Heavy Duty Wheelchairs
What separates the heavy duty wheel chair from a standard manual wheelchair? Simply put it is the construction and quality and durability of materials used. Although a standard manual wheelchair will get the job done if all you need to do is go to the store or roll into the other room. If you want to play sports or take a trail that is unpaved then the standard wheelchair will fall short.
A heavy duty wheelchair is made for such events and is exactly what you'll need to get the job done. A heavy duty wheelchair is designed with stronger materials, knobby or wide tires, a larger footprint, and on some models you'll even get shock absorbers.
A wheelchair like this is not for everyday use unless of course you are incredibly strong. There are lighter weight wheelchairs out there but they are not as stable which means your heavy duty wheelchair will be very heavy and more difficult to transport.
Keep this in mind when looking for a heavy duty wheelchair, they have their place and hopefully you can get to the place in your life where a chair like this will help to keep you active and health conscious!
Why Use a Transport Wheelchair
With all the different styles of wheelchair available you may ask yourself, why would anyone opt for a transport wheelchair? Let's look at the reason for being in a wheelchair in the first place. There are a number of different injuries or ailments that would require the assistance a wheelchair can provide. The mobility provided by a transport wheelchair is sometimes the best option available when the injury or ailment has affected motor skills in a way that prevents the patient from operating the wheelchair on their own.
Although some motorized wheelchairs have been developed in a way that even the slightest movement from the operator will set the wheelchair in motion there are those that don't have this luxury. Full paralysis, loss of limb, or mental deficiency's can be a limiting factor when choosing the right wheelchair for an individual. Under extreme cases like this, the transport wheelchair or a manual wheelchair substitute is the only available option.
There is also the matter of cost and convenience. With limited mobility skills and a limited budget the transport wheel chair my be the only option due to cost alone. Transport wheelchairs are one of the most inexpensive and widely available wheelchairs on the market.
In any case , the caregiver will have a much easier time of it with a lighter wheelchair to push. Motorized wheelchairs can be very heavy and if the patient isn't able to utilize the full capabilities of the chair then it is an unneeded burden on the caregiver.
For the most part transport wheelchairs are used only in very temporary circumstances such as leaving the hospital or moving from one room to another because the patient is too weak or in an incoherent state, but as mentioned above there are certain conditions that would put an individual into a transport wheelchair for the reasons of cost, limited mobility, or the lack of anything better available at the time.