A wheelchair is a walking substitute for the elderly and disabled people who have mobility impairments in their lower limbs. Choosing a handy wheelchair can play a crucial role in improving the quality of life for the elderly and disabled, helping them return to their families and participate in social activities. However, there are many types of wheelchairs on the market for the elderly and disabled, often leaving buyers at a loss. Below is a brief introduction on how to choose a wheelchair.
I. Structure of the Wheelchair:
An ordinary wheelchair mainly consists of a wheelchair frame, wheels, brakes, seat cushion, and backrest. The functions of each main component of the wheelchair are briefly described below.
1. Wheelchair Frame: Most wheelchair frames are made from thin-walled steel pipes, with surfaces chrome-plated, baked-painted, or spray-painted. High-end wheelchair frames use alloy materials to reduce the weight of the wheelchair.
Wheelchair frames come in fixed and foldable types. Fixed frames have a simple structure and good strength and rigidity; while foldable frames take up less space when folded, making them easy to carry.
The armrests on both sides of the wheelchair come in fixed and detachable types. Detachable ones make it convenient for users to transfer between the wheelchair, bed, toilet, sofa, chair, car, etc.
Footrests also come in fixed and detachable types.
2. Wheels: A wheelchair has four wheels, with a pair of small front wheels that can rotate freely. Small wheels come in various diameters such as 12cm, 15cm, 18cm, and 20cm. Larger diameter small wheels are easier to overcome small obstacles, but too large a diameter increases the overall size of the wheelchair, making it inconvenient to move.
There is a pair of large rear wheels, which bear the main weight of the human body. The diameters of the large wheels include 51cm, 56cm, 61cm, and 66cm.
Each large wheel generally has a hand-driven rim on both sides, allowing users to propel the wheelchair forward, backward, or turn by driving the rims with their hands. To make it easier to drive, rubber or cloth strips can be wrapped around the surface of the hand rims to increase friction.
Tires come in three types: solid, inflatable inner tubes, and tubeless inflatable. Solid tires are easy to push on flat ground, move faster, and are less likely to burst, but they produce more vibrations on uneven roads. Compared to solid tires, wheelchairs with inflatable inner tubes have the advantage of less vibration, but greater friction with the road surface, requiring regular inflation, and needing repair if punctured by sharp objects. Tubeless inflatable wheelchairs do not puncture easily because they lack an inner tube, yet they still provide comfort due to internal inflation. In reality, except for a few cases where the usage environment requires solid tires, most consumers prefer inflatable tires.
3. Braking System: Each large wheel on the wheelchair has a braking system, usually operated by a hand lever, serving as a parking brake.
4. Seat Cushion and Backrest: The material used is generally artificial leather, nylon Oxford fabric, etc. The length and width dimensions of the seat should consider the user's body type. The internal material of the seat cushion mostly uses multi-layer foam plastic, with a thickness preferably over 10cm, providing a soft and comfortable feel for the user. Because paraplegic or hemiplegic patients sitting in wheelchairs exert great pressure on the ischial tuberosities, leading to ischemia and forming pressure ulcers easily. To avoid pressure ulcers, it's best to use an anti-pressure ulcer cushion. This cushion is composed of numerous hollow plastic columns shaped like nipples, each column being soft and easy to move. When the patient sits down, the pressured area turns into multiple pressure points, and when the patient slightly moves, the pressure points change with the movement of the nipples, thus continuously changing the pressure points and effectively preventing long-term pressure on the same area from causing ulcers.
Backrests come in different heights and tilting options. If the patient has good balance and control over their trunk, a low backrest wheelchair can be selected, giving the patient more freedom of movement. Conversely, a high backrest wheelchair should be chosen.