United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum. I would love to know if anyone here has to wear a suit and tie to work and if so do you wear a sling? If not do you just let your arm hang?
How do you wear the sling (suit jacket in sling or suit jacket draped over arm)?
Any tips for buttoning the cuff of on your TBI arm?
Do you wear a clip on tie or just keep your ties tied and re-tighten them?
Any other tips or trick?

Luckily I don't have to wear a suit every day but on the days that I do I wear a shirt and tie with an arm sling and carry my suit jacket. I tried wearing a sling with a suit jacket on and it looked terrible and was very uncomfortable. I have someone else tie my ties and re-tighten them to wear them. I also just keep my TBI arm cuff unbuttoned. It looks sloppy, but oh well.
I will soon have to wear a suit every day and I'm considering the possibility of just letting my arm hang. It's more comfortable, but makes social interaction more complicated, like when I'm carrying something and someone wants to shake hands. At least when I wear a sling everyone knows my situation. Any input would be appreciated.Thanks

Hi Atmoinet,

I work in software too, and occasionally have to wear a suit when meeting clients. I basically let my arm just hang all the time, except when working out or cooking. I agree, it's a bit awkward when you want to shake hands, you're holding a briefcase, and the client wonders why you can't just switch the case to your other hand. After a while I just explain that I was in an accident, and they don't ask any more questions.

As for getting in a suit, I tie the ties myself, after watching this video:
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-tie-t ... ee-267297/

It's amazing, and after a lot of practice, I can tie a tie pretty well now. As for buttons, I get shirts where I can button the cuff of mt bad arm first, then squeeze my hand through. Getting it off is a bit harder, basically pulling the sleeve inside out. I haven't tried French cuffs yet.

I used to wear a sling all the time, and it's tough to wear a jacket + sling. So once the Mayo guys told me I didn't need to wear one, I stopped.

Hope this helps - you were injured way before me so I bet you have tricks that even I could use. For computing use, I got a 5 button mouse so I can do things like CTRL+click with one hand.

All the best,

MW

i have a device that offers some support to my arm. i can wear it underneath my shirt and it allows me to wear a suit jacket and tie. i had an orthotist put it together for me in the early 1970's.



Here i am with my grand daughter.



here i'm wearing it under my tee shirt( the cuff of the support is visible as it holds my left arm) while fly fishing for carp.

Hi MW and Bill de Brooklyn, thanks for replying.
MW thanks for the YouTube link. I've never tried to tie a tie with one hand, but after watching that video I'm going to work on it. I don't carry a brief case. I bought a nice leather laptop bag that has a shoulder strap. This allows me to carry the bag on my shoulder leaving my good hand free, it's also easy to open and grab something out of it while I'm walking.

I bought a Sandio mouse to use for work. It's overkill for what I need at work, but it works great for gaming too. It has three control sticks and multiple buttons so I can control everything with one hand. All of its inputs can be remapped.
http://www.sandiotech.com

An idea on how to do your button on your sleeve is to put velcro on the sleeve have the button look like it is buttoned all the time. This way you can do it by just pushing it against your body or use your teeth to undo it.

i TAUGHT MYSELF TO BUTTON AND UNBUTTON MY SHIRT SLEEVE WITH MY TEETH.

i wear a sling all the time my surgery didnt take and my arm got atophied so i just got it to where i can lift it to 90 degrees and that way i can sleep. only time i have it off is when i shower. no since in the arm just hangin there my subluxation is bad enough as it is. but that's just me.
daniel "s8n"

I can still get my hand through a buttoned cuff luckily. This also works for shirts that require cufflinks. Getting them off can be a pain and I sometimes have to take half the shirt off and step on it. Will probably end up damaging a shirt that way though.

I have figured out how to tie a tie one handed. I'll need to look at that video to see if my method is the same or not. Ties are one of my biggest pet-peeves since my accident. I will no longer even vote for a politician that can not tie a tie properly. If I can do it one handed they can certainly figure it out with two-hands + all the aids they employ. Anyway.....

As far as briefcases though... I'm still considered part of engineering so can get away with the geekiess of bags/backpacks. I'm currently sporting some bags from Booq. The point here is I always make sure the bag has a strap and can be worn over my shoulder. This way my hand is always free. When meeting new customers I'm super observant about either not having coffee at the first introductions or making sure I can get to the conference table and set it down before the handshaking starts. I've been caught off-guard a few times and then have to either do a two-finger shake or a fist pump. Not real elegant but can actually be a pretty good icebreaker when you apologize and let people know of your injury. That usually leads to discussions of motorcycles so it's a negative that can quickly be turned into positive if done right.

i used to wear slings but it got old so i let my arm hang but put my hand in my pocket so people tend to hand you things to your free hand. i button my sleeve with my teeth but lately have been buying shirts with a custom sleeve that i can slide into. you will find yourself customizing alot of things to suit your situation. ties are easy to do one handed but my advice is dont wear one- thats in style these days. aqlso i usually hold something- papers, a pen etc. so people dont try to hand me things.

I had custom slings made for my son. He has a 3 year old son so one of Seth's slings is Sponge Bob, one looks like a tuxedo, flames, boring black, cocktails, and fish. I also purchased crazy eye patches when he was dealing with severe double vision. Smiley face, Mickey Mouse, pirate, etc. We were given a bunch of lemons but have attempted to make lemonade with them. There is nothing wrong with a suit and a sling. Good luck to everyone.