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Custom Wheelchair Seating: Providing the Best in Comfort
Custom wheelchair seating is created to contour the exact size and shape of a client’s body. Individuals who spend long periods of time in a wheelchair can benefit greatly when custom wheelchair seating is designed especially for them. In addition, custom wheelchair seating can provide many benefits for individuals compared to standard wheelchair accommodations. At UDS, an experienced team is available to answer questions about the custom wheelchair molded system process including professional evaluation, insurance approval, fit and fabrication, delivery, and final fitting.
Benefits of Custom Wheelchair Seating
Sitting in a wheelchair for extended periods of time can be uncomfortable and tiring on the body. Custom wheelchair seating can alleviate discomfort and reduce the risk of pressure sores by decreasing the amount of irritation placed on tissues. Custom seating also improves postural alignment, enabling proper breathing, swallowing, and overall structural support. Increased comfort and pressure relief, can reduce the risk of other health complications that can be associated with long-term sitting.
Who Would Benefit from Custom Wheelchair Seating?
Those who spend a majority, or all of their waking time, in a wheelchair can benefit greatly from custom wheelchair seating. A custom wheelchair seat can provide individuals with conditions such as quadriplegia or paraplegia, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, or other spinal cord injuries with a more comfortable position that supports their individual frame and structure. This enhanced customization feature provides individuals with pain relief, and greater mobility, which all contribute to a greater quality of life.
Benefits of a Customized Mobility Wheelchair
A customized mobility wheelchair benefits those that want to move about independently or with other-assisted options. UDS recognizes that even advanced commercial wheelchairs don’t have the same performance quality and ultimate comfort of postural support that their customized wheelchair features provide for their clients. The UDS customized wheelchair design team works directly with individuals who require the use of power/electric wheelchairs for mobility and can benefit from joysticks or control systems that enable them to independently maneuver their wheelchairs. In addition, UDS provides options for the times when someone’s care provider needs to have primary control over wheelchair maneuverability without manual controls.
How is Custom Wheelchair Seating Made?
Creating custom wheelchair seating is a multi-stage process to ensure that the fit is unique to the client:
- First, proper measurements are made to position the client on a specially designed bean bag-like device that precisely contours to the shape of their body.
- Next, accurate molds of the seat and back are created by applying a vacuum.
- A 3D computerized image is then used to carve the seat and back to the exact size and shape of the individual.
- You want to choose the materials to design your seat. A variety of seat coverings are available to meet specific requirements. For example, custom-carved seats can also be created using multiple layers of high-density foam.
- Finally, you want to have your seat fitted and adjusted to your specifications.
This video provides a good reference for how wheelchair seating is made.
Because each wheelchair seating system is custom-made, UDS has expert technicians and Assistive Technology Professionals (ATP) to help design your setup.
Find out More
The UDS Custom Wheelchair Seating team helps you every step of the way and is available to answer questions about their custom wheelchair seating options. If you are a therapist, individual, family, or caregiver in the Lancaster, South Central Pennsylvania area and want to find out more, contact us today.