Patent Application
20120172780
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical appliances and support devices for the male scrotum for patients having ailments or medical conditions causing the scrotum to become swollen and painful. The support device is intended to relieve pain and discomfort.
2. Description of the Related Art
Diseases such as penile cancer, testicular cancer, or the like and medical conditions resulting from a vasectomy, penectomy, or similar surgery can cause the male scrotum to swell or enlarge to an abnormal size. Further, conditions such as orchitis, epidyditmis, hydrocele, liver failure, and others may cause the scrotum to swell or enlarge to an abnormal size and resultant heaviness. An enlarged or swollen scrotum is usually very painful and can render such simple activities as walking, sitting, or standing unbearable. Moreover, the edematous scrotum may distress surrounding tissues and structures, which may lead to further damage. Although there are many devices for supporting the scrotum, none are entirely satisfactory for relieving the pain and discomfort since none transfer the weight of the scrotum to the shoulders where an enormous bulk of musculature is located.
Thus, a scrotal support garment solving the aforementioned problems is desired and necessary.
The scrotal support garment includes a fabric material that forms a cup to support a wearer's scrotal sack and contents thereof. The cup may imperforate or have at least one opening for catheter and/or drainage tube access and patient cleaning. The opening in the cup may take the form of a flap opening or may be one or more apertures. An elongated thong extends from the lower end of the cup and may be made from the same or different fabric than the cup. The thong is preferably made of a more elastic fabric. The cup has a wide upper end that tapers to a narrow lower end. The top and sides of the cup may also be hemmed with elastic under tension in order to form a full cup that envelopes the swollen scrotum. The elongated thong may be integral with or separately attached to the lower end of the cup. In one embodiment, the thong bifurcates to form left and right shoulder straps that are unitary members extending to opposite sides of the upper end of the cup. In another embodiment, the thong is attached (e.g. sewn) to separate left and right shoulder straps In a further embodiment, the thong bifurcates to form a first portion of left and right shoulder straps. Elongated second portions of the left and right shoulder straps extend from opposite sides of the cup. The first and second portions are joined by a strap adjuster or releasable fasteners, such as buckles, so that the length of the shoulder straps is adjustable. In all the embodiments, the straps may be formed of the same fabric as the thong or be made from a more elastic material. The garment may be made in numerous sizes because of the plethora of conditions and degrees of edema.
These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.
The scrotal support garment, as shown in
As shown in
Referring now to
The thong 430 is elongated to form a single strap to extend up the user's back and bifurcates proximate and preferably above the small of the user's back to form relatively wide left and right over-the-shoulder straps 417 and front straps 415 joined by a shoulder adjuster mechanism for adjusting the length of the straps. In particular, each over-the-shoulder strap 417 is threaded under a lower post, over a center post, and under an upper post of dual ring adjustment retainer 419b. A bottom portion of the upper and lower posts of the dual ring adjustment retainer 419b may have teeth-like protrusions that frictionally assist in retaining an adjustment position of the over-the shoulder straps 417. Each over-the-shoulder strap 417 extends to loop around the upper post of a single ring adjustment retainer 419a, doubling back and being looped around the center post of the dual ring adjustment retainer 419b, where the loop is sewn in place to securely attach the end of the strap 417 to the center post. Relatively wide left and right frontal straps 415 extend from opposite sides of the cup's upper end, each frontal strap 415 looping around the lower post of the respective single ring adjustment retainer 419a, where the respective loop is sewn in place to securely attach the strap 415 to the lower post of the respective single ring adjustment retainer 419a. This arrangement permits adjustment of the height of the cup 420a by paying out or taking in the over-the-shoulder straps 417 at the dual ring adjustment retainer 419b. The straps 415, 417 may be made from elastic material, while the thong 430 may be made from a less elastic material. An optional diamond-shaped reinforcement 425 is stitched to the junction at which the shoulder straps 417 bifurcate from the thong 430. Instead of the diamond-shaped reinforcement, the elastic straps may cross and overlap each other, and be sewn together and then attached to the thong 430. The shoulder straps 417 may be lined with a padding material or gel 400 to facilitate shoulder comfort of the wearer. It is further seen that the thong 430 may or may not be the same material as the elastic straps 415,417 or cup 420a.
As most clearly shown in
The peripheral edges of the cup 420a preferably have an elastic band 424 hemmed about the periphery of the cup 420a. Preferably, the elastic is placed under tension when it is hemmed into the garment thereby giving the cup more capacity for the scrotum. The hemmed elastic band 424 provides sufficient elasticity to the cup without the cup per se being highly elastic.
The garment straps 415 and 417 are wide (featuring an elongated width) and strong to better support the heavy edematous scrotum, and to minimize the pressure on the shoulder from the weight of the scrotum. The shoulder cushions or gel pads 400 may also be removable or provided in a kit as optional attachments to further minimize the stress on the shoulders for garments larger than 2-extra large, or if requested.
Because some patients are allergic to latex, the fabric is preferably latex-free. For hygienic reasons, and for those who perspire excessively or have leaking/seeping wounds or lymphedema, and to minimize the irritation caused by urinary leakage, the fabric is preferably breathable and quick drying. Therefore, the garment 410 is preferably made with a thick Lycra® (Lycra is a trademark of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company referring to spandex) that is stronger and thicker than regular spandex and offers less stretch than regular spandex to provide more support. The preferable Spandex®/polyester blend is approximately 87% polyester or Nylon®, the balance being Spandex®. Preferably, the density count of the fabric is 36 and the yarn count is 40D. The fabric is weft knitted.
It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part of my prior U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/071,878, filed Feb. 27, 2008.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12071878 | Feb 2008 | US |
| Child | 13418195 | US |
