How to make your time on crutches less miserable

Staying on crutches can be tricky and pretty miserable. It takes a little getting used to and some planning to make it a little better for the time being. Continue reading below if you are heading down to the crutching journey.

Adjust Your Crutches. First things first. This is a very important and very first thing you will need to do before you take your first steps with your new fashion accessory. You have to adjust the crutches to your height so they comfortably fit right under your armpits. Next thing to adjust the hand handless. You want to make them fit your height as well as possible to avoid further discomfort and muscle tension.
Crutches Pads / Cushions. Believe me when I say your hands and armpits will hurt at the beginning from walking on crutches. To help yourself with that situation there are sets of padded cushions for handles easily available for sale for a reasonable price. Shop here. I personally had this set and it worked fine for me after I learned how to properly use the crutches.
Rubber Shock Absorption Crutches Tips. I would honestly never thought of it myself if the salesperson in the medical supply store would not have pinpointed that fact for me. Think of the rainy days (slippery )and maybe tile floors in your house or bathroom. As for shock absorption – the more you walk the more you will be able to recognize the difference of a material that actually has give to it, and be happy you made the right choice.
Crutches pockets Whoever invented this thing definitely knew what he/she was doing. I want to say thank you for this invention! Your ability to carry things will be pretty much nonexistent while you need to walk on crutches. These pockets will save you so much trouble of asking people around to help you with the smallest things like getting you your cell phone or a charger. There are several variations of them on the market: the ones that fit water bottles, phones, with small and large pockets and what not. You will be able to choose whatever it is that fits your needs. My only advice to you would be – think of the balance here; place pocket attachments on both sides to keep the balance while walking and also not add uneven weight to your upper body. Also, you might want to consider using or getting a backpack if you will need to move around quite a bit. This will keep you handsfree and balanced.
Portable Food Containers/ Push Kart. This is very relatable to the content above. However, carrying food in the pockets is not that convenient (even though I tried and it wasn’t that great). If you have someone who will be taking care of you during the whole recovery process that’s great and will make your life so much easier. But if this might not be the case then you might want to consider something like push kart or some sort of wheeling table or food containers with handles (I also tried eating standing up in the kitchen, that didn’t work great either. I don’t recommend that).
Comfortable Footwear. Now that you only have one good leg/foot left for a time being you want to take care of it and keep it as such. No rocket science here: think of wearing something that’s comfortable, lightweight but yet sturdy and easy to put on.
Raincoat. If you are active and will have to continue your full life while in recovery, as I mentioned in #3 – carrying things (umbrella) around will not be an option. Unless you love rain and do not mind getting wet, get yourself a raincoat and a hat to cover your face.
Meal Prepping / Order Delivery Service. Consider yourself a very lucky person if you have someone by your side to take care of you. However, if you are at home alone and still need to run errands and get some groceries, check your local supermarkets for delivery options. Also, places like taskrabbit.com and care.com could be helpful for your needs.
Physical Therapy. After the surgery, it is common to have lots of stiffness in your knee and be very much restricted with your range of motion. PT will help you tremendously (at least it did help me a lot). I’d strongly recommend calling your insurance ahead of time and verifying what you are eligible for and attend as many PT sessions as you could. Continuing doing your exercises at home on your downtime is very helpful too.
Transport. Going back to Range of Motion talk. Until you are able to bend your knee, forget driving, just sitting in or even getting into the car is a challenge. I do not really have a great “save your day” advice here, but one thing was helpful to me while I couldn’t bend my knee- putting a firm pillow or two on the car seat. Yes, I know, so ridiculous. But hey, no shame here. In this case, whatever works -stays.
Staircases. This will be your biggest enemy for a while. The best advice here -try to avoid them at any cost. Look for elevators instead or ramps, maybe don’t go at all, ask someone else to do that for you. No, I’m not kidding.
Ask for Help! Last but not least, do not be shy or scared to ask for help. People who have never been in this or similar situation do not really understand the struggle and how challenging it is not only physically but also mentally to go through recovery. So, speak up for yourself and ask for help whenever you need anything.

Here’s a little cheat sheet to help you learn some basic moves for the beginning :

I hope this was helpful and your time in recovery is quick, painless and worry-free. You are more than welcome leave comments below and share your thoughts and experiences.

From Eve with Love

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