Anyone tried a Valley Cushion?

[Dusty_in_Hope]

Hi Janet,

I'm not sure what the foundation will do. But, yes, I was reading somewhere that someone put rubber/elastic bands on the individual 'cells'/'fingers' of the roho cushion that they didn't want inflated, i.e. to take pressure off the areas that hurt the most with their pn/vulvodynia - It's always worth experimenting I think, even if you have to do it without help.

Will let you know how I get on.

Take care,

Dusty

[janetm2]

Dusty,
I look forward to hearing how you make out.
Janet

[kathyd]

Hi Dusty and Janet
I live in the US and have two kinds of Roho
Cushions.
(My pain issue is severe throbbing pain at rectal opening
when I sit, so am always looking for one that will spare that
area -Especially for driving.
We tried using elastic bands on the big rectangular Roho
Seat-To push down the little Roho "Fingers " on the areas where
my pain is. It was still too painful for me to sit on.
Then we bought a round RoHo Device That can be strapped to a vinyl
soft toilet seat. My husband built a wooden toilet shaped seat to
Place under the RoHo toilet seat device, to Raise my bottom up
So That it would not touch the car seat. I use this when driving .
I have also tried placing a foam filled type toilet seat over the wooden
part my hubby built.Both methods are not ideal and still hurt, as the wooden
thing is hard, But allow me to drive short distances now and then.
I'm so grateful for that but still looking for a better cushion for my issue,
I Have after pain from driving but bounce back to baseline in a little while.
Just wanted to share this "cushion " idea,
And also want to Ask if anyone has come up with Other Cushion Ideas to help with
rectal pain .
Thx For posting your experiences and good luck!
Sorry for typos! I'm typing from an iPhone, Which puts capital letters in Several spots!

[Dusty_in_Hope]

Hi Kathyd

My coccyx was excruciatingly painful a few years ago. The only thing that allowed me to sit comfortably as a passenger in my husband's car (not perfect but really good) - and I continue to use it to this day - is the relaxobak seat http://www.relaxobak.com/products/origi ... fort-seat/ Have you ever tried one of these for your rectal pain?

I'm also interested in this seat which looks similar to the relaxobak, but is somewhat more of a bucket shape I think http://www.backjoy.com/sit-products/ in the hope that I might be able to use it instead of the relaxobak as someone on another forum was saying that it's the best she's ever found for her vulvodynia (she was using the Back Joy Sit Smart Posture Plus model).

Dusty

[kathyd]

Hi Dusty
Thx for your quick reply.
The cushion that I have ( sitting in my garage-- never tried it) is the the Backjoy. It's made of of plastic on the outside. i believe, with softer material on the side you would sit on. It looked like it would be painful so I never gave it a try.
I also looked at the first link you sent -- the one that works for you. I'm so glad it does! Thats great! Would it allow you to drive if you wanted?
However,it looks very similar to the 'Backjoy ' in apprearance.. wonder what makes it different from the 'Backjoy ' model? Is it hard or soft or somewhere in between?
I wonder if there is a slight difference in our pain since my area is just a tiny bit lower? Weird tho, as the anus is literally right under the tailbone/ coccyx?

My phys therapist wants me to get my butt gradually accustomed to sitting by doing so for 30secs one day and then increasing the time each day,,but she insists I do it on a hard chair.
Maybe this aligns the spine better, creates better posture,and takes the pressure off our pain areas?
Is that the idea of your helpful cushion? I will read more about it on relax the back's sit also .
Thx again for the links.

[janetm2]

Hi Kathy,
The hard chairs work best for me because it keeps my pelvic alignment (probably my spine as you said as well) straight. If I try a soft chair it is a struggle to try and stay level so then the top of my pelvic rim starts hurting on both sides (I thought it was the hips but it is the top of the pelvis). Of course I cannot sit on the hard chair without a cushion to soften the seat (the cushion has me putting all the pressure on my sit bones). It takes quite a while to figure out what works and I have 4 combinations for different situations. I am still not sure I have the right thing for riding in my husband's new SUV, things shift around and basically it does not lay as flat as the other vehicle.
Janet

[Dusty_in_Hope]

Hi Kathy,

The cushion that I have ( sitting in my garage-- never tried it) is the the Backjoy. It's made of of plastic on the outside....It looked like it would be painful so I never gave it a try.

I felt like that about the relaxobak, i.e. it looked v uncomfortable, but I took the plunge and gave it a try as I was so desperate for relief at the time. And, yes, it would allow me to drive if I wanted - I used to use it when I drove, i.e. before I had to give up driving because of my eyesight (due to a rare disease called myasthenia gravis which causes double vision).

The Backjoy has mixed reviews on Amazon - ranging from it being kind of 'the best thing since sliced bread' to one person saying that it caused them to have to go to a chiropractor! It makes you wonder though whether they were sitting on the Backjoy the wrong way round or something - or that they expected to be able to sit in it for hours and hours without getting up. You can never tell with people, can you? (The relaxobak also has mixed reviews on Amazon, but as you know - it helped me with my coccyx pain. Of note though, it that I have never sat on it for more than an hour at a time.)

What a shame we live on different continents and don't live near each other - I could have loaned you my spare never been used relaxobak and I could have tried your Backjoy! (I was thinking of buying a second hand Backjoy from ebay, i.e. a model that I can wash before I use it, as I don't want to waste too much money trying all these things out for my vulvodynia/pn-like pain.)

The relaxobak is made of slightly bendy plastic (so technically it's hard but not that hard) with no padding at all and that means that a downside is that, as with most plastic seats/chairs (despite the air holes in it), it can get a little bit hot (especially in the summer months, but it's okay - imo a small price to pay for tailbone comfort in my case). It can also feel quite cold quite when you first sit on it in the winter months (as I leave mine outside in the car on the front passenger seat). Another criticism I've read is that you need to place it where you want it every time you use it as it moves when you get up, but, personally, I don't find that a bind at all.

The relaxobak kind of cups around and 'protects' the tailbone and anus area, taking the pressure off those areas; I would think the Backjoy might do that even better, judging by its shape - but 'the proof of the pudding' is in the sitting. I don't have pain in my anus like you've described you get, but my coccyx pain used to shoot down to the anus area and I do now experience some intermittent quite severe pain up fairly high in my anus after bowel movements for a few minutes to half an hour or so (sometimes more) due to my prolapse having worsened (a rectocele) and the relaxobak stops that from getting any worse with sitting. How it would be for your severe anal pain I can't judge though I'm afraid....

I don't want to steer you down a wrong path that isn't suitable for you and might cause you additional pain, but I do think that such bucket shaped seats as the relaxobak or Backjoy wouldn't be likely to cause you as much pain as sitting on a hard chair like your physio wants you to do, albeit for only a short time. (I'm not a fan of physios; I have fibromyalgia and all of the ones I've seen who were supposed to understand fibromyalgia just caused me more pain with no improvement at all - but, of course, I do know of people with other conditions that have been helped enormously by them).

Dusty

[Dusty_in_Hope]

For anyone who might be interested in getting a Togu Airgo Active Seat Cushion (like this, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Togu-Airgo-Acti ... B000FCQLZQ - which is available on various websites to include both UK and the USA amazon websites) :

I've just tried one; you fill it with air by means of a small pump and I found it to be too 'bouncy' and unstable because of the air in it - a bit like sitting on a couple of rubber hot water bottles...I have had sacro-iliac issues in the past and, although it is good not to have those joints seize up with the pressure of sitting and give them some free movement, I have to be careful...For me there was too much movement and instability to sit on the cushion for any length of time without risking muscle spasm in my sacro-iliac areas. The Togu also didn't relieve much, if any, pressure on my burning vulva (my pn-like pain is pretty central and I think that the central gap/'valley' wasn't wide enough) but I did feel that it gave me adequate pressure relief on my coccyx.

Dusty