COMBI--New Jovi Daytime Sleeve

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OneBadBoob
OneBadBoob Member Posts: 1,386
edited June 2014 in Lymphedema

I really love this product -- fingers are free to type or work and arm is "as if" wrapped for flare up days or flying.

Compact enough that it is almost hidden by a sweater.

No over jacket necessary.

I got lucky. I tried on a readi-made medium, regular, at the NLN conference and it was a perfect fit. So I ordered left and right from http://www.biohorizondirect.com/JoviPak-Arm-Fingers-to-Axilla-COMBI at a wonderful price.

Will always wear it when I fly, with a full glove under it.

Edit to add photos

Comments

  • Jennifer1295
    Jennifer1295 Member Posts: 244
    edited October 2012

    Do you know how this would be different then say my Tribute night sleeve? They look simlar. Would this be day and night or only day?

  • allisontom911
    allisontom911 Member Posts: 425
    edited October 2012

    that was going to be my question too, what is the difference from a day or night sleeve?

  • carol57
    carol57 Member Posts: 3,567
    edited October 2012

    My question, too!  It looks a lot like the night garments.  Also, OneBadBoob, have you typed in it?  My gauntlet catches keys on the keyboard from time to time, making me crazy. I'm curious to know if this new sleeve behaves better.  Anyway, thanks for thinking to show this to us!!

  • hugz4u
    hugz4u Member Posts: 2,781
    edited October 2012

    OK girls, I have that combi. I will give you my opinion on it. I am so glad onebadboob posted the picture. ( I gotta learn how to do that one day)

    Onebadboob. It looks like your seam is twisted. I think that the seam should run straight up and end it under the armpit unless someone told you to wear it like that.  

    I put my combi on with a sticky like silicon sheet( came with it) lay the sheet on a bar height counter and it goes on so smooth and easy.

    I have the thin material glove too that matches the combi but my MLD girl says that it doesn't have much compression. The compression in the glove is about the same as the Farrow glove and it is trimable.

    When I put the combi/glove  on at 5,000 ft at yellowstone park 2 summers ago I had to take it off after a half hour. It started to constrict and make my arm very achey. I feel that it had way too much compression at that altitude that I am not use to. But when I put it on at home  at near sea level I am fine with the compression. So for myself I wouldn't be able to fly in it. Drats anyway.

    Allison/ Jeniifer, It is not a night garment, DAY ONLY EVER. It has too much compression for that.  Night garments are different. You will have to wait for the experts to fill you in on this as I don't have the experience of wearing a night garment. I don't have a outer jacket to go over the sleeve either.

    Botty, Yes it would be hot in the summer. You could inquire to see if you could put this particular brand of sleeve in the freezer for a couple hours before putting it on.

    Carol, Yeah, You could possibly type in it and play piano. I will try it on in a couple days and give it the typing test drive just for you to make double sure! :)

    When you take off the combi you are left with fairly deep trackmarks that mimic your lymphflow so you know it is moving the fluid in the right pathway. My tracks disappear after about a hour. I hope that is OK. 

    CONS:My main problem is that it wants to slip down a bit and bunch up at the elbow then I get irritated inner elbows so I have to jack it up every half hour. It could be that it may be a bit long for me even though it is a short size. I probably would wear it at home daily if it didn't slip so much.

    You put it in the washer and dryer. Yeah! No hand washing. 

    The compression on the top of the hand is good and if you need more in the palm they have a V shaped palm pit which is nice and affordable. I have a palm pit just incase I get a nasty handflare or need it in an emergency. You could use the palm pit underneath a wrap to fill in any gaps in the palm. Check with your MLD girl first before you try the wrap with the pit as I have never done it. 

    I attended a self care seminar at the Northwest lymphedema center in Seattle (by donation and anyone with LE can go but they interview you over the phone to see if you are a good canidate to attend, got to bring a support person too.) a couple Autumns ago and in the back of the center there was the small Jovi factory. We got to see some of the products and patterns they made. In fact.... my dream is to go there one day and have them personally measure me for a garment. Not sure if they would want a fitter to do it though instead of them. Just thinking out loud here. They are a 2-3 hour drive from where I live.  The Jovi products indeed are very slimline but then I haven't seen any other types of these sleeves in real life. 

    Hope this helps

    We should have a thread where we post how our off shelf sleeve fits with our arm measurements and that way we can see from peoples experience which sleeve fits the best. I am so sick of trial and error and then having the sleeves sit unused due to bad fit.

    For instance my wrist is 15 1/2 cm, Forearm is 24 cm and upperarm is 32 1/2 cm. This makes me fit a short max combi. Of course you would need to be precise such as my wrist measurement is right on wrist crease  just below the  jutting wristbone. Thinking out loud again!

  • BeckySharp
    BeckySharp Member Posts: 935
    edited October 2012

    Jovipak has a video showing JoAnn Rovig playing the piano easily with the day sleeve on.

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2012

    Can those with swelling in the hand use this? My problem is the palm more than fingers, and I have to wear a glove vs. gauntlet. My current issue with my custom day sleeve and glove is that I have small wrists and wide hands. The overlap of sleeve and glove at the wrist does not make my palm happy. I recently tried reversing and put edge of sleeve over glove vs under and that seemed to help. Maybe I should try stretching the edge of sleeve and glove so they aren't quite as tight. I really wish I could have a one piece custom hand/glove that went just to my elbow. Anyway, I am getting off track here, but seeing your one piece garment makes me wish I had something like my night sleeve-glove combo for day, as I think it really works well since there is no doubling of the fabric at the wrist. I also think it works well because the channeled foam is a little more forgiving as far as pressure, and I am compression sensitive. OBB and Hugz, it sounds like this may be a little more fitted than the night garment?

  • OneBadBoob
    OneBadBoob Member Posts: 1,386
    edited October 2012

    Hi guys

    Sorry it took me so long to get back but I have been doing some research before I answered questions on the combi sleeve and speaking to Joanne's daughter at Jovi.

    First in response to everyone's posts:

    Jennifer:  the combi sleeve has compression of approximately 31 mmhg which is too much for most people at night.  But, for those who need this much compression it can be used as a night garment which does not need a jacket to achieve this compression.  Only your therapist can decide if this is too much compression for you at night.

    Allison--I spoke with the folks at Solaris and they said the Tribute sleeve was 20-30 mmhg without the jacket, and 30-40 with the jacket, which is actually quite similar to the combi sleeve without a jacket.

    Carol I have typed in it with no problems at all.  Fingers are very free which is great unless you need finger compression.  Then you would need a glove under it.

    Botty-it is much ligher than a Tribute or the regular Jovi sleeve.  I cannot tell yet if its hot because our furnace died and it will be another week before the new one is installed and working, so I have been pretty cold all the time!

    Hugz4u-you are right it was twisted.  I was trying to get a decent picture using my IPad and turning my arm in different direction.  It should have been straight.  But the channeling on my combi is not straight-it is curved.  The sticky sheet is dycem (sp?) and indeed in helps in donning the sleeve.  I don't have the matching glove since I don't have a finger swelling problem.

    Indeed it has a lot of compression which is why for most people it is too compressive for a night garments.  I personally need the compression since I tend to develop fibrosis, so with the blessing of my therapist I have used it as a night garment.  Sounds like the "road maps" are just as they should be.

    My combi does not slip down at all.  As I said, I really lucked out with the fit.  No inner elbow problems or slipping.

    Tina, I think with hand swelling you would need something in addition to the combi to take are of the fingers.  It does a good job on both the palm and the outer top of your hand.

    It looks more fitted Tina because it is thinner and lighter than the usual night garments.

    I have been researching various night garments and their compression levels, and I think I will start a new post regarding that.

  • carol57
    carol57 Member Posts: 3,567
    edited October 2012

    OneBadBoob, thank you for all this amazing and generous research you've done!

  • SleeveNinja
    SleeveNinja Member Posts: 178
    edited October 2012

    One of the things I very much appreciate about Jovi is that they offer a generous assortment of read-made sizes (ie. more than 3!) I found an excellent fit.

    I like lots of compression. Combi definitely feels more compressive to me than my tribute (which i always wear with OJ.) It is a little intense at elbow crease and I wouldn't sleep in it for that reason. It's not as bulky as tribute - but it's just as hot.

    Combi has to be turned inside out for washing (for the dryer -- outside fabric can't be heated) I was afraid turning it inside out would stretch it out. Has any one washed/ dried theirs?

  • kira66715
    kira66715 Member Posts: 4,681
    edited October 2012

    Jane, Check out the biacare products as well: there are a bunch of them on brightlifedirect, and they vary from 10-15 mm to 30 mm

    http://www.brightlifedirect.com/LYMPHEDEMA-PRODUCTS-BiaCare/c133_483/index.html

    I know Caresia is meant to be bandaged over, so I don't see that it has a compression level: I never understand how Solaris can sew such a nice Caresia glove, but do the "pancake" routine for their tribute hand piece. I've mentioned it again and again: I do have an opposible thumb, and my hand is not two dimensional....

    When I took my CLT course, I got a Caresia small arm sleeve, and I've always meant to try it at night with a finger wrap and bandages over it, but haven't done so yet.

    Thanks for all the work

  • OneBadBoob
    OneBadBoob Member Posts: 1,386
    edited October 2012

    Kira, I love the Caresia products, especially the gloves.  When I injured my hand a while back, I wore the Caresia gloves and wrapped over them and it was great.

    When I am not flying and my LE is under great control, I can wear my small Caresia sleeves with a BiaCare 10 mmHg compresssion over sleeve and do fine.

    Everything is so darn adjustable depending on the moon, the stars, etc.  Who knows?

    I guess observing and listening to your body is the best bet as to how much compression you needs or don't need at any particular time.

  • hugz4u
    hugz4u Member Posts: 2,781
    edited October 2012

    OBB, Thank you so much for your hard work researching. I was surprized that with a therapist OK you could wear combi at night. That's great news for those that need this kind of compression because that combi is slimline and not so bulky which makes wearing it a relief. I am happy to hear your sleeve doesn't slip which means mine is not a perfect fit. I wonder if I could use the no slip glue to keep it up on that particular material?

    Sleeveninja, I do washing machine for my combi inside out and dry the combi in the dryer that way. Maybe washing it and drying it inside out is stretching it around my elbow and then that is why it is slipping. Who knows for sure?Undecided I know you are not to hang dry it or the foam would take days to dry and maybe it would start a bacteria/mold problem.  

    I am really enjoying the feedback on all the products we are using. 

  • Jennifer1295
    Jennifer1295 Member Posts: 244
    edited October 2012

    So now I am really interested in this sleeve or other options. I have decided to go back to PT and be re-evaluated, refresh my knowledge and start being more attenitive to my arm's (or maybe arms) needs. So I am going to be gathering alternative options to my previous sleeves and new options. I want proper measurements and well fitting garmets that do what they are supposed to do. I talked to dh and will talk to my insurance company to see how things work. Most likely I will have to submit my own claims but if it works it is well worth it. Thank you everyone for posting about the various options.

  • Jennifer1295
    Jennifer1295 Member Posts: 244
    edited October 2012

    Just wanted to add. I wash my tribute inside out, dry it for one cycle then turn it right side out and then dry it for another cycle. This works w/o stretching it out. We have ceiling fans in all of our rooms so sometimes I will do the first dryer cycle and then turn the sleeve right side our and hang it from the ceiling fan. Since the inner foam is dried and the sleeve is not heavy from being wet it takes about another hour or so to have the out side finish drying. I get a nice snug comfy sleeve both ways. It all depends on time or how much laundry I have to do. I never dry my day sleeves. I either hang them on the ceiling fan or a wood drying rack in my laundry room and let them dry over night.

    A word of caution about the adhesive to help hold sleeves up. I did this at the advise of a fitter one time. I personally had a reaction to the adhesive that caused a break in my skin which resulted in cellulitis. So please proceed with caution with any skin adhesives you use. Mine was sold for use on the skin with prosethsis and such from the fitter.

  • hugz4u
    hugz4u Member Posts: 2,781
    edited October 2012

    Jennifer, I am picturing your sleeves hanging off the fan. Now to complete the picture do you put the fan on. :) Speaking of goofy places I hang mine off my towel rack as the towels have been usurped by the sleeves :). I have given up completely on decorating the bathroom now that sleeves occupy this space!



    Carol, I typed and played my piano today with the combi and it's glove. No problems!

  • Jennifer1295
    Jennifer1295 Member Posts: 244
    edited October 2012

    Hugz, those ceiling fans are on most days - hot flashes have decided to flare :) But in reality yes the fans are on. I have these plastic clothes pins that I clip to the pull chains- lol. Real lovely decor indeed.



    Now my short stretch bandages I roll and then fling them over an interior door so they air dry.

  • Jennifer1295
    Jennifer1295 Member Posts: 244
    edited October 2012

    Another question about the sleeve. I like that the sleeve goes all the way up. Is it irritating? I am headed back to PT and think this would be a good addition to my short stretch wraps.

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