A standing wheelchair works with the help of some additional attachments like hydraulic struts, multiple handles, chest straps, knee straps, and some additional brakes.
The standing wheelchair is basically built just like a regular wheelchair but is significantly heavier than a normal one. For example, the Leo Lloyd 2 standing wheelchair it’s about 50 pounds.
To know more about how exactly does standing wheelchairs work, keep reading this article.
You might also like: How to make a stair climbing wheelchair at home.
How Does The Standing Wheelchairs work?
The way a standing electric wheelchair works is with the help of two hydraulic struts underneath the chair and a cable mechanism that goes up to a handle and when you pull the handle the seat goes up.
Most of the standing manual wheelchairs require quite a bit of pressure therefore most of them are assisted. The struts attached to the wheelchair are strong enough that if you just pull the handle while it’s just sitting it can go up by itself.
A standing electric wheelchair mainly has two struts and two handles one on each side and if you pull them, it will allow that handle to come up your armrest and you can use the armrest to go up and down.
Standing wheelchairs fold-up kind of like a regular wheelchair, the wheels come off and the back folds down.
Most of the standing chair works properly because of a knee strap attached to it which is easily adjustable, which can be used easily for both bigger or smaller people.
The wheelchair also has two different slots that you can hook the knee straps into. Most people prefer using the top one, as it easily goes up above my knees or when you actually stand up it ends up right between your knees.
It also has a lower slot which is a little bit different for everybody.
The standing chair also comes in three different sizes, the smallest one is usually between 14-20 inches wide. You can also make a custom one as per your height with all the adjustments in the length of the footplate, angle of the footplate, and all.
Watch This Video To better understand how to use a manual standing wheelchair.
What Is a Standing Wheelchair for Quadriplegics?
A standing wheelchair for Quadriplegics is like any other standing wheelchair, the main role of all the standing wheelchairs is the same. Like a normal wheelchair, a standing chair for Quadriplegics is a motorized chair that is powered by batteries, having the motto of assisting the user with easy movement.
How can a paraplegic or quadriplegic stand with a wheelchair?
A person with disabilities can stand while in a wheelchair with the help of electric or manual standing chairs. They are usually custom-made as per the user’s body measurements like height and weight.
It has been quite some time since the invention of a chair that helps you stand up, the wheelchair-making companies are constantly improving the technology and mechanism as per the need of the users.
Benefits of Using A Standing Wheelchair
There are a lot of benefits of using a standing wheelchair:
- Increased perfusion throughout your lower extremities
- Increased flexibility
- Increased bone density
- Able to stretch the body from time to time
- Improved digestion
- Better flow of blood throughout the body
- Easy respiration
- Better mental health
Important Factors To Consider to choose the right standing wheelchair
Make sure you take an ample amount of time to measure your body measurement for a custom-made wheelchair when researching for the correct wheelchair.
Important measurements to keep in mind are:
- Turn radius
- Width of the whole wheelchair
- Length of the whole wheelchair
- Seat to floor measurement
- Seat depth
- Armrest height
- Backrest height
- Battery life
- Maximum speed
- Weight of the chair
- Ultimately the warranty from the company
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can a Standing Wheelchair be used for daily uses?
Thought a standing wheelchair is not the most practical thing in the world to use on a daily basis, like using it as a daily manual chair mainly because it’s heavy compared to a normal manual or electric wheelchair.
Who should use a standing wheelchair?
Standing wheelchairs are great for someone who wants to use it for the purpose like- being able to stand now and then, stretch the body and reach the top shelf for any emergency and many more things.
The Bottom Line
We hope that we are able to help you know exactly how does a standing wheelchair works, with this detailed guide. You also must have understood What Is a Standing Wheelchair for Quadriplegics? and the benefits/advantages of using a standing wheelchair.
Still, if you feel there is something we should have added in this post, feel free to comment below, we will try to update the post as soon as we can.
