Hi all! I broke my ankle yesterday :smack:. So, I find myself on crutches for the first time in my life. I’m having all kinds of problems, and I would appreciate any advice from experienced folks.
I take the train to work and there are steps I have to use to get onto the train from the platform, pretty steep. I don’t know how I’m going to work that out (I’m working from home today).
My shower has a five or six inch step that I need to go over in order to get into it. That is, it goes from bathroom floor, up six inches (maybe 5 inches wide) and then back down about five inches to the shower floor. No handholds or anything.
Going up any sort of step without a handhold or banister seems to be problematic for me. I can put my crutches up a step, but when I hop up, I get concerned that I might fall backwards, which would be pretty disastrous.
This just happened yesterday, so I’m definitely a crutch newbie. Any advice is appreciated.
Shattered my ankle last year. I used a kneeling scooter, but I commuted by car. Had no problem using crutches in my 20s. Now, in my 50s, I found them exhausting.
A lot of people recommend going up/down stairs on your butt. Sure eliminates the possibility of falling. Easier going down as you stop a stair or 2 before the end and stand up. Going up, you end up at the top and need to stand from the floor. May be easier to turn over to your knees and stand from there.
Using the crutches for stairs requires some practice. What worked for me was:
-going up - keep crutches on stair where your foot is, bracing on crutches, hop up onto next step, bring crutches up, and repeat. Basically the opposite of what you were trying.
-going down - put crutches on stair below you, make sure they are solid, and slide your foot down.
When I looked on-line, I saw people recommending both possible orders for up and down - which is why I specified that this is what worked for me.
If there is a solid handrail, rely heavily on that and use both crutches in your offhand.
Make sure your crutches are the correct height. Many people have them too tall, and rest their armpits on the pads.
Consider looking into a shower chair. You may not be able to get your cast wet, so if you have a tub, you might just try baths with your leg hanging over the edge. Getting over your shower step is no big deal. Position crutches inside shower, swing forward into shower, put crutches outside, lean against the wall while showering. When exiting, reverse, making sure the crutches are dry and stable.
For the train, how do people in wheelchairs or with kids in strollers get on and off? I’d suggest calling the transit company for advice. It may be just a matter of walking yourself up a ramp and the conductor puts out a deck board for you to go from the platform to the train, or they may have cars with low entrances that you’ve just never noticed.
Thanks for all the advice! The shower chair sounds like a good idea, although you are correct that I can’t get the cast wet. I took a shower today with one of those contractor bags over the cast, tied at the top with a shoelace. It stayed basically dry.
I don’t think my station is handicap accessible. At the terminal in Hoboken, there’s a lifter that can raise wheelchairs to train height. Some stops have the platform at the right height already, but my stop has neither.
I just checked the map and it shows the stops two closer and two further from NY from me to be handicap accessible, but mine isn’t.
Best way to get into and out of the shower is to position a chair or stool in the bathroom outside the shower. Kneel on chair with bad leg and swing the good leg into the shower. It’s a lot more stable than balancing on crutches inside a slippery shower. Also would buy one of these which are much easier to use and more watertight than plastic bags. As far as walking with crutches, always have the crutches on the lower step. To go up, step up with your good leg than bring the crutches up. To go down, put the crutches on the lower step and hop down on the good leg. If there is a handrail, put both crutches under the arm opposite the rail and use the closer hand on the rail. here are some good tips for walking on crutches, and frankly, I would be extremely upset about anybody who sent you home on crutches without proper instructions. That’s just really poor medical care!
Seconding these from when I broke my leg, especially the ‘down’. Putting the crutch feet down first can feel a bit unnerving at first, but if you can get someone to walk in front of you until you get the hang of it, you’ll be right. It just takes a bit of practice.
Shower chair is great - and I got very quick at using tape to attach and waterproof a plastic bag.
You’ll probably find a couple of other things: first, a deep wish to smack people who take your crutches out for a test drive. As far as I’m concerned, you should be allowed to. It’s infuriating. Also, you’ll come to value long straight stretches–you can actually get a decent head of speed up as long as you’re not constantly having to chop and change direction.
I remember back in the early 80s, when I was in college, living off campus. I broke an ankle and was on crutches during the winter. Never got around more quickly. I’d just crutch a block to the nearest busy street, stick my crutches in a snowbank, and stick out my thumb while looking miserable. It rarely took even a minute for someone to pick me up and drive me to the door of wherever I was going - generally someone who had been on crutches in the past.
Stay off your feet and rest as much as possible. As for the bath/shower, REALLY GOOD IDEA to have someone help you the first few times. At times like this it helps to be an exhibitionist! But get used to it, we all will need personal help when we get older. (Don’t be afraid to ask for help.)
Ugh, this so much. I had a few cast&crutch opportunities as a kid and this was the worst. Invariably some athletic kid would borrow the crutches and start doing acrobatics with them. Sure, it’s easy and fun… until you have to use them with a 10-pound cast on one leg, setting you completely off balance. :mad:
First off, how are you using your crutches? I suspect you’re using them incorrectly, if you’ve never used them before.
The underarm pad on crutches isn’t meant to be somewhere you rest your weight. Most of your weight is supposed to be on your hands, and borne by your arms. I guess the best analogy I can come up with is that crutches are basically stilts for your arms. At the end of the day, your arms and shoulders should be tired, and you shouldn’t have sore underarms at all.
Dinsdale’s right about the going up- you go foot-first, not crutch-first. (well, you CAN go crutch first, but you have to be pretty upper-body strong, and good with crutches to do it well) Going down is kind of dicey either way.
I’d definitely inquire with the transit company; how do wheelchair bound people get on? In the US, they have to have ADA-compliant facilities, so if you live here, there’s some way that they’ll accommodate you.
If they gave you adjustable crutches don’t be afraid to experiment, they’re rarely a perfect fit, they may not have been set up well in the first place, and you may have a different opinion of the best fit once you get the hang of them.
I feel your pain. I tore my left Achilles 4 years ago and my right one about 6 weeks ago. I also have a similar shower as well as a daily commute via train from NJ to NY.
All good advice so far. For the shower, I used a small 4-legged table with 2 legs in the shower and 2 legs out side. This allowed me to sit on it and swing my legs over.
Four years ago, I didn’t use the “2 crutches under on arm” technique for the steps and had a few close calls especially when descending. This time, as long as there’s a sturdy handrail (which there almost always are), I always use this technique. It far safer and faster.
Thanks everyone! A friend of mine actually had this iWalk hands-free crutch that he lent me. It’s way easier to get around, and I can carry things when I’m walking, which is a huge help. Stairs are a piece of cake. It’s a pain to put on and take off and my speed in a straight line is slower than crutches, but otherwise it’s much better.
I picked up a shower chair and one of those waterproof cast protectors.
I’m going to try NJ Transit tomorrow. I’ve missed a couple of terrible commuting days – track fatality yesterday and brush fire today. Hopefully tomorrow will be incident-free.
Suction cup grab bar for the shower - I got one at Bed Bath and Beyond when I broke my foot a few years back. Made getting into / out of the shower a LOT easier. I see you already got a bath chair - I didn’t think of that when I first showered, and wound up balancing on one foot which was nearly a disaster. We went to BB&B the next day :D.
Transit with a bum leg: what a pain!! I haven’t used New Jersey Transit, but I’ve visited NYC including once when I was dealing with significant knee pain - and there is NO way to avoid stairs in the subway system, and a lot of them. At Times Square, I saw signs for elevators but I went several blocks underground and never found one :mad:.
A knee walker is another alternative to crutches, but pretty much useless on stairs unless you want to break other bones. I used one for a bit but found it was more hassle than help except when we were on a walking tour. And, if people are swiping your crutches they will DEFINITELY want to try the knee walker out.
Look into a temporary handicapped placard for your car. I got one, and while I rarely used it, there were a few times when it was very helpful.
That works but what I found to be a better solution for me was to wear a rubber over boot (like the Totes brand, a boot meant to fit over your shoe) and also a snow gaiter on top of the boot. The gaiter covers the boot’s open top and also has a quick release strap at the top - easy on/off.
With this setup, my cast stayed completely dry, showering every day for six weeks until it was removed.
Well it looks like you got a cast protector but if in case that’s not optimal you may want to try my approach. And with my approach you get to keep the boots and gaiters and they come in handy in stormy weather. Good luck to you.
Thanks again, everyone. The doctor is now recommending surgery, so I’m getting a second opinion today. He wants to put a plate in between two bones because something seems to have gotten shifted.
In the meantime, he removed the cast and gave me a boot. The boot is much heavier and doesn’t seem to provide support to my ankle as well, but at least I can take it off before I shower. Hobbling around the shower will be tougher, though, with zero support at that point.
The iWalk has been a life saver – is that what you mean by a knee walker? It’s great for stairs. I also have the temporary placard, and I’m trying to find the best places to take advantage of it. I’m already pissed at all the people who stay in handicapped spots without a tag. It must be a constant source of annoyance for Ambivalid.
And, thanks, Sam, but I can’t even get my wife to give me much sympathy!
