Far from being a one-size-fits-all scenario, choosing the right size wheelchair for your needs can be the difference between one that’s comfortable and fit for purpose and one that just isn’t quite right. With a little time and consideration, you can find the right size wheelchair for your needs. You just need a tape measure and somewhere solid for the person who’ll be using the wheelchair to sit. If you’re measuring yourself for a wheelchair, you may need someone to help you. Read on for Complete Care Shop’s full wheelchair sizing guide.
Getting the right seat size for your wheelchair will have a major impact on overall comfort. If it’s not wide enough, the person using it may feel it pinch or squeeze at their sides and it could lead to pressure sores developing, especially if they’ll be using it a lot.
If the seat is too wide, it will make it more difficult to manoeuvre if it’s a self-propelled chair. Whether you're looking for a self-propelled or attendant-propelled wheelchair, our complete wheelchair size guide can help you choose the perfect size for ultimate comfort and usability.
Not sure how to get the correct width, depth and height of wheelchair for your needs? Here’s how:
It’s not quite as simple as taking those measurements and directly applying them to each wheelchair you look at. For example, if you were interested in purchasing the Economy Attendant-Propelled Wheelchair, the seat measurement is 450mm (18”). If your width measurement is also 450mm, then the chair isn’t really wide enough for you as, ideally, you’d need the wheelchair to be wider than your width measurement by at least 25mm for comfort. In this example, you’d want to consider a wheelchair like the Deluxe Folding Wheelchair instead, which has a seat width measurement of 480mm (19”).
If your width measurement was a lot smaller than the wheelchair by 50mm or more, then it would likely be too wide for you, so you may want to look at a narrower wheelchair instead.
Similarly, with the depth measurement (sometimes referred to as the seat length), you don’t want it to completely align with the depth measurement of the wheelchair or be less than it, as this would be uncomfortable to sit in the long term. In an ideal world, the seat depth measurement of the wheelchair would be roughly 30–50mm shorter than your depth measurement.
However, you can be more literal with the height measurement, as it as it’s simply a way of making sure there’s enough space for your legs and that your feet won’t dangle!
You’ll need to keep in mind the weight of the person using the wheelchair as each wheelchair will have a different weight limit. A good place to start is to check the weight limit first before looking at any of the other measurements. This will help make sure you don’t waste time in your search considering a chair that won’t be suitable even if the seat size is right.
Unless a wheelchair is a specialist one that’s been tailored to be a custom fit for you, you may not find one “off the shelf” that is perfect in every aspect. It’s about finding the one that’s closest to the right fit for you and your needs. We hope this wheelchair sizing guide proves helpful.
If you need more help, you can speak to our Occupational Therapists for further advice on the right type of mobility aid for you.
If you use a wheelchair all the time, and are looking for a more custom, specialised wheelchair, please speak with our specialist wheelchair team for further help.
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