I remember how excited I was to get this cushion in 2018, and I still like it for comfort. It’s a cushion with a mostly foam structure, and a well at the back. I have the dual valve air cushion as my posture is very assymetric. I stil rate this cushion as the most comfortable one I’ve ever had. It withstands a lot and the ROHO air insert is comfortable and none of the air cells has burst or needed any patching up at all. I have not needed to replace the air insert at all.
I’ve been up steep slopes, up and down city streets, in and out of hospitals, health centres and supermarkets and over some areas of uneven sidewalk and cobblestone areas (which would usually have me telling my husband to avoid those areas when guiding my wheelchair).
Everything has been comfortable with this cushion And sometimes we’ll have the wheelchair speed set to 4 or 5 (5 being the highest speed, the equivalent of 3.7 mph) if we need to get to places quicker or are on a wider street or in an open area of the park.
I have, on occasion, even almost fallen asleep in my wheelchair with this cushion (either at home or almost during long waits at the hospital).
The unfortunate thing is that I was on the Sunrise Medical site around a few months ago, and couldn’t find the 2 air valve version listed on the order form. only the 1 valve version (standard cushion).
I quickly sent a message on Facebook. A month later, Sunrise Medical replied and confirmed that the cushion in the 2 valve version was not sold anymore. I’d asked about their custom service, Jay Your Way, as I have positioning wedges on my old Jay3 cushion and wondered how to fix them to the new one.
I’d spoken to the rehab doctor who’d suggested I sort out the issue of the positioning wedges at the wheelchair dealership. I found the wedges helped a little with my leg positioning, but that years being transferred onto and off of the cushion had made a hole in the cover of my last cushion. We took the decision not to put any wedges on my Jay 3 foam-air cushion, and that’s saved the cover. I also noticed that the wedges were creating pressure areas for me.
Not having wedges on the cushion felt strange at first. People in evaluations have seen that the Jay 3 cushion is not a good cushion for me positioning wise, and nor is the backrest. And they have seen I’m exhausting myself because of my postures and how they are naturally.
I picked the Jay 3 cushion with a technician as it’s a skin protection.and positioning cushion for people with complex positioning needs who are unable to reposition themselves. Of all the cushion filling materials I’ve tried so far, I prefer air.
Anyway, this cushion will be used for as long as can use it for, and I now know that I won’t be able to get another one, and nor is it advisable for me, as I need more posture support, although this already has a good level, but the evaluations have shown it’s not enough for me. The problem is : I can’t sit properly, so that needs to be adressed with my seating and I need seating that will relax me as I have tight muscles and weak ones.
I’m glad I bought this cushion, as I was cusious to find out how Jay foam bases and ROHO air inserts worked together. I know ROHO has a cushion with foam and air very like this, plus extra support at the front of the thighs called the ROHO Hybrid Elite and it has 2 air valves, but it turns out I need more highly contoured support for my pelvis and legs and not just the ability to adjust air levels between left snd right within.a cushion.
We tried the option of adjusting air with 2 valves, but apparently it does nothing for me.
So, now I’m thinking back to ROHO’s Quadtro Select High Profile cushion, although some technicians advised against this, as they thought an all-air cushion woud make me more unstable. I also know I am very unstable on the Vicair cushion I have, which I don’t use anymore.
So, it’s frustrating to find that, while air feels more comfortable to me, as in reducing pain and feeling good to my body with it’s deformities and unique sitting posture, as well as altered levels of sensation, I don’t know if another air cushion is a good idea.
Since the consensus is that I need seating that will help me relax. and so far, foam, gel foam-gel and foam-air hasn’t done that. I did find though, that air did not react to temperature at all, so I didn’t feel cold with it like I did on winter days with a gel cushion or gel-foam cushion.
I definitely rate the Jay 3 deep contour dual valve air cushion in terms of comfort and helping to lessen vibrations from the wheelchair moving over uneven ground.
Just Katherine 