By Aasra Editorial Team | India's First Adaptive Clothing Brand
Aasra has served thousands of patients and caregivers across India since 2020, providing adaptive clothing that makes dressing independent and dignified for people recovering from surgery, dealing with disability, or facing the challenges of old age.
Nearly all clothing is cut for a body that stands up. That assumption is invisible until you stop standing, at which point it shows up in a dozen small ways every day.
What changes when you sit all day
The back of the waistband drops and gaps. Trousers cut for standing sit lower at the back when seated, exposing skin and letting the waistband dig in across the lower back. Over a full day it is uncomfortable, and over months it is a pressure risk.
Fabric bunches under the thighs and seat. Every fold of fabric under a seated body is a point of concentrated pressure. This is the part that matters most, because a bunched seam under the ischial tuberosities is a genuine contributor to pressure sores, and pressure sores are the complication that puts wheelchair users in hospital.
Length is wrong. Trousers that are correct standing ride up considerably when the knee is bent at ninety degrees, leaving the ankle exposed. Longer trousers solve it but then drag when transferring.
Back pockets become an obstacle. A pocket with a seam, stud or bulky contents sits directly between the body and the cushion. Most experienced wheelchair users remove them or avoid them.
Getting dressed without standing
The core problem is that ordinary trousers assume you can stand to pull them over your hips. Dressing seated usually means a long sequence of leaning, lifting and shuffling, which is tiring, and for people with limited trunk control it can be unsafe.
Side-opening trousers remove the sequence entirely. Because they open along the full length of both sides, the garment can be laid across the lap or bed, the legs positioned onto it, and the sides closed from the outside. There is no pulling over the hips at all. The same design that helps someone dress after hip surgery works for someone who is not going to be standing up today or any day.
For hot weather, tearaway shorts work the same way with less fabric under the thighs, which is a real advantage in an Indian summer.
What to look for
- Flat or minimal seams at the seat and under the thighs. This is a skin-integrity issue, not a comfort preference.
- No back pockets, or pockets that can be removed.
- Side or full-length openings so the garment can be put on seated.
- Cotton. Sitting for long periods traps heat and moisture against the skin, and damp skin breaks down faster. Breathable fabric is part of pressure care.
- Loose through the seat and thigh, so the fabric is not pulled taut across weight-bearing areas.
Transfers
If you transfer independently, loose fabric around the seat and legs can catch on armrests, brakes and footplates. Avoid anything with hanging drawstrings, loose ties or wide leg openings. Adaptive clothing with velcro closures is useful here because velcro lies flat with nothing dangling.
For carers dressing someone else
If you are dressing a family member who uses a wheelchair full time, side-opening garments cut the process from a multi-person lift to something one person can manage. It also means far less repositioning, which reduces both your back strain and the shear forces on their skin.
For someone who spends part of the day in bed and part in a chair, the same garments work in both places, which saves a change.
A note on what does not yet exist
Seated-cut clothing, with a higher back rise and shorter front, is standard in some Western adaptive ranges and largely absent from the Indian market. We do not currently make it. If it is something you would use, tell us, because customer demand is how we decide what to develop next.
In the meantime, our adaptive lowers and the full adaptive clothing range include the side-opening designs that make seated dressing possible. Everything is 100% cotton with free shipping across India and cash on delivery. Custom sizes and modifications are made to order, so if you need a specific length or opening, message us on WhatsApp.