PHTY103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Walking Stick, Cumbersome, Greater Trochanter
6. Walking Aids
• Describe the various types of walking aids and their advantages and disadvantages
o Purposes
• To facilitate mobility
• Improve activity
• Allow the individual to participate in ADLs
• Social activities
• A mobility device enhances the ability of the individual to move about their
homes, travel to work/school, and be mobile in the community
• They assist in the individual's ability to bear weight or improve their balance
• Compensate for decreased strength or endurance
• Pain with weight bearing
• Absence of a limb or the ability to weight bear on a limb to facilitate the
healing process
o Selection considerations
• Weight bearing status
▪ Non weight bearing
▪ Touch weight bearing
▪ Partial weight bearing
▪ Full weight bearing
▪ Age
▪ Gender
▪ Weight
▪ How will this influence the selection of an aid
▪ How will a plaster cast affect walking with an aid
• Cognitive function
▪ Can the patient understand the procedure
▪ Can the patient follow the instructions
▪ Can the patient hear the instructions
▪ Patients may need a demonstration
▪ Are patients able to learn a new motor task
▪ Patients may use the walking aid as a weapon
▪ Written instructions/pictures/practice
• Vision
▪ Flooring
▪ Lighting
▪ Noise
▪ Looking at feet
▪ Need to scan the environment for obstacles
• Vestibular function
▪ Balance
▪ Coordination
▪ Age
▪ Previous level of mobility
• Upper body strength
▪ Upper limbs equal strength?
▪ Hand grip
▪ Push through the walking aid handles
• Physical endurance
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
▪ Walking with an aid requires increased energy expenditure and
therefore individuals fatigue very quickly
▪ What effects will fatigue have on gait?
▪ Co-existing medical conditions
▪ How will they influence the clients ability to mobilise with an aid
▪ How will they influence the selection of the aids
• Weight
▪ All walking aids have a weight limit
▪ The manufacturer will specify the maximum weight for which the aid
has been tested
▪ Most aids have a limit of 100kgs
▪ If you use an inappropriate aid you are not only putting yourself and the
patient at risk but you will also destroy the aid
▪ Companies are now producing bariatric walking aids
• Home environment
▪ Floor surfaces
▪ Loose mats
▪ Doorway width
▪ Bathroom
▪ Stairs
o Walking sticks
• Widen an individual's base of support thereby making them more stable and
improving balance
• Can be used to assist with weight bearing if only minimal support is required
• Inexpensive and convenient
• Single point and multi-point sticks
• Indications for use
▪ Balance
▪ Minimal weight bearing
▪ Pain relief
▪ 4 point stick give increased weight bearing ability however they can
encourage pathological gait patterns
▪ Walking stick is held in the hand opposite to the affected side
o Crutches
• Increase base of support and therefore increase stability
• Can be used for non-weight bearing (i.e. for the client who cannot weight
bear on one lower limb)
• Axillary crutches
▪ Inexpensive
▪ Used for periods of temporarily limited mobility
▪ Can be cumbersome and difficult to use
▪ High energy expenditure
• Forearm crutches
▪ Less cumbersome
▪ Allow some freedom for the use of hands
▪ Useful for very active patients
▪ Less stable if non weight bearing
o Walkers
• Advantages
▪ Improve balance and stability
▪ Allow some weight bearing
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Walking aids, describe the various types of walking aids and their advantages and disadvantages, purposes. Improve activity: to facilitate mobility, allow the individual to participate in adls, a mobility device enhances the ability of the individual to move about their. Lighting: noise, need to scan the environment for obstacles. If you use an inappropriate aid you are not only putting yourself and the patient at risk but you will also destroy the aid: companies are now producing bariatric walking aids, home environment. Stairs: walking sticks, widen an individual"s base of support thereby making them more stable and improving balance, can be used to assist with weight bearing if only minimal support is required. Indications for use: balance, minimal weight bearing, pain relief, 4 point stick give increased weight bearing ability however they can encourage pathological gait patterns, walking stick is held in the hand opposite to the affected side, crutches.
