A How to Guide for Choosing a Mobility Scooter

Choosing a mobility scooter can bring back personal independence into the life of anyone affected by a physical or medical condition that limits their ability to get around on their own. Each model can be customized to individual needs, and come with so many features that make getting around both inside and outside the home environment so much easier than it would have been in the past. Not even physical barriers will slow some models down, increasing the number of environments a mobility challenged person can now explore on their own.

Who Can Benefit From Such A Device?

Literally, anyone who suffers from a physical limitation or medical condition that affects the ability to walk about without assistance can benefit from choosing a mobility scooter. Patients with spinal injuries, car accident victims, genetic diseases such as multiple sclerosis or cerebral palsy and even partial paralysis can benefit from the use of one of these mobility devices. They can be designed to meet individual needs, including the type of wheels, wheelbase, power needs and controls.

Evaluating the Patient's Needs

When one is selecting a mobility scooter for use, the physical limitations the patient is facing need to be considered first. The majority of these mobility devices require exerting some kind of physical control to make them move, so the controlling device should be one that the patients can easily use by themselves, without assistance. Everything from a joystick to a blow tube are available today as control devices and the model chosen should have the availability of such devices present and available.

The next thing to consider is how often the patient will be using their electric scooter, and where. The battery life available on some models make them able to run for hours on end without needing a recharge and some models even come with a backup battery for emergency purposes. Most chairs now have a wheelbase that are trim enough to fit through most doorways, as well as high enough to triumph over most physical obstacles against passage. The home environment can always be customized to fit the qualities of the chosen model, through the addition of ramps, if necessary, but the outdoor environment may take some further planning.

Taking On the Great Outdoors

Restoring a sense of independence to a patient through the use of a motorized scooter should also include understanding the type of terrain the user will want to overcome outside the home. Most models will store easily within another vehicle for transport elsewhere or alternatively, will have more than enough battery power and are large enough to be ridden by the user to a nearby store on their own.

That kind of independence of movement will also make choosing the wheelbase and tires on the scooter easier to be accomplished. For many users, the biggest part of choosing a mobility scooter will entail custom designing their particular model to fit their lifestyle needs. If you like roaming through the neighborhood park, for example, then all terrain tires would be an excellent choice for your particular chair. As would a wheelbase that is high enough to get over curbs and other obstacles with ease and with a three, four or five wheel system to allow the perfect amount of stability on the trails or even the street without a problem.