not moving feet.......

[2shoes]

dd has a seating system, so she has a knee block and straps to keep her feet on the foot plate.
now I don't like her foot straps done up so tight that she can mover her feet at all.
yet school keep doing it.
just wanted thoughts on it please.
surely it is good to be able to move your feet a little during the day

school are probably going on the premise that stabilising the feet/legs usually improves hand/arm function maybe?

ds isnt keen on his feet being strapped down (nor is his neuro) but if they werent his legs would be flying out every time he has a spasm or his feet would be getting stuck down the side of the footplate or his legs would be getting flung over the side of the thigh guides....he's a liability out shopping!

but she has ankle straps on as well, it just allows her a small movement. I can't imaging what it would be like to sit and not be able to move my feet at all.......

2shoes - it's horrible not being able to move your feet when sitting in a wheelchair. I used to be made to have mine strapped in to prevent contractures (as I used to like to hang my feet over the sides of my footplates ). I insisted that it be stopped when I realised my cramping pain was linked to it - I suppose I adjust my feet without realising which alleviates the cramp.

Could you put something on the strap (I don't know, a hair bobble or something?) to show where you want it tightening to?

thanks for that, I have emailed her TA telling here what holes should be used(wierdly each fot is different.
I do buy her boots a bit bog so she can mover her feet in side as well.

Have you asked your dd if she prefers it tighte or looser (or is it a teenager couldn't care less attitude).
If she expresses her own prefence the school really must listen.

2shoes to be honest, I would be worrying about DVTs. How long is your DD in a wheelchair with her feet strapped each day? I am guessing all day.

The reason long-haul flights are such a risk is that people tend to sit in a chair and do nothing. That lets the blood pool, and lowers vascular return.

It sounds like your DD is doing the equivalent of a long-haul flight each day

I would be inclined to ask a physio/paed about this. The last thing you want is for her to get DVTs.

they do it so tight it is marking her new boots

i don't know, I think they have to stand though, I live in fear of dd getting osteperous (cannot spell it, but you know when the bones weaken so break easy) my friends dd broke a ankle just be moving!! so I insist she stands/walks in walker and trike rides.

Riven, if they have veins, and they have blood, they can get DVTs.

That is why operations were such a risk and have come down in risk, because interventions like Clexane injections, TED stockings and encouragement to do simple exercises post-op such as wiggling toes, rotating ankles 10 times, etc.

The same with long-haul flights. There are now leaflets advising passengers to do exercises, take a trip to the toilet etc, hourly.

It's also part of the reason women aren't kept in hospital on bedrest for 10 day post-childbirth like they used to be.

When you or I move our legs, it uses the muscles, and that contraction of the muscle helps put pressure on the veins and encourages venous return. So the blood doesn't pool because of gravity so much. If it doesn't pool, it can't clot so easily.

Do your children not get excersises during the day, then? Not even a massage or a rub? I naively thought they must do that sort of thing as part of a routine, when they change them, for example. It wouldn't take a second to give legs a quick rub.

Having said that, perhaps there isn't the risk I thought there was. I will have a read.

APOLOGIES IN ADVANCE for the use of 'mental retardation' in this article - it is American:

The Wheelchair Thrombosis Syndrome, 2006

"John?s DVT was primarily caused by prolonged sitting in a wheelchair. Immobility inactivates the calfpump, reduces blood velocity and promotes venous stasis. Venous pressure is equivalent to the height of a hydrostatic column extending from the heart to the calf veins. When supine, such pressure is 0, but it rises to 50?90 cm of water while sitting. Longer legs and the resultant increased venous pressure while sitting are probably the reason why tall men like John have more DVT. Prolonged sitting with bent knees in confined spaces, as in airplanes (the economy class syndrome),
theaters or automobiles is particularly dangerous because of such leg dependency in a stationary position.1,8,12-15 During the London ?blitz,? fatal thromboembolism developed after just a few hours of sitting still in air raid shelters.15 Clearly, DVT risk is greater while sitting than while lying in bed. Most healthy people do not develop DVT because they usually move their legs while sitting and interrupt severe prolonged venous stasis. However, most wheelchair users are unable to move their legs and therefore become predisposed to DVT. Although as many as 1.4 million Americans regularly use a wheelchair (www.pascenter.org/disabilitydata/disability/2_2.php, accessed 12/08/05), this wheelchair-associated DVT risk remains underappreciated. A PubMed search for this condition identified no citation (www.ncbi.nlm.mih.gov/entrez, searched 03/15/06). To enhance public recognition of this avoidable risk, we propose the term ?wheelchair thrombosis syndrome.?" pg 1190

tbh i wasn't concerned about DVT'S more about comfort.
dd goes in her stander when she will allow it(at school) but once home and has eaten she is on the floor actively "crawling " arround, until she insists on bed at 6, where she is active and drawing and watching tv(oh teens)
when at home she only uses her chair for eating or outings, so it is really just making sure she is happy during the time she is in it.
can't be comfortable not to be able to move your feet at all.

Can she tell you what is comfortable, 2shoes? Could she use her VOCA to tell you when you have got it 'right' for her? Then you can say to school 'this is the way DD has told me she likes her straps..'

I did ask her and she said they were ok, but she is so loyal she would hate me "telling them off", I have emailed her TA(no reply) so will put a note in her book tomorrow.

Bless her! Loyalty, a great quality to have as long as your foot won't be amputated by the straps as a result Hope you get it all sorted.

well she came home with them done up how I like it:o so hopefully the TA did get the message.