Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Health aides..

I am curious about walkers. I will occasionally use my father's around my house just to try to push myself more upright
it also helps with getting around when I'm exhausted.

however, I have lost a lot of flexion with my wrists and they are very painful use them. Is there a walker that would allow you to push and guide it with your forearms? Does anyone know?

I don't know. That is a good question. Might Google walkers and see what all comes up. I wouldn't be surprised if there is. There are so many cool things.

I have at various times used a stick, a stick with a moulded hand grip, a zimmer, a manual wheelchair, NHS crutches (horrible things!), nice crutches with moulded softgrips, and a mobility scooter. 8 years ago I did a sponsored 12 mile walk. Today I just make it down to the gate. I hated having to use a stick at first, but I made sure I got a really nice bright coloured one, and kind of treated it like an accessory. The wheelchair was the same - chose the colour to suit the kind of clothes I wear. I never liked the zimmer (too hospital-like), and the single stick just didn't support me enough. The basic bog-standard crutches hurt my arms too much. I finally got to a disability aids showroom and tried out a whole lot of different things, with a trained therapist advising me, and settled on crutches with the moulded soft grip, and thats what I still use on a daily basis.

I guess the big thing for me when I finally found mobility aids that worked for me, was that I realised it really did make me a lot more mobile with a lot less pain. Thats a pretty good incentive to use them. The other thing is that I feel like I get more funny looks when I am struggling to walk without them than when I use them. I do get questions about how I injured myself, and I just answer that by saying "its a permanent condition". Haven't had anyone ask much more than that. Apart from the crutches, I also make use of wheelchair assistance at airports, and hire mobility scooters when in town centres or shopping malls.

It really matters that you get aids that work for you, and trying out a number of different things, with the assistance of a trained therapist to make sure you are using them the right way and they are adjusted for you, is essential. Don't just settle for hospital gray either - all these things come in a huge variety of colours and styles now, and if you can even put a bit of "bling" on - I knew someone who glued diamantes to her black stick for evening use. Don't be afraid of big things like mobility scooters - they can make a huge difference to the comfort of going out. If you have the money, you can also get some pretty cool versions of them - I did see one once that was kind of like one of those "easyrider" trikes, and it was ridden by a well over retirement age female!

Pezami - just noticed your question. Yes, you can get walkers that are much higher, and you rest your whole forearms on them, so you aren't pushing down on wrists.

Thanks so much for your encouragement and ideas. I do need to get a more colorful cane for sure.

I appreciate you,

I knew I'd seen them - I found this walker that you rest your forearms on - very expensive, I'm sure there are other versions, this was just a quick search: http://www.activeforever.com/eva-support-walker

Thanks for the link. I'll have to search around a bit because it is out of my price range. But, now I have an idea of what to look for.

It is kind of strange dealing with limited mobility in my wrists. My fingers are fine but my hands and wrists ache. If I could just have fingers at the end of my arm, I might be better off

My dear, you are going through so much. Darn Lupus on top of it all!! You get extra gentle hugs from me and you are allowing yourself some grace to use health aides and that is good. I believe most insurances and Medicade will pay for a scooter as well. Several people at our church use them and wow, they sure can navigate in tight spaces these days. Praying for you all the time.

Thanks my flower friend....Sweet Pea. :o) Hope you have had a glorious weekend. The Lupus is not being friendly right now. Today I was out front with hubby and grand and I don't know what happened but I just fell right straight to the left and in to the corner of the house. Rock corners hurt me all the way down my back. It was like I just spaced out and fell straight. I imagine it is still the CNS Lupus but will be talking to the dr. for sure tomorrow.

Weird friend you have here.

What did he say Possi? That happened to my mother one night. She felt to the left and kept listing off to the left all the way to the bathroom and back and went to the Dr. the next day thinking she had a TIA or something. They couldn't find anything. That just stink's. Use that walker sister and grab onto it.