Long Term Effects of Wheelchair Use | With Detailed Guide

If you looking for the long term effects of wheelchair use then you are right. In this article, you will know everything about wheelchair effects, which could be good or bad. This is why you should know it.

Throughout wheelchair history, it has been used to give people fulfill the dream of independence. But that independence comes with a price and that is the long-term effects of wheelchair use.

The wheelchair effects usually happen for long uses of a wheelchair. Well if you have a certain condition that you can’t get out of the wheelchair then it’s fine but other than that you should not spend all of your days sitting in a wheelchair. This will affect your overall body badly from which, sometimes unable to recover.

Not all of the effects are bad and some of them are given the user opportunity to move freely. Down below in the article I provide some of the basic good and bad effects of a wheelchair that it has on your body for use for a long time.

Long Term Effects of Wheelchair Use

Does being in a wheelchair shorten your life? Well No the life expectancy of someone in a wheelchair doesn’t affect by the wheelchair but it can effect by the disease that he/she has.

A wheelchair is a piece of furniture that is only been used or people rely on it whenever they face some sort of mobility issue.

This issue can be temporary or sometimes permanent. The benefits of wheelchairs have an effect on its user by being used for a long time. These effects can be both good and bad.

Some of the basic effects both good and bad are defined properly. So check it out for further details.

Independence:

Find it difficult to walk, need someone to hold your hand when you walk, or don’t have proper balance walking independently, which is why you fear that you might fall during your walk.

Other than that you are isolated from friends because of your condition or have feelings you might then there is only one obvious solution for you which is a wheelchair. A wheelchair can give you the independence that you need and require.

This is obvious because independence is the right of everyone. Since most people who have mobility issues don’t move or have independence, then they need a wheelchair for that.

Giving you the independence of mobility actually improve not your physical health but also your mental health.

When you use a wheelchair actively means physically then affects your health. The independence gives you physical activity and that activity reduces the risk of osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, including different cancers, etc.

Besides that, a wheelchair user doesn’t become Burdon on anyone. He/she can do his own work by himself unless he/she is elder then they would need a wheelchair caregiver.

Health:

A wheelchair comes when there is no hope for you and it became your only hope. A wheelchair functions in a way that improves not your physical health but also your mental health and that is mental health which is more important than physical health.

The topic of improving health will only affect you when the wheelchair fits you properly and give you the required comfort that you need.

By comfort, I mean proper cushion on seats, which saves you from a bad posture that leads to pressure sores and a lot of things like it.

Your health will also be good when you end up with a wheelchair that maneuvers easily and smoothly. So you also need to keep track of it.

Quality of Life:

Getting basic quality of life is the right of every human being, no matter if they are normal or disabled. Quality of life means getting opportunities for health and education, employment, and access to participation in different activities.

Sometimes you may be limited from these life qualities because of your physical activities but in long run, a wheelchair will improve these factors and increase your chance of getting quality of life.

Negative Effects of Being in a Wheelchair:

A wheelchair is one of the best devices that you rely on when you have a disability and by disability, I mean that they face difficulty while walking.

Using a wheelchair for a long time has a really big impact on your life and some of them are good while most of them are negative.

Some of that effects can be dangerous if you don’t take them seriously. But keep in mind that most of them happen with the over usage of a wheelchair, which means using a wheelchair all day long.

Slow blood Circulation:

One of the most effective things affect by a wheelchair is effective blood circulation. This can be effective as soon as you start using a wheelchair. In fact, it starts when you set in a wheelchair for more than 8 to 9 hours a day.

It will not only reduce blood circulation but also affect other body fluids associated with it. All of those fluids are related to one another. You also need to know that it is not the reason for wheelchair use but excessive wheelchair use.

Getting Strains on Wrist and Hands:

One of the main problems that happen to manual wheelchair users is that their hands and wrist get tired because of moving all day. The strain is because they have to propel themselves all day long.

The stain will happen to your hand no matter what you do. there are two ways to get yourself off these strains get yourself a wheelchair caregiver or get an electric long term wheelchair that moves with just a push of a button.

Weakening of Muscles:

Normally when people get tired of some work then they stand up and walk or run but here the scenario is different.

When the wheelchair user gets tired of doing some work or just being tired of sitting all day, he can’t stand up so his muscles don’t do anything with your muscles, especially your abdominal muscles.

This will weaken your overall muscle because for muscles to operate properly need proper engagement like exercise or movement.

Most of the muscle that becomes weakened is in the abdominal muscle and that is because only that muscle has a lack of usage.

Your other muscles will also become weakened when you use an assistant for a wheelchair or should go with a power wheelchair.

Setting for too long can cause atrophy to your muscle which may also lead to getting fat around your body. That’s why you need to exercise for weight loss.

Pressure Sores and Ulcers:

A major problem that can cause by setting in a chair or wheelchair or some other thing for a long time is pressure sores and ulcers.

While in a wheelchair whenever you setting in a certain position that some areas of your body get touched to some place of the wheelchair regularly. This causes the skin to itching and if doesn’t treat on time then it might get worse.

That skin then gets infected if you don’t treat it sooner and properly. It may also lead to some other problems so it would be best to take care of it as soon as possible.

The solution for this problem is to use a wheelchair as minimum as possible and change position frequently. Other than that you can use a wheelchair cushion that makes it the best wheelchair for long-term use that also can prevent it from happening in the first place.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Conclusion:

A wheelchair is something that provides you independency and that is a good thing for all of those who have mobility issues. But it also has Long term effects of wheelchair use and is because of prolonged use of it.

Wheelchair use has really good and amazing effects on user life but not all of them are good. Some of them are bad even if they can harm your life.

If you have any questions about the article then let me know and I will get back to you as soon as possible. In the end, I just want to say that please keep your environment clean and protect nature because that is our only way of surviving.