how do you deal with shoulder seat belt irritation

I would appreciate hearing from those who have solved the shoulder seat belt problem. Who can I go to to have the shoulder strap moved so that it does not hit the site. Also, the wires of my pacemaker got tangled and push my skin out about 1/4 of an inch which is very sensitive and uncomfortable. Has anyone dealt with this kind of problem? Thank you. Shelly

11 Comments

seat belts

by tcrabtree85 - 2007-04-05 01:04:17

Hi Shelly,
I place my seat belt under my arm to avoid the site. It has seemed to help some. They also have that cushion deal that you could get but I didn't get one of those. They always show it on the side it's called softtouch I have no idea if it works or not but you could always try it. Maybe cheaper than trying to go get your entire seat belt adjusted.
Best of luck and whatever you find out would you also let me know.
Tammy

clothes pin

by Butch - 2007-04-05 02:04:03

For your Seat Belts. If your seat belts dont lock in a slack position. Just get a clothes pin or a chip bag clip and put it on your shoulder belt near the upper holder. You wont even feel it.

Butch

Soft Touch.

by Stepford_Wife - 2007-04-05 02:04:09

Hi Shelly.
My seat belt locks me in place, even with the slightest break application.
I recently purchased the Soft Touch, and it has made a huge difference.
There is an open space, padded on three sides, that encases the PM area, without applying pressure on it.
It's wonderful, I love it.
I definitely recommend it.
Take care,
~ Dominique ~

seatbelt

by albie - 2007-04-05 10:04:51

I work in health care and have seen first hand the effects of not properly wearing your seatbelt in an accident. I would not recommend it. This would also apply to modifying the proper funtion of the seatbelt. If your seatbelt has a height adjustment I would suggest you start there. That can help take some of the pressure off. Another option besides the Soft Touch is to place a small towel over your shoulder/pm site. I know it seems like a hastle to do this, but the towel does not interfere with the function of the belt and therefore is better in the event of an accident.

Does anyone know if the Soft Touch has been crash tested?

Albie

Good question Albie.

by Stepford_Wife - 2007-04-05 11:04:40

I'm not aware of any crash testing done with the Soft Touch, but I will certainly check it out.
If I discover anything, I'll be sure to let you know.
Take care,
~ Dominique ~

Crash Test.

by Stepford_Wife - 2007-04-05 11:04:46

I have just returned from visiting the SoftTouch site. This is what I found.
The SoftTouch device was extensively tested at the Transportation Research Center in East Liberty, Ohio. The research engineers compared the pressure per sq inch of the SoftTouch product to that of a regular automobile seat belt. The test was conducted to simulate an 18g. 30 m.p.h. frontal impact crash. The pressure was measured against the chest wall of two ballast 50th percentile, anthropomorphic crash test dummies, one each in model year 1995 Toyota Camry driver seats, mounted to the TRC Hyge sled. The SoftTouch device reduced the pressure per sq inch by 34 % over the implanted area.
It is very important to wear your seat belt. It is not only the law, but it has been proven to save lives as well.
Don't put your life in danger by not wearing your seat belt.
BUCKLE UP!
~ Dominique ~

Thats the Best Idea

by Butch - 2007-04-06 01:04:31

Everybody is worrying about the seat belt and its effect on the implant area. But you must be forgetting that if you are in an accident there is probably going to be other things going wrong worst than you seat belt hitting your shoulder.

what I do

by slowhands - 2007-04-06 02:04:05

I asked the police dept. in Rohnert Park CA what to do and they said the standard method is to put the top restraint over your head (sort of like "climbing through' the belt) and just use the lap belt. They said it was legal, that there is no requirement to have both a lap and a shoulder estraint.
I've been doing this for years and it works fine. I'm counting on the air bag to keep my head from spashing the dash in case of a head-on.

Glenn
stillson@hotmail.com

Not necessarily

by Stepford_Wife - 2007-04-06 07:04:27

To understand how and why wearing a seat belt properly is important, we need to know what happens in a car crash. In any car crash, there are three separate collisions.
Collision 1: The car. When the car hits something, it first deforms, and then comes to an abrupt stop. The deformation helps to absorb some of the force of the collision. This saves passengers from some of the impact. The forces involved are very high.
Collision 2: The occupants. They are still moving forward when the car stops (because of inertia). Unbelted occupants move at the car's original speed until they slam into something that stops them, like the steering wheel, windscreen, other parts of the car, or each other. People in front are often hit by unbelted passengers, who are flung forward with incredible force. Unbelted occupants hit the car body within 0.3-0.4 seconds.
A human being who is anticipating something and has superb reflexes takes at least 0.25 seconds to start reacting. By the time you lift your hands, most of the crash is already over. In fact, stiffening to meet the impact actually makes injuries to arms and legs worse. The driver cannot brace himself with the steering wheel, nor the passengers with the dashboard or front seats. There is simply no time. People always move toward the crash, never away.
Collision 3: The internal organs. Even after the occupants come to a full stop, their internal organs are still moving forward. These can hit other organs, or the person's bones. Most deaths in road accidents are caused by this collision. When someone's head hits the windscreen, for example, the visible damage is cuts from flying glass. But the main damage is the invisible brain injury when it crashes against the skull. Most driver deaths occur when they hit the steering column. This may crush the ribs and the heart. This collision is also over within only 0.7 seconds.
The protection provided by the other safety features, INCLUDING THE AIR BAG, WILL NOT BE EFFECTIVE, unless the seat belt is properly worn. Now, bear in mind that the seat belt starts acting within the first 0.1 seconds, when the ELR (emergency locking retractor ) mechanism locks the belt upon sensing the forward motion. Trust the belt, it's faster than you.
I hope that gives some of you food for thought.
Happy driving!
~ Dominique ~

Where does it hurt?

by slarnerd - 2007-04-06 12:04:28

Would you mind telling me precisely what hurts? Is it the pacer site, the incision site, where the leads enter the pacer? If you know.

My infant son has a pacemaker and cannot tell me where it hurts, so I just put a burp cloth over the pacemaker site (in his abdomen) before I latch his car seat. It makes a difference in that he seems to cry much less when padded. But I would like to know so that I can try a smaller pad. Thank you.

airbag injury

by Suze - 2007-04-10 11:04:32

I have a friend who was involved in a fender bender. She didn't like the the shoulder harness and slipped under it so just the lap belt was on her while driving..... Everyone told her this was dangerous and everyone was right! In this slight crash the airbag deployed and smashed her face. She had to have two corrective surgeries for nose and facial fractures. PLEASE wear the seatbelt as it's intended. It could be tragic otherwise. That shoulder harness is there for a reason!

Thanks for listening ,
Suze

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So, my advice is to go about your daily routine and forget that you have a pacemaker implanted in your body.