When it comes to severe physical disability, lots of patients, even senior citizens would like to rely on a wheelchair.
The problem arises when you have to face an insidious threat: sitting all day.
It’s of no wonder to catch the thought, does being in a wheelchair shorten your life?
No doubt, the wheelchair will affect every single aspect of your life.
The undeniable truth about complications of being wheelchair-bound is only understood when you go for using one.
- 10 Most Common Side Effects of Being in a Wheelchair!
- Reduced Efficiency in Blood Circulation
- Atrophy for Abdominal Muscles
- Severe Strain on Hands and Wrists
- Painful Stress on Shoulder and Arms
- Joint and Contracture Problems
- Mental Depression and Illness
- Overweight Causing Obesity
- CFS, Diabetes, Flu and Heart Disease
- Ulcers or Pressure Sores
- Prone to Abuse and Violence
- Conclusion
10 Most Common Side Effects of Being in a Wheelchair!
Therefore, it is necessary to know about the side effects of wheelchair diagnosis.
Some are negatives and some may right down uglier for certain users.
In short, there are severe health issues over prolonged use of a wheelchair.
In most cases, the effects are related to one another and trigger a chain of effects to come out.
The followings are the most crucial ones that need our attention.
1. Reduced Efficiency in Blood Circulation
Effective blood circulation throughout the body all the time is of utmost importance which gets affected right here.
The adverse effect starts to take place over the blood flow when you keep sitting for more than eight hours a day.
Reduced efficiency of blood circulation initiates other problems associated with your body fluid.
The gradual worsening of the situation deprives the body cells of the required oxygen & necessary nutrients.
2. Atrophy for Abdominal Muscles
Human abs get engaged in motion & work when he/she stands up, walk, or runs.
But for a patient in a wheelchair, this movement of abs comes to a total halt.
Abs or abdominal muscles, therefore, require reasonable engagement in movement & exercise.
The surfeit of wheelchair assistance becomes a burden with the motionless abs.
Prolonged sitting may lead to severe atrophy for the muscles if the abs don’t work at all.
3. Severe Strain on Hands and Wrists
When you get yourself in a conventional wheelchair, the foremost problem you will face upon moving.
You have to use your hand strength to keep the wrist in contact with the wheel all the time to get the motion.
Unless you got unbelievable strength in your hand, pretty sure you will have to go through severe strain from the beginning.
But a modern powered wheelchair can be of great help in this regard.
4. Painful Stress on Shoulder and Arms
Speaking of moving the wheelchair, you have to give your strength & it gives a good press on the shoulder & arms.
We are talking about the conventional or manual wheelchair.
A good press will give you the move but raises the possibility to experience extreme stress over long hours of driving.
It leads to pain in the back which will give you enough trouble with your sitting.
5. Joint and Contracture Problems
Consistent sitting in the wheelchair will get you to maintain a more or less fixed posture.
With no movement of the bones, the joints of the body rest idly which later can cause serious problems even with general motion.
All joints & contracture need the least amount of movement every day.
In extreme cases, you can undergo partial & temporary paralysis in the long run.
6. Mental Depression and Illness
All-day sitting is not going to provide any good feeling even for the laziest person.
Using a wheelchair is still considered one poor liability which tends to trigger mental depression.
It gets worse when the patient is young & unable to enjoy the world like other youngsters.
Suffering from depression all the time, it is not unlikely that the patient can’t concentrate on daily activities & catches the physical illness.
7. Overweight Causing Obesity
With the lack of nutrients in the cells, burning the excess body fat becomes incredibly slow.
Therefore, fatty acids start to accumulate which can trigger various problems with particular organs.
Excessive sitting interferes with heart functionality & prevents the body to react properly.
Strictly speaking, the inactive muscles show no response to physical insulin.
Without reaction, a larger amount of hormone is released inside the body raising the chance of getting sick.
8. CFS, Diabetes, Flu, and Heart Disease
When it comes to sitting all day, your internal mechanism is going to lose its efficiency to a considerable extent.
The ability to fight off intruder infections gets significantly reduced which makes you prone to common diseases.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) & diabetes may occur over excess excretion of hormones.
The blood pumping efficiency of the heart gets reduced with the presence of fatty acid.
In the meantime, easy intrusion & reproduction allows flu-related infections.
9. Ulcers or Pressure Sores
A completely fixed position on the wheelchair gets some of your skin always in touch with the particular area.
This leads to a pressure sore or ulcer, especially where the bone is close to the skin.
You need to change the position once in a while to avoid getting infected with a life-threatening problem.
10. Prone to Abuse and Violence
Being violent, particularly with the able & well ones is an undeniably major issue to deal with over sitting in a wheelchair.
Disabled people become easy prey to abuse & violence, even for the near ones.
This may take place due to social or personal neglect, and extreme mental suffering.
Conclusion:
No doubt, getting in a wheelchair doesn’t seem as easy as it should be.
The problem begins with prolonged sitting which can even lead to death if you don’t take the right precautions.
You have to prepare yourself to confront & handle the side effects well enough.
Otherwise, the long-term effects of wheelchair use may give you independence but result in additional health problems.
At a time, you can neither enjoy your daily life nor make even the simplest move on your own.
