Lightweight comfortable shoes and thin socks…. In my opinion this is a bit of advice which is usually overlooked by people paralyzed in wheelchairs. Any paraplegic or quadriplegic who has limited muscle strength in their legs also has limited movement in their legs. The result is always poor blood circulation throughout the lower extremities, which causes dull achy pain in the legs as well as swelling.
Read more ...Since starting HowiRoll.com I’ve been reunited with a couple old friends whom I haven’t spoke to in years. One of my old buds suggested a useful tip for anyone in a wheelchair who transfers using a “transfer board”. The more I thought about his tip the more it made sense…. Lotion.
Read more ...Being able to smoothly transfer from wheelchair to car is important if looking to live an independent life. The entire process should become the “norm”, not something you dread having to do each and every day of your life. Your spinal cord injury level may in fact play an ultimate role in how easy this process is for you, maybe it won’t.
Read more ...More often than not I see people disabled in manual wheelchairs who have their wheelchair measurements set-up all wrong. Sometimes their wheelchair is much too wide for their body structure. Sometimes they don’t have the back axle centered correctly for optimal balance given their size, weight, and disability level. Or, sometimes they could simply be in a more active type/style of custom manual wheelchair. Of all the wheelchair measurement mistakes I see, there is one that absolutely stands out the most. It bothers me to no end seeing a wheelchair’s back wheels higher than waist-level of the person sitting in it. What these people don’t understand is the higher those back wheels go the higher they’ll have to reach with each push. Also, the higher you reach to grab the wheel rail the more your triceps will be stretched, making each push more difficult.
I suggest you keep the highest point of your back wheels within 2 inches of your waist-line for optimal pushing efficiency.
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For a person living in a wheelchair, transferring to and from the chair is a daily necessity, and usually a daily hassle. Here is a useful tip to make some of your transfers a little easier.
Lets say you’re out with the family and want to transfer to the ground, for whatever reason. Maybe you’re at a park and want to get down on the ground to play with your 3-year-old son in the dirt. Or, maybe you want to sit in the grass with your husband and relax. Just yesterday I had to hop onto the ground to get a scorpion out of my shoe….. Ok, that’s a lie, I’m just saying, anything can happen on any given day… Take a quick look around before choosing the transfer location if you’re in a situation where hopping out of your wheelchair is a necessity. There’s a good chance you could incorporate a random object into the transfer. Anything higher than ground level can be used for help as long as it’s sturdy (ie: stairs/steps, public bench, large boulder/rock, edge of bed, old tree stump, car bumper). Even a street curb is higher than ground level, so be resourceful! The slightest difference in height will help tremendously when hopping (yes, hopping) out of your wheelchair. (see video)
The easier you make it on your muscles, the more likely you are to transfer functionally in everyday living. Eventually, with time and practice, the term “wheelchair transfer” will begin to feel more like “hop in the ground for a quick second”.
