Our founder and inventor, Benita Quigley, started her work in the physical therapy world as an assistant in 1990. She began her career in a small outpatient pediatric clinic working with children. In those 10 years, she learned to be creative and find innovative ways to engage the patients she was working with. She was always curious, and determined to improve a process or product that was inefficient. Benita was particularly driven to improve products that were difficult for a patient to manipulate and utilize independently.

In 2006, the original idea for the Lo-Hi Sling came to life when her mother had carpal tunnel surgery. She was struggling with pain and swelling all while trying to comply with her Dr.’s recommendation to wear a sling. The sling, however, was the conventional sling still issued today and was causing her secondary pain in her neck and shoulder. Additionally, it did not offer sufficient support for her elbow and hand, and her hand was continually falling forward and out of the sling.  

In an effort to help her mom’s recovery, Benita made the very first Lo-Hi Sling.  “I am a novice on a sewing machine, but I found stretchy/swimsuit material, used an old belt double “D ring” closure so that the sling could be adjustable and started my first prototype,” says Benita. “My mom was able to elevate her hand which aided the swelling in her wrist and fingers.  She started placing her ice pack into the sling and was able to position it where she needed it most.  The best and most important outcome was that she was able to wear the sling for longer periods of time. Her arm was fully supported and she no longer had secondary neck pain.”

“I will never forget that first sling.  It was a bright orange material with yellow and baby blue daisies,” Benita comments about her original prototype.

From that first hand-made sling, to our patented Lo-Hi Sling the original goals of Benita’s have continued to drive our mission. With a new team of three, the Lo-Hi Medical Design team will always work to create products that offer more ease to patients, and allow them to be more independent in their recovery. The Lo-Hi Sling is the first of many products that will be developed to improve healing, eliminate secondary pain, and modernize the dated-products of today’s medical world.