Poor Seating May Cause Quad Gut


When most of us become quadriplegics, we eventually see one thing happen — our paralyzed muscles begin to deteriorate, and that includes the muscles in our abdomen. This is when the “quad gut” rears its ugly head — one of the most unattractive aspects of having a cervical spine injury. What our bodies are doing is pushing our organs too far forward, and this can be totally unflattering. In fact, this is one of the most feared conditions out there among all quadriplegics.

I myself had to seriously come to terms with this over the last year.

It all began with a new wheelchair. My custom seating wasn’t transferring great to the new wheelchair, so I went back to the seating clinic to get the real deal kind of adjustment. As I suspected, I was slouching too much in my wheelchair. I wanted so badly to have a smooth silhouette, but no matter how much weight I lost, the seating in my new wheelchair wasn’t right. The slouching needed to be fixed.

I was worried it was finally time for my abdomen muscles to give way to my organs inside. After all, I had been paralyzed for over 20 years and was nearing my mid-30s — aging plus an aging spinal injury spells nothing but bad news. But thankfully I was dead wrong. I was just on the wrong track to finding a solution for my sudden gut problems.

As it turns out, my seating in my new wheelchair wasn’t exactly right. Because of this, I felt like I was sitting too straight and needed my backrest slightly adjusted back, which is what caused my sudden quad gut issues. The surprising solution was to get rid of this dialed-back backrest setting. Putting it back upright and giving my back more lumbar support, specifically the upper part of my back, was the combo that finally made the gut go away (or suck back in).

Wow, who would’ve thought? Having my backrest too far back was causing me to slouch and made my stomach look extra large. Thank Goddess I found a solution, a real workable solution.

What are your tricks for preventing and eliminating “quad gut?”


Support New Mobility

Wait! Before you wander off to other parts of the internet, please consider supporting New Mobility. For more than three decades, New Mobility has published groundbreaking content for active wheelchair users. We share practical advice from wheelchair users across the country, review life-changing technology and demand equity in healthcare, travel and all facets of life. But none of this is cheap, easy or profitable. Your support helps us give wheelchair users the resources to build a fulfilling life.

donate today

3 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Kim M Krudwig
Kim M Krudwig
2 years ago

I’m new to this no solutions but I am trying to do less carbs. My gut looks as if 6 months pregnant, ugh!!

wjpeace
wjpeace
9 years ago

Quad gut is one of the most feared things a quad encounters? Really an inappropriate statement. I would suggest quads worry most about autonomic dysreflexia a potentially lethal and debilitating condition. The next concern I would think is fear of unemployment and appropriate assistance from PCA. Despite taking exception to the flippant worry about quad gut it is critically important to have proper positioning. All too often I observe a paralyzed person who is clearly not sitting in a wheelchair properly.