People with congenital or acquired neurological diseases, such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy, sclerosis, or brain trauma often experience a completely changed perception of their body and can suffer from e. g. memory loss, loss of the sense of direction and lack of the ability to filter and process sensory input in general. The lack of body awareness and decreased perception can cause insecurity, but it can be eased by proprioceptive stimulation. Helping aids with moving balls and dynamic touch pressures provide comfort and an improved body perception due to the stimulation of the proprioceptive sense. The deep touch pressures also provide a muscle-relaxing effect, comfort and inner calm for e.g. patients with spasticity, restless legs or sclerosis can also feel comfort and inner calm perience and internal composure from the stimulation of the balls.
The sensory stimulating aids from Protac are often used in both training and treatment in the acute phase in many neurological departments as well as during rehabilitation training after discharge. The helping aids are also used in care centers for both children and adults with congenital or acquired neurological diseases. We have good experience with helping neurological patients who previously have been depending on medication to a life with less medication.
40-year-old man, brain damaged due to a traffic accident
The man uses the Protac KneedMe® knee blanket during transport in a wheelchair, as he would otherwise tense severely in his lower extremities (legs). In the past, the tension has been so violent that he has had spasms in his lower extremities (legs). When using the knee blanket, he can sense his body while being transported in the wheelchair, resulting in less anxiety and less tense muscles. The man has also started using the Protac Ball Blanket® at night and during his mid-day rest. This results in him being easier to mobilize, dress and subsequently transfer.
35-year-old woman with sclerosis
A 35-year-old woman with Multiple Sclerosis and pronounced spasticity in both legs has sensory disturbances in both surface and deep sensation. The ataxia, which is still present at night, increases the physical and mental agitation. She tries the Protac Ball Blanket® Calm and can immediately feel the soothing effect of the balls. The effect of the balls allows her to independently turn over allowing for a significantly better night's sleep, fewer spasms, and less restlessness in the body. She can now avoid fixation with straps. After sleeping for 14 days with the blanket, she begins to be able to handle utensils better and has a better sense of her hands. The ataxic disturbances are reduced for up to an hour after using the blanket.
18-year-old boy with Cerabral Palsy
We have a young man with Cerebral Palsy here at the group home. He has an intellectual disability and is estimated to have a cognitive functional level of 3 - 6 months old. He is a wheelchair user and is passively transported around in his wheelchair. He has bouts of self-harming behavior and periods with many spasms. He very easily becomes insecure and reacts with self-harming behavior and loud noises. He has undergone a sensory integration evaluation that concluded that he craves stimulation of all the proximal senses, but primarily the proprioceptive and vestibular senses. During therapy, insecurity and self-harming behavior can be alleviated by giving him plenty of proprioceptive stimuli. I do this by passively facilitating movement in the typical tone-reducing patterns, e.g., calm rhythmic movements in hip flexion and rotation over the spine. In addition, I give deep touch pressure on the extremities and vibrations on the chest. With my hands I can keep him relaxed and comfortable in therapy. I would really like him to be able to take this relaxed state home with him. The Protac SenSit® ball chair and the Protac Ball blanket® Combi have made this wish come true! He has been granted funding for the blanket because it gives him peace at night and makes him more rested when he wakes up. Previously, he would make quite a ruckus at night – rocking from side to side and shouting. A behavior we (staff) have interpreted as inner turmoil and vestibular and proprioceptive self-stimulation (like "blind-rocking") The Protac SenSit® chair he bought himself, and it gives him enough peace to be able to stay in common rooms with his fellow residents without becoming restless and self-harming as he used to be the case. He also uses it to ”wind down” after training.
9-year-old girl and mother with Tourette syndrome
Both my daughter and I have Tourettes Syndrome - the first night we had the Protac Ball Blanket® Flexible, I wanted to try it myself, and did not have high expectations for it. I fell asleep in the most amazing way. It felt like I was quietly hovering down and landing softly. The next morning, I felt rested as I have rarely tried before. But the blanket was for my daughter, who has always been plagued by bad dreams and a sense of powerlessness over not being able to sleep well. After she has started sleeping with the Protac Ball Blanket®, it only takes her approx. 15 minutes to fall asleep and she happily goes to bed with the certainty that the blanket will protect her against the bad dreams. She now sleeps all night and feels rested in the morning - she is so happy with her blanket.
13-year-old girl with spasms
"A thirteen-year-old girl, with spastic Cerebral Palsy has always woken up several times in the evening and at night because she has spasms and needs to be turned over. The mother says that at first glance she could not imagine laying the ball blanket over her little fragile daughter. “But, but, but… it's just lovely and good and relaxing and a whole lot more. Now she uses the blanket when she sits and relaxes in her beanbag chair - yes, in fact, she, little sister and I often sit under the blanket and relax together. Now I experience for the first time in her life that she sleeps from she is put to bed and until between midnight and 01.30 am. Of course, there are exceptions if she is sick or otherwise, but twice last week she has slept through the night. It was a strange experience that the alarm clock rang, and she had not been awake at all. Fantastic - there is only one reason for this and that is the Protac Ball Blanket®! "
45-year-old woman with apoplexy and paralysis
It has become much easier to get my left foot to land on the floor and avoid the foot twisting as it usually does. It must be because it affects my spasticity in a good way. I can feel my body a lot more when I sit and work; it is like I'm being helped to sit straighter. It is strengthening for me to wear the vest, and it feels comfortable when once you have gotten used to it. "Protac MyFit® Easy can be used with advantage in connection with, for example, paralysis of an arm, as the vest has a shoulder opening, and therefore is easier to get on.
73-year-old mand with Parkinson's disease
I wear the Protac MyFit® ball vest during the day when I play the piano, write by hand, and do practical things at home. The vest provides an experience of greater inner peace during all activities, and an experience of mastering the activities better. It gives me a sense of security, grounding, deeper relaxation and a more upright attitude.
37-year-old woman with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
With the Protac Ball Blanket® Granulate she falls asleep much faster and sleeps all night without waking up. The neurogenic pain in her leg is easier to deal with, she feels calm and sleeps heavily at night. Now has more energy for spending time with her children and spouse and for therapeutic training. No need to use ice packs at night anymore.
9-year-old girl with severe brain damage
The girl clearly shows expressions of joy when they the staff ask if she wants to get down onto the Protac MyBaSe® mattress. She sits in a wheelchair all day long. When she lies on the mattress, she can make it move herself, with small movements, and she makes more happy sounds, chatters, and smiles. She rests well and enjoys lying without her back brace.
42-year-old man with traumatic brain injury and spams
Therapist says: "We use the Protac MyBaSe® mattress together with Protac Ball Blanket®, to give him even more body focus. It helps him to relax completely, which better allows us to do his stretch exercises. He stops his humming sound he typically makes when we do stretch exercises, which he finds annoying. "
Protac MyFit®
Staff observation: he suffers from severe motor unrest and has difficulties keeping calm and sitting still. Both his hands and feet tremble. Besides, he is often angry, noisy and externalizing. After trying the Protac MyFit® ball vest his behaviour has changed drastically. After only 15 minutes, he is less angry, his body stops trembling and he sits quietly. He keeps wearing the ball vest all day. When asked about the ball vest, he answers that it is nice to wear. Everybody around him notices how much comfort and well-being, the ball vest gives him.
26-year-old woman with head trauma
Protac SensCircle® is placed around the woman when she needs to rest or sleep, to delimit the room. It is used daily for approx. 1 hour at all rest, as well as at night. The motor restlessness is reduced, and it has given the patient an increased sense of security to have her " proximal space" shielded.
52-year-old man with brain damage
A 52-year-old man has basal damage at the brain stem level. He needs peace and quiet when he rests and to feel the boundaries of his body. He has paralysis of his legs and arms and has reduced sensation. The man uses the Protac SensCircle® pillow several times a day to rest. Protac SensCircle® gives him immediate peace of mind when he is positioned with it. He also falls asleep quickly and has experienced less spasticity for several days. He finds it nice to feel demarcated around his head and back, and the staff finds that he is calmer and more collected after resting with Protac SensCircle®.
18-year-boy with Cerebral Palsy
We have a young man with Cerebral Palsy here at the group home. He has an intellectual disability and is estimated to have a cognitive functional level of 3 - 6 months old. He is a wheelchair user and is passively transported around in his wheelchair. He has bouts of self-harming behavior and periods with many spasms. He very easily becomes insecure and reacts with self-harming behavior and loud noises. He has undergone a sensory integration evaluation that concluded that he craves stimulation of all the proximal senses, but primarily the proprioceptive and vestibular senses. During therapy, insecurity and self-harming behavior can be alleviated by giving him plenty of proprioceptive stimuli. I do this by passively facilitating movement in the typical tone-reducing patterns, e.g., calm rhythmic movements in hip flexion and rotation over the spine. In addition, I give deep touch pressure on the extremities and vibrations on the chest. With my hands I can keep him relaxed and comfortable in therapy. I would really like him to be able to take this relaxed state home with him. The Protac SenSit® ball chair and the Protac Ball Blanket® Combi have made this wish come true! He has been granted funding for the blanket because it gives him peace at night and makes him more rested when he wakes up. Previously, he would make quite a ruckus at night – rocking from side to side and shouting. A behavior we (staff) have interpreted as inner turmoil and vestibular and proprioceptive self-stimulation (like "blind-rocking") The Protac SenSit® chair he bought himself, and it gives him enough peace to be able to stay in common rooms with his fellow residents without becoming restless and self-harming as he used to be the case. He also uses it to help him” wind down” after training.
6-year-old boy with tendancy to be self destructive
During a 3-month period, the boy has sat approx. 20 min in the Protac SenSit® ball chair every day after breakfast and during the morning gathering. The chair is also used spontaneously. He has increased his concentration during the morning gathering, can now keep up with is happening and is not as disturbing to the other children as he was before. He calms down more. It is evident that he calms down when he sits down in the chair. The mornings when he feels bad, the chair helps him “move on”, “get over it” and have a better day.
63-year-old woman with Huntington Chorea disease
Our resident who has Huntington's Chorea says that she has constantly had an inner turmoil for several years. From a sensory perspective, this is also about her muscle fibers constantly contracting, and that the disease also causes perception disorders, amongst others in the perception of interoceptive sensation. This means that she is constantly on guard and feels tense. The motor restlessness therefore influences the mental restlessness. We experience that she feels secure when she feels that she is being positioned with supports surrounding her body and being proprioceptively stimulated. She therefore enjoys the Protac SenSit® ball chair. The woman uses the chair if she needs to have quiet time or participate in a conversation. The woman is very conscious of when she needs the stimuli that the chair can provide. Furthermore, she sleeps with the Protac Ball Blanket® at night. She explains that it gives her peace and that she relaxes as a result. She experiences an increased energy capacity after experiencing sensory integration strategies embedded in her everyday life, and a more positive affective state.
57-year old woman with sclerosis
The woman is usually easily distracted in social contexts, but the staff registers that with the Protac SensOn® neck and shoulder wrap she becomes calmer and more participative in the conversation in the coffee room. She wants to keep the collar on.
Safe charging station
“We see that the Protac SenSack® is used as a charging station for our daughter in the afternoon and after she started that, it is possible for her to participate in more daily activities with family and friends. The sleeping bag physically embraces her body and it gives her security, comfort and new energy.
(Parents to an 8-year-old girl with muscle dystrophy)
