What safety tips would you have for people forced to use crutches

[james_davis_nicoll]

(Which does not include me at this time)

Storm drain grates are sometimes wide enough to let a crutch tip through.

Crutches slow you up a bit, enough if you're exiting by the rear door of a bus and you are wearing a backpack, the door can close on the backpack and haul you sideways.

Your head at mid-stride will be just a little higher than it was and those lintels you now just clear will now be obstructions.

Anything else?

Comments

[sasha_feather]

You will get a lot of rage from noticing how inaccessible the world is, and from dealing with jerks who constantly ask you "What did you DO?!" etc, ie your blood pressure may suffer.

Using crutches can be hard on the arms and shoulders too.

[movingfinger]

Our safety tip, which we offer to everyone we see using underarm-style crutches, is to get forearm-brace crutches (and not the ones with the weird locking cuffs), because they give far more control, better safety, and significantly improved maneuverability to the user, without giving them shoulder and back problems.

[azurelunatic]

Less surface area for traction than shoes, which makes some things unexpectedly more slippery.

Stepping on the end of the thing to lever it up when you've dropped it may seem like a great victory of human ingenuity over physics, until the fast-moving other end of it hits you.

[realinterrobang.livejournal.com]

Personally, I would say if you're on crutches, never exit by the rear door of a bus. First of all, they're usually narrower than the front doors, secondly, the front door is more likely to be unobstructed when the bus stops, and thirdly, if you fall, the bus driver is much more likely to see you if you exit at the front.

I'd also say mind your armpits, because you're likely to get chafed, but I don't know whether that's a safety tip or not.

Other than that, I got nuthin', because I actually really can't walk on crutches. (My balance is that bad.) I can handle walking unassisted, or with a cane, but I tip backwards on crutches.

[mme-hardy.livejournal.com]

Keep an eye on your rubber tips. When they wear through they're much less effective. They're also much likelier to catch on things than you'd think.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Ice! Make sure ice does not build up on the tips.

[janciega.livejournal.com]

Painted stripes on roads and in parking lots can be VERY slippery when wet.

After I had my ACL repair and was on crutches for two weeks, I nearly fell when I forgot this fact in a parking garage. The prospect of hurting my knee again frightened me so badly that I sat and cried like a baby for a while.

It's also helpful to remember this on a bike.

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

They're also sometimes poorly attached and may come off mid-stride. Turns out round, narrow, polished wood ends slip on damned near *anything*.

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

If you're a kid in school, the other children will think your crutches are fun to play with and will strand you on the edge of the playground while they do so.

[pickledginger.livejournal.com]

Do not use more than one crutch while ascending or descending stairs ... Unless you name me as your beneficiary, first! ;-)

Beware of puddles and fallen leaves.

Brace yourself before trying to open a door -- falling over is so undignified.

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

1) Escalators can be deceptively narrow. Narrow enough that there's barely enough room for you and your crutches. This also means that your crutches aren't splayed out, so you don't have the balance that you thought you did.

Therefore, also do your escalators one-crutched. (I wish I'd thought of that at the time).

2) Despite *every* public access building having (supposedly) a means for disabled access, if you don't know the place and it has more than just a ground floor, call them ahead of time to find out where it is. Otherwise, you may find that:

a) you have to go up a flight of stairs to the ticket office to get someone to come down and set up the disabled access lift for you

b) Although the main entrance is in X street, you are supposed to go to Y street, around the corner and halfway down the block, down the (slippery) ramp to the parking garage, along a skinny corridor and into the goods lift. (If I'd know it was supposed to be that far, I would have tried to go up the stairs instead)

3) When getting onto crowded buses and trains, when all the seats are taken, and if the occupant of the "please vacate for disabled etc." seat doesn't look as if they need the seat as much as you, ask *very* politely "Hi, would it be ok if I had that seat?" If they actually *do* need the seat, they'll usually say so because they understand the situation - and most of the time someone else will then stand up for you. If they *don't* need the seat, be prepared to be sworn at, but there's a good chance that a) someone else will give up their seat for you and b) that same someone else will then go and give the sitter a piece of their mind.

4) You're not as fast as you used to be, so make sure you use pedestrian crossings and those crossings at traffic lights. It'll be a pain, but you'll need the extra time to get across.

5) Expect probing questions about what you've done to yourself. Have a short answer ready - if you don't want to tell what really happened, make up something short and snappy. "Fell over a kitten. The kitten's fine."

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

I have a full list of them. (Scroll down to Section 6.)

But the most important ones: Don't get blase about lifting the tips of the crutches off of the ground; the first moment you get lazy is going to be at the exact moment you will encounter something that will catch the tip. Slow down when going downhill. Soft shirts, otherwise you may get chafing in the upper torso, which is a side effect one wouldn't normally expect from an injured lower limb. And pay attention to the conformation/posture of the rest of your ambulatory system, since you're putting New! and Exciting! strains on bits that aren't designed to take that strain, and secondary injuries often offend.

[happyinmotion.livejournal.com]

On buses, trains, and planes, the tips may exert sufficient pressure to push through the edges of floor panels. Pulling them out can result in the rubber tip being lost under the floor.

This happened to me the one time that I went on a train on crutches. I was not pleased.

[laetitia-apis.livejournal.com]

If you crip around with a makeshift cane for three days before getting the crutches, remember that walking on crutches is an extremely athletic activity that you have never engaged in before. Do not delight in your new freedom.

[resonant.livejournal.com]

You can also carry copies of the AODA printed out. If businesses decline to accomodate you, hand them a copy, and watch them scramble.

[wynnsfolly.livejournal.com]

Up with the good, down with the bad. If you forget you can find your crutches at the height of your ears not your armpits. This is not comfortable.
Padding both the tops and the handles may be in order.

[dagbrown.livejournal.com]

When I was given crutches, the physiotherapy went well out of his way to give me detailed lessons on how to ascend and descend stairs while using them.

While going up, you prop yourself up on the crutches and, if the bad leg is okay to take some weight, the bad leg. Then make sure you step up using the good leg, and repeat the procedure. When going down, you put the crutches down on the lower step, and then carefully step down, bad leg first then good leg afterwards.

That way it maximizes the amount of work the good leg can do. If both of your legs are bad, this gets more complicated of course.

[dagbrown.livejournal.com]

I tried that with some local businesses, and they just looked at me dumbfounded as if it was written in a foreign language.

[blpurdom.livejournal.com]

Wearing the right clothing is important. Close-fitting sleeves are best to avoid loose fabric catching on the tops of the crutches as you move, but shirt fabric should also be stretchy, for freedom of movement. When outdoors, shorter jackets are better than longer, because longer coats will get tangled with the crutches when moving at a good pace. Also, a backpack is invaluable for carrying stuff; an across-the-body messenger bag will just get in the way of the crutches action. But keep the wallet in an inside or breast jacket pocket, to avoid thieves taking it from the backpack.

[voidampersand.livejournal.com]

In a flood, crutches do not have enough buoyancy to keep you from going under. And they are not very effective as paddles.

[khavrinen.livejournal.com]

Pretty trivial, but all I've got from personal experience: When opening push-bar style doors with your arm ( because your hand is holding onto the crutch ), use the side opposite the one where you wear your watch. Smashed my first digital watch that way.

[murasaki-1966.livejournal.com]

The physios at my work have a saying: "good knee to heaven, bad knee to hell" on other words, use the good knee going up, bad knee descending.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

That is the best answer yet.

Although it does sound like there is a story attached.

[azurelunatic]

And as was tragically demonstrated, cold rubber does not possess the same physical properties as warm or even room temperature rubber.

[dbdatvic.livejournal.com]

This was also carefully explained in one of the Great Brain books; basically, the leg doing the lifting or lowering should be your good leg.

I am not on crutches, but my feet are now odd enough that I go _down_ stairs backwards, which makes it somehow more apparent that it's the top foot doing the lowering.

--Dave, will march to a different drummer for food