The Best Chairs for People with Huntington’s Disease
Huntington’s disease presents its own set of unique challenges when it comes to specifying equipment. Having originally been named Huntington’s chorea (meaning ‘dance’ in Greek), individuals with the condition commonly suffer from involuntary movements.
This can make it very difficult to prescribe care chairs for people with Huntington’s Disease. In this article, we’ll look at a few things that may be worth taking into consideration when you specify a chair for someone with Huntington’s.
What is Huntington’s Disease?
Huntington’s disease is a hereditary condition that attacks specific nerve cells in the brain. This gets worse over time and can eventually affect the person’s movements, mobility, cognitive function, and even their behaviour.
Your doctor may end up sending you to a neurologist if they suspect you have Huntington’s disease. They can do a genetic test on you to determine whether or not you have Huntington’s, and they may test other things like the movement of your eyes, your balance, and your speech.
Recent research into this condition has shown that it may be curable.
Upholstered Components
One of the biggest signposts for Huntington’s is involuntary movements.
As the nerve cells in the brain become more and more damaged, the individual loses control over their movements, particularly in their limbs. As you can imagine, continuously bumping against metal components of a care chairs can be painful and cause long-lasting damage.
Some care chairs give you the option of completely covering the components to minimise the chances of the user hurting themselves.
The Omega care chair is an excellent option if this is what you’re looking for. Specifically designed for users with Huntington’s, the Omega is completely covered to prevent any injuries that may be caused by repetitive uncontrolled movements.
The Omega care chair is a particularly good option for people with Huntington’s Disease.
Pressure Relief
When it comes to Huntington’s disease, making sure that the chair is comfortable in the long term is vital. What with the excessive and constant movements caused by this condition, it’s very easy for the individual to lose weight rapidly.
As you can imagine, that makes it more uncomfortable for people when they have bony bits (like their elbows, posteriors, pelvis, etc) that are constantly moving and knocking against the chair repeatedly. This can affect the person’s skin integrity and it can even lead to pressure injuries if nothing is done about it.
Finding a chair that can accommodate pressure relief cushions being used on it (or indeed one that already has it built-in) is highly advised.
The Lento Care Chair allows you to change the pressure relief cushion without needing any tools or special training. This enables you to easily swap the cushion if someone’s risk of pressure sores increases/decreases.
You can get the Lento with a foam cushion for medium-risk pressure relief, a gel cushion for high-risk, and even an alternating air for those at extremely high-risk.
Pelvic Positioning
This is one of the key things to remember regarding seating and Huntington’s disease is that the person’s pelvis should be situated lower than the knees. The seat may be angled backwards to facilitate this.
Alternatively, tilt-in-space can also be used to angle the knees above the pelvis and keep the person in position.
By having the person’s pelvis as a lower position, it means that they are less likely to slide forwards and out of the chair (which is a common problem when you suffer from involuntary movements and spasms). Again, the Omega chair offers this.
Alternatively, if the individual is still able to stand then the Porta chair may be a better fit. This can offer a little lift to help come to a standing position, but also has a raked seat to maintain a good pelvic position.
The Porta chair is also particularly good at helping people come to a standing position.
If the individual needs extra support in regard to sliding out of the chair, then a pelvic harness can be used. This straps over the legs and holds the pelvis in position to prevent the person from sliding forward.
Summary
We can use specialist seating to make sure that the user is taken care of and their needs are catered to, so by looking out for these 3 things, you could really be helping someone with Huntington’s to keep comfy and supported whenever they’re sat down. Huntington’s Disease can be difficult to live with, so by providing the right care chairs for people with Huntington’s, you could be really helping someone maintain a good quality of life.
But if you have any questions or need any further advice on this, please get in touch with us. Our trained seating assessors can carry out free no-obligation seating assessments for people with Huntington’s, so don’t hesitate to give us a call.
Alternatively, you can download a free copy of our seating eBook that gives you a step-by-step guide to seating assessments for different conditions.
I am looking for any used chairs for a private home client of mine with Huntington’s disease. Do you have any information that could help me? Thank you, Liz Bortz
Hi Liz
Yes I’m sure we can help with this. I’ll ask a member of our team to get in touch with you.
Thanks
Lucie
Do you offer used chairs? I’d love to get this for my 27 yr old, son with Huntington’s disease. Looks safer then the bed his hospital bed. I’ll take any information.
Hello Dorene
We may well have some options on this, so I’ve asked one of my colleagues to get in touch to see how we can help.
many thanks!
Tristan
Hi I’m looking for a chair for my brother who has Huntington s chorea, do you sell second hand chairs , what price am I looking at .thanks.
Hello Lorna,
Thank you for your comment. I will pass your enquiry onto one of my colleagues.
They will get back to you to discuss what your brother needs from a chair and see how we can help.
Kind Regards,
Leanne
I would love to purchase a used chair for my mother with Huntington’s. Can you help me?
Hello Chasity,
Thanks for commenting. I have passed on your enquiry to my colleague.
Someone should be in touch shortly to discuss your requirements in more detail.
Kind Regards,
Leanne
Hello! I am looking for a used/refurbished chair for my daughter, 19 with neurodegenerative disease, chorea an many other movements. She is considered quad so I need it to tit in space and lay open for changing? So happy for email offering any suggestions!
Sincerely grateful,
Cynthia Hansen
Hi Cynthia,
Thank you for commenting!
I have passed your enquiry onto a colleague, so someone should be in touch to see if we can help.
Many thanks,
Leanne
Do you sell chairs in the United States? My husband is in his 14 th year of Huntington’s Disease.
Hello Claudia,
Unfortunately, we currently only sell our chairs in the UK. I apologise that we aren’t able to help on this occasion.
All the best to you and your husband,
Leanne
Hi do yall have any of the omega chairs used ?
Hello,
Thank you for your comment!
I’ve passed your enquiry on to my colleague. Someone should be in touch shortly to discuss chair options and how we can help.
Many thanks,
Leanne
Hi, I am from India and am looking for a chair for my mother with Huntington disease. Can you able to give me more information?
Hi Tushar,
Thank you for your comment.
Unfortunately, we currently only sell our chairs in the UK. I apologise that we aren’t able to help on this occasion.
Kind Regards,
Leanne
My father has Huntington’s disease and we really need to purchase a chair for him. I’m interested in purchasing a used chair if that’s possible or learn about other options. I would need to know chair costs and payment plan options. Thanks for your help.
Hi Joyce,
Thank you for your comment.
I have asked one of my colleagues to get in touch. They will be able to talk through the different chair and payment options for you and your father.
Kind Regards,
Leanne
Hi do you anything like the omega comfy chair that is not so low to the ground for a resident with Huntingdon disease
Hello Janice, thanks for commenting! Yes I’m sure we can help with this, I have a chair in mind but I think what’s best is if I get one of our team to get in touch with you directly by email if that’s OK.
Kind regards
Tristan
I have a 70 year old Huntington living in Nigeria. Is it possible to have a used chair please?
Hello Ummie, many thanks for your comment!
I will ask one of the team to see if we have anything suitable and get in touch.
Many thanks,
Tristan
hello
do you sell these chairs in india? can you please pass on the details
Hello SB
Thanks for your comment, we certainly do export to India!
I will ask one of our seating specialists to get in touch.
Many thanks
Tristan
Hi There,
I would love to purchase a used chair for my Dad with Huntington’s disease. Could you please contact me asap?
Hello Ashley, and thanks for your comment!
No problem at all, I have asked one of our specialists to get in touch.
Kind regards
Tristan
Looking for a meal time chair, have a patient that slides out of chair during meals. Is still ambulatory. Have tried wedged cushion but body is strong enough to get over wedge.
Thanks Jayme, I’m sure we can help with this. I’ll ask one of our seating specialists to get in touch.
Many thanks!
Tristan
Hi my name is rea and I’m an Occupational therapist. I have a client with HC and I’m looking for a used and affordable chair for him for home use . Do you have recommendation or any assistance you can offer ? Thank you .
Hello Realeene, I’m sure we can help with this. I will ask one of our seating specialists to get in touch with you.
Many thanks
Tristan
My husband has Huntington’s disease. His desk chair is not supportive enough for our home. I would love some options of a good chair he could sit and look at his computer or watch TV. Any ideas???
Thanks for your enquiry Kim! I will ask one of our seating specialists to get in touch.
Many thanks
Tristan