We've all had at least a bit of experience with the medical scale.  I remember, as a child, going to the doctor every couple of months for a checkup.  The doctor would, among other things, check and record your height and weight.  To acquire the latter, though, he didn't use a typical bathroom scale like the one we had at home.  He used an analog machine that was as tall as I was at the time!  If I remember correctly, it had two or three weights on it that moved from left to right.  I didn't exactly know how this thing actually measured my weight but it had something to do with balance.  When the unit stopped moving from side to side and stood in one position, I knew I could get off of it!

Medical scales have come a long way since then. Now many of them are digital scales with an abundance of different features. They have the ability to weight in multiple units of measurements, for example. Some people don't really understand "pounds" and others don't understand "kilograms". Now the doctor or physician can give the patient information that's easier for them to compute. Another thing that's changed with medical scales is the places where we find them. They're no longer restricted for just hospital and medical office use. We're seeing a wide variety of medical scales at fitness centers, gyms and seniors homes nowadays. Some people even enjoy having this type of scale right in their own bathroom.

Different Kinds Of Medical Scales

Quite a few scale companies have gotten into the medical business of late.  This makes perfect sense if you think about it.  The baby boomers are getting older all the time now.  Because they inhabit the biggest population bulge of our time, there are more and more people requiring medical attention.  Because of this, companies like Detecto, Tanita and Health O Meter have expanded their medical scale line up.  Some of the newer products that they are offering include Bariatric Scales, Wheelchair Scales and Baby Scales.  While all of these scales can be classified as "medical" in nature, they are very different.

Bariatric Scales

The world is more obese than it's ever been.  This is a sad but true fact.  North America, in particular, has an abundance of people that are brutally overweight.  Because of this, we're seeing more and more bariatric scales on the market these days.  These scales are essentially a normal medical scale with a larger capacity - up to 1000lbs in some cases.  You'll also find that they come with a few features not typically found on a regular medical scale.  Hand rails, for example, are common place on bariatric units.  You see, big people tend to have trouble standing on their own sometimes.  The support of a hand rail is definitely necessary.  In some cases, the scales even come with a chair of sorts attached to the surface.  This is for obscenely obese patients that can't even stand up.

Another feature that most medical, including bariatric, scales have is "hold" feature.  The "hold" button on a scale essentially freezes the LCD screen when it's pressed.  This allows the doctor to tend to the patient without losing the data.

Wheelchair Scales

As our population ages and more people find themselves bound to wheelchairs and other types of motorized scooters, doctors and medical professionals are finding it more difficult to accurately assess the weight of their patients.  Knowing a patients weight is, of course, very important. Because of this, the wheelchair scale was created.  These are fairly large scales that are tough enough to handle the weight load of a human body plus his or her chair.  They often come with ramps that allow the patient to easily get themselves on and off it.  This saves both the patient and the doctor a ton of time and a couple of horrible back strains!

Baby Scales

The last type of medical scale that I want to touch on today is the baby scale.  These scales are, surprisingly enough, engineered to weigh babies.  It's difficult to use a standard scale to weigh a young child for several reasons.  First and foremost, they're unable to stand up!  Even if you could fasten some kind of chair to it, babies can't even really sit properly.  Baby scales look kind of like those baby change tables that you see in shopping centers and department stores.  If you're in the market for this type of sale, here's a few things you should look for.  Make sure it's comfortable.  Good baby scales are generally very well padded a offer the child soft support.  Some nice bonus features that you don't necessarily need are tape measures and the ability to play music.

As you can see, the market for medical scales is constantly growing and evolving.  I hope you found some helpful information in this article.  Kindly leave me a comment if you have any questions!