December 30, 2008

Happy Holiday Find


I did some traveling over the holiday season and, like so many, I got stuck in the airport for a few extra hours before departure. During that time I wandered around the airport shops with my future sister in law. In Brookstone she discovered a cushion designed to take pressure off your tailbone and she asked me if I could use it. I got really excited.

The cushion I bought from the Interstitial Cystitis website has been worn down by constant use. I keep it in the car and use it every day. It's served me well but I wanted something with more support.

This Brookstone cushion looked perfect! Only problem was it was $40. I felt quite conflicted. It seemed perfect, but that was an awful lot of money to spend on myself during the holiday season. My wonderful sister in law said she would split the price with me and call it my gift. I hemmed and hawed a bit, but she convinced me to buy it.


After some modifications with a kitchen knife, it fits my body just right. My doctor has advised using a kneeling pad and cutting an opening that would aliviate any pressure on the nerve while sitting. The kneeling pads at Homedepot are thin and uncomfortable. This cushion is fabulous. I feel no pressure on my pudendal nerve when I sit.

I don't plan on doing any marathon sitting, but it's good to know that I have the support I need when I do have to sit for extended periods of time in the car or elsewhere.

When I first visited my doctor about the last flare he said that it could have been attributed to the two and a half hours I spent between Baltimore and Philadelphia. I told him that I don't sit on my firezone and instead I cock my legs to one side and put all the pressure on my hip. He told me in that position I was hyper-extending the nerve, which could also cause a flare.

Man, sometimes it's impossible to keep my doctor and my coochie happy! He told me the best way to sit was with two feet on the floor. And of course, on a cushion.

Over the years, I've learned that it is in my best interest to heed his advice. I've been ignoring it for long enough and obviously my way isn't working.

Honestly, I'm so happy with this cushion, I might buy another one for my fiance's car and maybe my office.

BTW- Yes, that is a stick of deodorant on my dining room table...

1 comment:

Jamie B said...

I use 1-inch thick closed cell foam from House of Foam in Baltimore, with a cut out; but i have the cut out facing my legs not the back of the chair. it works very well for me, and stays comfortable for longer than the those gardening kneeling pad cushions.