretty high end pillow top mattress. It is really soft on top and then pretty firm right under the pillow top. We got it used off a family member who likes to buy new beds every 3-4 years so it wasn't that old but that was 12 years ago and while it is still in good shape it is starting to break down enough that I can feel it.

My wife and I are hoping to be able to buy a new bed by Christmas this year. Right now we are thinking about trying the high end Sleep Number bed. I have slept on a few memory foam mattresses one an actual Temperpediac and the others were from other companies and they leave me stiff and soar and soaked with sweat in the morning.
Posted 2/20/2013 4:39 PM (GMT 0)
Vickie this is a subject dear and near to my heart! I have a really hard time laying flat, back when I first went on disability I slept in a reliner.  The physical Therapist had fits, but the surgeon said that getting sleep was more important, as my herniated thoracic disk was not going to be fixed,( they would not touch thoracic disk surgically) so the surgeon said if that is the only way you can get comfortable to sleep go for it! I actually  slept in a recliner for close to ten years. The this new furniture store came to town, and they had really good deal on adjustable beds. I was married at the time, and we purchased two extra long twin adjustable beds, that can be put side by side. As luck would have it,  our local K's mechandise was closing and going out of business. They had a king size sleigh bed that matched our bedroom suit just perfectly. Two extra long adjustable twin beds fit perfectly into the sleigh bed frame.It was one of the best purchases that I have ever made! Each bed has it's own wireless remote, with adjustable head and foot, plus separate head and foot massage, with more different settings that I know what to do with! As I mentioned I can not lay flat so I usually sleep in a fowlers position, with my head elevated up. How ever most night I adjust the bed at least several different times. I will often adjust it completely flat, and then lay on my side for a little while until my arms and hands go numb, and then I get back on my back and readjust the bed back to the reclining position! I never use the massage, as I find that it causes me to have muscle spasms and cramps! Anyway for me the adjustable bed is definitely the way to go! ( I got the complet bedroom suit, in the divorce settlement!)

White Beard.

Posted 2/20/2013 5:13 PM (GMT 0)
Well thank God WB, I would have fought for my bed over the roof!! Once you find something that works its priceless. I spend most nights in the recliner where I have been since my 1st knee surgery in 99. It is a catch 22 as my back can get pretty uncomfortable sleeping in the lazy boy but nothing compared to my knees and legs if I lie down. It matters not whether I lie on my side or back or whatever if my knees are not at an almost L like bend Im in horrible pain

Ive tried the pillows,wedges, you name it and its not the same and Ive been thinking about the adjustable beds and I am assuming now that they adjust at knee levels much like a hospital bed which I could never handle the mattress on.

I did sleep on one of the new stryker air flow beds after the car accident that destroyed my knee replacement a few ago,its to prevent clots and bed sores and mainly used for burn patients as the air flows consistently thru it and it can be cooled or heated,very high end bed. It feels like floating on a cloud and a very cold one!! It releases and adds air from one side and back and top to bottom so the pressure of the bed against your skin is ever changing.

Anyway, Im not wanting to spend a fortune on a adjustable bed and then still end up in the recliner and wondering if I have slept in it for so long that I will never be able to go back to a bed. I do sleep in a bed if we go somewhere else for a night but dont sleep well or much.

I usually just fall asleep in the chair reading or whatever and that is where morning finds me.

Im so glad to see what others use and hopefully it can help some others as well.

Im wondering why medicare or some insurances wont help pay for some of the beds costs,they pay for recliners and such the ones that boost you up out of them if its a Drs written order so why not a bed Jim? By the way my recliner doesnt boost me up, thats too slow I would probably be back to sleep before it got up and then I would fall on the floor.

Vickie
Posted 2/20/2013 9:27 PM (GMT 0)
According to my mother, the retired RN who worked home health for a while, the beds that get prescribed and supplied by most home health systems are pretty basic. Adjustable beds, yeah. But the fancy air circulating ones and zero pressure point ones are only given to those with major skin problems, like ulcerations or burns. Most people, even quadrapelegics get the memory foam type.

I use a camper mattress, which is a pretty thin foam, no box spring, but an actual box, plywood and 2x4s. My secret is my body pillow. I don't use one. I have a body pillow case that I put 2 pillows in. It allows for a little more independent movement between my knees and shoulders,

That and a plain old 20" box fan to drown out all the little noises. Don't even have to point it at yourself, but it keeps the air moving in the room, and makes a big difference.
Posted 2/20/2013 10:27 PM (GMT 0)
Vickie, my wife and I have a Split King Temper-Pedic, with the motorized lifts and the vibrators. One thing I might mention is that its possible to use these types of beds for a tax write off, such as we did. We got a written type of script from my surgeon, and it was good enough for the tax write off.

While we enjoy ours, there are many different types of beds, and I won't go so far as to say that one is better than the other. It is a personal preference in the end.

SE
Posted 2/21/2013 1:54 AM (GMT 0)
I have a Sleep Number Adjustable bed. Hubby can have his side soft and I can have super firm. The adjustable frame is great, I love it, except when I lose the remote in the blankets, lol. My bed also has heat and vibration. Nothing like rolling over in the middle of the night and turning the massage feature on, then hitting a preset favorite position, and the bed starts going crazy,lol. Its so comical like in the cartoons, especially when the dog gets scared half to death.
Posted 2/21/2013 4:07 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Vickie, I've been sleeping on this temperpedic memory foam adjustable bed since just after my back surgery in September. My Sister-in-law had it just sitting in their garage, and offered it for my use, now I'm trying to work out an arraingement to buy it from her... That thing is AWESOME!!!! The only drawback I've had with it was when, I think the 1st or second weekend that I had it, the vibrating function kicked on suddenly at 5 in the morning, and to my dismay, the batteries in the remote were dead; Since then I've gone through at least one more set of batteries, and it hasn't kicked on by itself like that at all, so I don't know why that happened.

I had to sleep in a regular bed when I went to my grandparents for christmas, definately a noticeable difference, I couldn't sleep at all. So yeah, whatever I have to do to keep that bed lol. I also use an extra large body pillow, any time I sleep on my side, which I haven't been able to do for very long, but the body pillow is an essential for that. I put one end between my knees, and kind of hug the other end, and it also helps me from moving around too much while I'm sleeping, so that I don't hurt worse when I wake up; kind of like a car-stop in a parking lot lol.
Posted 2/23/2013 12:39 AM (GMT 0)
When I travel I try to get a room with a recliner in it. But that is often difficult, and usually it is a deluxe room and cost more, so I often travel with a Sonoma outdoors oversized  Antigravity chair, so when I rent a room I just bring in my chair and sleep in it. I find it fairly comfortable, allot more than trying to sleep in a normal bed!  I have a foam pad that I have for it, and it works fine for me. I used to take along big foam wedges  but they are not adjustable and they take up so much room.  I think I need to get a RV or something with an adjustable bed in it!

Anyway when my youngest daughter got married for there wedding gift I brought them a really nice leather recliner, the one hitch was that when I go up to visit them, I have dibs on it while I am there, and that is my bed! I am not sure my son-inlaw appreciates it when I come up to visit, because he really does like that recliner! LOL

Vickie 99 is when I originally hurt my back and herniated and tore the disk at T12, it was then that I started sleeping in the recliner full time as I just could not lay flat. Physical Therapy had a fit about me sleeping in a recliner, but the surgeon, said that sleep was more important, and if that was the only way I could sleep then that was fine with him. He would not do surgery, so he said keeping me as comfortable as possible was the thing to do! Anyway after a number of years, they had a big bed sale at the new Denver Mattress Company store, so I got the bed and they had a host of different mattresses to pick from, my wife at the time picked out one type of mattress and I picked out another, they were slightly different thicknesses,  so I just adjusted the height of the legs on the bed so they the top of the mattresses would be at the same level.  Anyway I personally  think it was the best purchase I have ever made! I would encourage anyone who has problems sleeping to check out the different types of adjustable beds.

White Beard

Posted 2/23/2013 12:43 AM (GMT 0)
…Matt,…ours kinda acts the same way when the batteries are low. I go to adjust the incline, and it wont stop and will nearly fold you in half! smilewinkgrin However I agree, and enjoy the adjustments that it is capable of.

SE
Posted 2/23/2013 2:25 AM (GMT 0)
My wife and I are in our lat 50's and are both disabled and qualified for SSDI. We saved and saved for a memory foam bed, the top of the line one so it was a LOT of saving. It is worth every cent.
Posted 2/23/2013 10:46 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks everyone for your input. I think its a very important part of our care and pain management. A good nights sleep makes all the difference in the world and especially for spine issues. I know if I sleep wrong or in a bad bed I am in far more pain and a whole lot bad mood for the day.

I have slept in beds that literally leave me unable to stand straight or walk and sit without screaming. I hate having MRIs for just this reason, after 45 minutes or so of lying there on that hard table Im stuck and I mean I cannot get turned over and sat up without alot of pain and alot of help. I did ask the last time if I could use the stand up scanner and was told it wouldnt turn out good views of what they wanted of my spine and the regular one would be better and less of a chance they would have to re-do it.

Anyway Im looking into getting a bed that I have some control and movement of the knee area even though I love my memory foam and have had such good sleep with it and it cost alot of money too! Someone suggested I buy an old hospital bed cheap and make sure it had remote for the knees and head and have my memory foam cut down to twin to fit it,actually mine would make 2 mattresses for twin size since it is a king size, Id have a back-up ! LOl

I dont know if that would work but Im going to look into it and that would be a cheap way to go and not lose either thing I want. I cannot afford the memory foam on the remote frame. So hoping this is an idea that will work for me.

Vickie
Posted 2/23/2013 2:23 PM (GMT 0)
Vickie…if you have the time during your hunt for a bed, lay down on one, and tell the sales person to leave you be for an hour or so,

Tempur-Pedic…worth the cost? They are a lot of money…and I'm not so sure they are worth paying 4 to 5 times the price of many other beds. We did…and I can tell you if we had it to do over again, we might opt for a less expensive brand. Pain can talk a patient into trying some very expensive remedies!shocked

One thing to think about with the Temper-Pedic bed,... is that they have a 90 day trial period.

Good luck in your search!

SE
Posted 2/25/2013 10:42 PM (GMT 0)
My husband works for a mattress company and we currently have a Tempurpedic Cloud. I noticed a HUGE difference when my husband moved in with this mattress. I didn't have to literally crawl out of bed in the mornings. We're due to get another mattress (with this company, you can get one at cost every several years), and will be going with the Tempurpedic Rhapsody (I believe), as my husband says this is the best one for my issues.
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