If you have only recently started to need a wheelchair, you may be finding it difficult to adapt your lifestyle to this significant change. Fortunately, you are not alone. Here are a few tips to ease this transition and make the necessary adjustments to your life that will accommodate a wheelchair.
Know What You Need in a Wheelchair
Two different wheelchair users will have two completely different sets of criteria for their wheelchair. What you need from your wheelchair may be nothing like what someone else needs from theirs. Since there are plenty of wheelchairs on the market with unique features and advantages, knowing what you need is the best place to start. Think about your routine and what you need your wheelchair for. How do you want to control it? Where will it need to go?
Use Other Mobility Aids
Just because you now use a wheelchair doesn’t mean it has to be the only mobility aid you use. Sometimes, you might find yourself in need of a different type of mobility aid, such as a walking stick or a mobility scooter. Make sure you are also prepared for these additional aids, such as by finding mobility scooter batteries for sale online. Perhaps you only need your wheelchair on specific occasions or maybe you prefer using a walking frame for certain tasks. Alternative mobility aids can help you stay in control of your routine as a wheelchair user.
Improve Your Home
There are changes you can make to your home that will significantly improve it for your wheelchair. Installing ramps, widening doorways, and lowering countertops are just a few examples of home adjustments that make a space more accessible to people who use wheelchairs.
Stay Fit
Being a new wheelchair user can be tough on the mind and the body. To help protect both, keeping fit and active is essential. There are exercises you can do regardless of your mobility level, so find out what these are and set up a fitness regime to match your abilities. If you are struggling to come up with suitable exercises, ask your doctor for their suggestions.
Give Yourself Time to Adjust
Any kind of important life change comes with an adjustment period, and learning to use a wheelchair is no exception. Expecting to be confident and comfortable in your new lifestyle as a wheelchair user is unrealistic and bound to disappoint you, but if you allow yourself time to grow accustomed to the changes, then you will adapt better. Try not to rush yourself ahead of your natural pace.
Some people adapt extremely quickly to life as a wheelchair user, while others need more time to get used to it. There are many changes in your routine that will make using a wheelchair easier, but you aren’t expected to know what these changes should be immediately. As you continue with your life, you will notice the small ways in which you must adjust your lifestyle to accommodate your wheelchair, but hopefully, the above guide has helped you identify the main points to give you a head start.
