If you find yourself in need of a wheelchair, there are so many options for you! You can choose a regular wheel chair (that is, one that is powered by your own strength as you move the rear wheels forward) and there are electric wheelchairs which use batteries to power the wheel chair while you use a joystick or suck and blow a straw to move the chair.
What are the benefits and drawbacks of each of these wheelchairs?
The benefits of a manual wheelchair include being very lightweight and easy to pack in the trunk of your car. The advancements in the technology and materials used to make the wheelchair mean that you are able to go long distances with surprisingly little effort. How long distance? As long as your arms will take you! The drawbacks are not specifically related to the chair itself, but rather that it does require physical force to move the wheelchair. That means that you don't need to be a weightlifter to move the wheelchair but you do need some freedom of movement and upper body strength.
The benefits of an electric wheelchair include being able to move faster than a manual wheelchair and offering a slightly smoother ride (because the wheels are constantly powered rather than intermittently powered by your arms). Having the extra power is nice for when you've had a busy day and you're tired or you want to carry a few extra things (like groceries, for example). There are drawbacks to an electric wheelchair. Primarily it involves the distance you can travel on your battery. While still fairly far (depending on the battery...and sometimes you can get solar powered batteries to increase the distance) there is still a limited range. When the battery runs out, you'll have to turn to good old fashioned muscle power to get you home. Because of the battery power, you'll notice that electric wheelchairs will be a little pricier.
Which one you choose will all come down to what your tastes and needs are going to be. If you have a far distance to go each day or would prefer a lighter wheel chair, than choosing one of the manual powered wheelchairs is the option you want to take. If you have a shorter distance to travel, a lot to carry, or prefer not to wheel yourself around, then choosing electric wheelchairs will be your option.
Thanks to improved legislation and social awareness, accessibility for wheelchairs has increased recently in commercial, industrial, and government buildings. Wheelchairs have gotten so much better in recent years and now it's simply a matter of waiting for architecture to catch up.
Both give you great mobility and independence. As well, there are many accessories to make your life more convenient, including carrying containers (like mesh bags, wire baskets, and tubes for canes and umbrellas) so you can carry things with you or lightweight wheel spokes which make your chair even lighter. In fact, if you know other people in wheelchairs, you'll probably notice how they've made their wheel chair a personal expression of who they are.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.massagebyben.com/articles/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites 