Coping With Short Term Mobility Problems

Dealing with short-term mobility issues can be very taxing.  Those who have lived with disabilities have accepted the challenges they face and have found ways to overcome them as much as possible. But when the mobility problem occurs suddenly and is expected to last for a few weeks or months, the individual is caught between 2 worlds - there is no need to get used to the disability but at the same time movement and mobility is limited.

Common Causes of Mobility Problems

The most common causes of short-term mobility problems are broken bones and torn or damaged muscles and ligaments. These are often caused by falls or accidents. With proper care, these will normally heal and the patient is able to return to normal life. In the interim, however, mobility can be severely affected. For example, a broken leg can leave a person unable to walk, drive or get to the office. But that does not mean that the person cannot sit at a desk and work. Finding a short-term transportation solution for this not only allows the patient to continue to work, staying occupied, but can help to speed the recovery as well.

Overdoing Things Can Be Dangerous

A major problem with injuries that affect short-term mobility is that besides the limitations to movement, the patient feels fine. In such cases, it is easy to unintentionally overdo things and either exacerbate the injury or slow down the natural healing process. A person with a spine injury may feel okay at home but experience pain when trying to drive or even to be a passenger in a car. This pain is obviously not good, but the frustration of being stuck at home and feeling okay while there can cause people to do what they should not just to get out of the house, if nothing else. Even a necessary trip for treatment can make the condition worse if the transportation is not done correctly.

Friends And Family Can Help But……

Family and friends are there to help people get through their mobility problems. From helping out around the house to ferrying them to where the patient needs to go, they do it willingly. But they are not professionals with experience in transporting the injured. Their help, with the best of intentions, can at times result in the problem worsening. Unless the doctor has said that traveling in a normal car is okay, it is better to avoid it.

The Travel Solution

Investing large sums of money into buying a specially equipped vehicle that the patient can drive or be driven in does not make sense if it will only be required for a limited period of time. With public transport and taxis not suitable, non-emergency medical transportation offers the best and most cost effective solution. Professional companies have a range of vehicles designed and equipped to cater to people with all kinds of mobility limitations. The drivers are also specially trained to assist the mobility impaired. At what is usually a reasonable cost these services can be used to take the mobility impaired where they want or need to go in comfort and safety. The ability to continue with as much of normal life as possible until the recovery is complete makes the suffering less and often speeds the healing.