The Wheelchair Guide

What are Power Chairs?

The wheelchair is easily one of the most important medical devices of all time and its roots can be traced back thousands of years. Today, more and more people are using electric wheelchairs.

Electric wheelchairs were first developed in the nineteen-fifties when an electric motor was added to a manual wheelchair. They quickly became popular because a manual wheelchair requires a great deal of physical effort to use and a lot of upper body strength, making them impossible to use for many who are mobility challenged. An electric wheelchair, on the other hand, can be moved by only lifting a finger and there are a number of alternate wheelchair control systems available as well, such as a system that allows the wheelchair to be controlled by the breath of the user.

There are many manufacturers of electric wheelchairs, but two of the most well known are Golden Technologies and Pride Mobility. Both of these companies offer a wide assortment of home medical equipment, including a number of different electric wheelchairs. There are of course many other manufacturers, including ShopRider, so it is a good idea to explore all of your options when shopping for an electric wheelchair.

While there are many different models of electric wheelchairs available, they can typically be classified as either rear-wheel drive, mid-wheel drive, or travel wheelchairs.

Rear-wheel drive wheelchairs are propelled by their rear wheel and the weight of the user is evenly distributed across the electric wheelchairs base. Mid-wheel drive wheelchairs feature three rows of wheels, with the row in the middle being responsible for moving the wheelchair. A mid-wheel drive wheelchair is much more maneuverable than a Rear-wheel drive wheelchair, but the weight is not as evenly distributed, so it does not provide as stable of a platform. For most, the difference is negligible, but in some outdoor situations and for those who require a higher weight capacity, the rear-wheel drive wheelchair might be the best choice.

Travel wheelchairs come in several different designs, but are lighter and easier to transport than other electric wheelchairs. Some are designed so that they can be taken apart into easy to manage pieces and others share a design similar to a steel tubed manual wheelchair, allowing them to be folded up when not in use. They typically have a shorter range and fewer features, but can usually be transported without requiring a vehicle wheelchair lift, which would typically be required to transport non-travel wheelchairs.

For millions of people across the globe, the electric wheelchair allows for increased mobility and accessibility, allowing them to effortlessly move around.