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The prevalence of mobility limitation increases with age. Almost 35% of seniors above 70 years suffer from muscle weakness, joint pain, and neuromuscular diseases, so they need to use mobility aids. When these conditions worsen, you might need to replace walking aids with a wheelchair to prevent injuries and premature deaths.
One sign that it’s time for someone to use a wheelchair is frequent falls (three to four times a week). Falling frequently brings an inherent fear of moving while increasing the risks of serious injuries. Also, a poor posture or a hunched back signifies that someone needs a wheelchair.
This article details 10 signs that should tell if your senior needs to be in a wheelchair.
1. Frequent Falls
According to the Centers for Disease and Prevention, 3 million injuries yearly among older people result from falls. In other words, one in four older people falls more than once annually.
Falling once or twice a month might be normal. However, when a senior falls more than three times a week, it is a sign of frailty and immobility.
Although muscle wasting and decline in bone density are the leading cause of falls among the elderly, other factors that could contribute to falls include:
- Medication: A decline in immunity predisposes seniors to many illnesses because the body’s defense is weak. As a result, most seniors are always under medications which can cause general body weakness, dizziness, and low blood pressure.
- Reduced flexibility: Most seniors become less active with age, reducing muscle strength. This leads to poor coordination and balance, which increases the risk of falling.
- Environmental hazard: The frequency of falling might increase if there are obstacles, slippery or rugged floors, and poor lighting.
Most falls don’t warrant medical attention. However, 20 to 30% of them can result in serious injuries such as:
- Fractures of the pelvis, hip, wrist, and humerus
- Hematoma (clotting of blood as a result of a ruptured blood vessel)
- Severe joint dislocation
Apart from the physical effect, frequent falls have psychological effects. The elderly person may develop a fear of movement and remain restrained in one position. Also, they may suffer from stress and anxiety about losing their independence and sustaining fall-related injuries.
2. Poor Posture or Hunched Back
Normal aging results in a condition called kyphosis: the increase in the curvature of the spine that leads to a forward-tilted posture. Although kyphosis accelerates at the age of 70, it starts at age 30.
The backbone is responsible for our posture, and consists of bones, muscles, and intervertebral discs (joint-like spaces). As you age, the bones lose calcium and become less dense. As a result, the intervertebral discs harden and lose flexibility, leading to a forward tilt and loss of height.
Also, spine muscles lose their rigidity with age and become replaced by fibrous tissue or fat in a process called sarcopenia. This, too, contributes to a hunched posture.
Though this is a natural process that happens to everyone, it has the following adverse effects that warrant the use of a wheelchair:
- Back pain: A hunched posture flattens your back muscles and puts pressure on your shoulders. This strains your upper and lowers back, resulting in pain when you walk or stand for a while.
- Headache: Bending forward puts so much strain on your neck, leading to the tightness of muscles and headaches.
- Constrained breathing: Hunching forward reduces the capacity of your lungs. The effect is reduced uptake of oxygen which may lead to failure of organs such as the kidney, brain, and heart.
3. Difficulty Getting Up From a Seated Position
Because of body weakness and loss of muscle strength, most seniors spend much of their time sitting. However, sitting for a long time can cause numbness and an inability to stand up. This situation may cause the elderly to lose the independence to walk around.
The inability to get up from a sitting position may become worse if the elderly have the following conditions:
- Arthritis: It results from the wearing away of joint cartilage, causing the bones to rub against each other. The friction leads to pain and inflammation, and the legs may become weak, making it hard for the senior to get up from a sitting position.
- Stroke: It causes paralysis or numbness of the legs, arms, and face on one side of the body. This means your senior depends on one side of the body for support. This might limit their ability to stand up after sitting for some time.
4. Inability To Use a Walker
When mobility issues arise, the first option is always a walker or cane. However, there are instances when an elderly person cannot use a walker, indicating severe immobility. You will know your elderly cannot use a walker if they fall regularly and rest regularly after a few minutes.
Factors that may contribute to an inability to use a walker include:
- Reduced muscle strength: If the individual has reduced muscle strength, they may not be able to grip the walker correctly.
- Weak hands: If the elderly have reduced sensation in their hands, they may not be able to feel the ground correctly and could therefore trip.
Walkers provide support, but if the person is too weak to use them, they can experience serious falls. Shifting to a wheelchair in such an instance would make your senior more secure and give them independence and confidence when moving over long distances.
5. Impaired Balance
Balance refers to being in a steady position when sitting or standing. It requires proper coordination between the eyes, muscles, and joints. All of these work together to give us a sense of where our body is in space.
From the age of 65, some of the balance-related structures in the body degenerate. For example, the bones, muscles, and joints become weaker. And the eyesight and the nervous system deteriorate, making it hard for the body to function normally.
Also, blood circulation slows down. When you wake up abruptly, your blood pressure drops, causing you to feel shaky and dizzy. Other conditions that can elevate loss of balance include:
- Inner ear infection: Although the primary function of the ear is hearing, it also consists of the vestibular system that helps with balance. Infection in the vestibular system leads to inflammation and build-up of fluid, impairing the ability of the body to remain balanced.
- Chronic conditions: Prolonged use of medications to manage chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease can cause dizziness as a side effect. The effects may worsen more with aging.
You can tell if your senior has a balance problem if they portray the following signs:
- Dizziness and headaches
- Staggering when walking
- Regular falls
- Nausea and vomiting
When loss of balance extends for weeks or even longer, making it impossible for your elderly to perform basic tasks, a wheelchair might be necessary to minimize the risks of injuries.
6. Loss of Vision
Aging gradually deforms the eye’s physiological and anatomical processes, which can impair vision. First, the eyelids lose tone and elasticity and open less widely.
The cornea also becomes less curved, resulting in a reduced field of vision. Moreover, the pupil becomes smaller, and the lens becomes dense and less transparent. These changes make it difficult for the elderly to see.
Also, aging inhibits the production of tears, leaving the eyes dry and irritated. This also increases susceptibility to bacteria and fungal infections. In the worst-case scenario, cataracts may develop and partially impair vision.
Poor vision increases the chances of tripping and falling, which can result in serious injuries. It also leads to loss of independence, increasing stress and anxiety. If your elderly still have some vision, they can use a scooter or an unmodified manual wheelchair.
If their vision is entirely impaired, you should go for a manual wheelchair where someone has to push them from behind.
7. When Walking Becomes Exhausting and Unbearably Painful
It is usual for seniors to experience pain while walking from time to time because of muscle wasting. However, over 53% of seniors experience chronic pain, a debilitating and disabling condition. It limits their ability to function independently and participate in activities they enjoy.
There are various causes of chronic leg pain in seniors:
- Peripheral artery disease: This condition arises from the narrowing of arteries due to fatty deposits. The legs fail to receive enough blood and become painful, swollen, and numb.
- Electrolyte imbalance: Lack of enough minerals like calcium, sodium, and potassium, which help in muscle functioning, can cause cramps and pain.
- Arthritis: Because arthritis has no cure, your senior will be prone to regular pain that can worsen with time, making walking impossible.
- Spinal stenosis: When fatty deposits settle around the spaces in the spinal bones, pressure mounts on the nerves around this area. This results in pain, numbness, tingling, weakness, and loss of balance.
When walking becomes unbearably painful, it’s a sign that the individual has significant mobility issues. They may need to consider using a wheelchair to get around.
8. When Legs Keep on Swelling
It’s not uncommon for seniors to suffer from lower leg swelling. Though the swelling might not be painful, it makes the legs heavy and difficult to move. Sometimes, the skin around the swollen area might turn red or feel warm.
Usually, leg swelling happens as a result of the infiltration of liquid from the blood into the interstitial space of the tissues. This is called edema, and it can occur as a result of the following condition:
- Heart failure: It leads to poor blood pumping, causing low blood pressure in the veins. This forces the blood to collect on the lower extremities, causing fluid to gather on the legs.
- Kidney disease: Kidneys remove excess fluid and waste from the blood. A condition called nephrotic syndrome impairs the proper functioning of the kidney. As a result, fluid accumulates in the tissues.
- Liver disease: The liver makes proteins that help move fluid from the blood vessels into the interstitial spaces. When the normal functioning of the liver is impaired, the production of proteins stops, and fluid accumulates in the tissues.
Note: Using a wheelchair for a senior with edema is critical if they want to move over long distances. For shorter distances or moving around the house, they should walk to exercise their legs and prevent them from swelling.
9. Inability To Perform Activities of Daily Living
If you’ve noticed that your elderly loved one has difficulty with activities of daily living, it may be time for a wheelchair. In most cases, the inability to perform basic tasks such as bathing, dressing, eating, using the restroom, and getting in and out of bed results from underlying health problems.
For example, arthritis, visual impairment, and stroke decrease physical stamina or endurance. Struggling to complete basic tasks increases fear of falling and unwillingness to participate in social activities. It also has negative psychological impacts, such as stress and anxiety.
Getting a wheelchair for your elderly in such a situation could make their daily living easier.
10. After Multiple Hip Fractures
Muscle weakness and frequent falls increase the risk of hip fractures. When your senior sustains multiple injuries to their hip, it could be time to start looking into getting them a wheelchair.
Because seniors have lower cell proliferation, bones take a long to heal. Hip fractures are also risky and could increase the mortality rate. Research shows that one out of three seniors dies within 12 months after hip surgery.
Using a wheelchair helps the elderly have independence while supporting hip recovery. This is because a wheelchair will help conserve energy and protect the hips, which can weaken after a fracture.
Wheelchair Recommendation
If you are convinced your elderly need a wheelchair, you can consider the Thrive Mobility Electric Wheelchair (available on Amazon.com). It is versatile because it has an auto and manual mode option. If your senior is still able, they can use the joystick controller to operate the wheelchair independently. If not, you can switch it to manual mode for a back push. It also has comfortable and detachable footrests.
If you want to buy a wheelchair for the elderly, check out my guide where I list the most comfortable wheelchairs. 4 Most Comfortable Wheelchairs for the Elderly
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