Sitting in a wheelchair isn’t the most comfortable feeling in the world, especially for prolonged hours. However, some people suffer from medical conditions that require them to use a wheelchair for the entire day. With that, you can just imagine the discomfort they’re feeling every time they need to transfer from their bed to their chair.
While being in a wheelchair isn’t necessarily a treat, you need to ensure that you can allow for the most comfort they could get as they sit on it. Moreover, listed below are the ways on how you can make wheelchairs more comfortable:
- Add ROHO Cushion
Sitting for prolonged hours in a wheelchair can be very uncomfortable, especially for the buttocks since that’s where you place most of your body pressure. To allow for a relaxing day in a wheelchair, you should add a ROHO cushion to provide proper support and relief to the area.
Staying comfortable in a wheelchair for the whole day can be challenging, especially that the sole material doesn’t provide much cushion. With a ROHO cushion, you can guarantee that one won’t have any trouble with their buttocks and would feel comfortable all day long.
- Include Lumbar Support
Apart from the pressure on the buttocks as you sit in a wheelchair, prolonged use can cause pain in the lower back, which can be another call for back pain. Since most wheelchairs have a flat backrest, you should include lumbar support to ensure proper posture and comfort.
When sitting in a wheelchair for a long time, it might cause a person to slouch, affecting their posture. While it may appear to be more comfortable to slouch, it can cause more painful backaches, which you need to tend to since your back isn’t sitting where it’s supposed to be.
To promote proper posture, you should include lumbar support, which has a curved detail that perfectly fits the lower back. Some lumbar support also provides a cushion on the upper back for an overall benefit.
- Extend With Neck Rest
Sitting in a wheelchair for long hours can cause neck pain since you don’t have an area to place the back of your head on. While using a neck pillow can provide comfort, it might not be ideal, especially if it can hinder any medical condition you may have.
To allow your neck to have proper neck support, you should consider extending the backrest for your neck and head. However, this might require a custom touch since you need to ensure that the height inclines appropriately with the person using the wheelchair.
- Provide Arm Cushions
Arm cushions are present in a wheelchair to provide comfort and proper posture. After adjusting its height to the person’s body, you should add cushions for a comfortable day.
While the standard armrest can suffice its purpose, adding cushions can provide maximum comfort. This way, one’s arm doesn’t have to deal with any hard material, which can be uncomfortable, especially if they’re suffering from a medical condition.
- Adjust Height Of Foot Rest
It’s never comfortable to sit in a wheelchair while allowing the feet to sway freely. Apart from the possibility of hitting the wheels, it can make the person extremely uncomfortable.
As you decide to use the foot rest, you should ensure that you adjust its height accordingly. Ideally, your knees should be slightly higher than the hips for proper support. A low or high foot rest can damage the posture, causing pain to the person using the wheelchair.
- Reclining The Chair
Sitting in a wheelchair in a single posture can still cause discomfort, even with the numerous cushions. While it may be physically impossible for a person to stand up and move their body, they should look for other alternatives to be more comfortable.
One of the best ways for one to be comfortable as they sit on a wheelchair the whole day is to recline their back for a while. Ideally, you should only recline the backrest a few degrees, and the person should feel comfortable. However, it might require you to adjust its position every few minutes to hours for maximum support.
Moreover, if the person has the physical ability to move, doing seated exercises can help alleviate the pain.
- Provide Blankets Or Poncho
People who use wheelchairs for a long time can’t do many actionable movements, allowing them to feel cold quickly. To enable them to feel comfortable for the whole day, providing blankets or ponchos should help keep them warm all the time.
To maximize a person’s comfort, you could go for a fleece blanket or poncho to keep them warm while enjoying the soft texture on their skin. You could also opt to have a battery-powered heater for the colder season, and they should be at peace for the whole day.
Conclusion
While it may look seamless, sitting in a wheelchair for the entire day can be very uncomfortable since you can’t change your position more often as you should. With that, you need to ensure that you can provide maximum comfort all the time by adjusting everything to its proper height, along with adding cushions and heat. This way, one can just enjoy their view rather than focusing on the pain they’re having due to the stiffness of the chair.
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