Comments on: Crutches

By: drew

drew — Tue, 07 Sep 2004 02:51:21 +0000

eszter – in america any non-old person who uses a cane is a pimp.

By: epistemology

epistemology — Mon, 06 Sep 2004 23:05:52 +0000

1. They are cheaper. 2. They allow a greater proportion of your weight to be passed through the crutch. 3. They allow weight bearing with your hands free by leaning on your armpits (not advised due to axillary nerve injuries). 4. I think that, because the early adopters of forearm crutches in the US were obviously impaired by Muscular Dystrophy or the like, while most axillary crutch users were clearly temporarily disabled by a broken leg, say, forearm crutches were stigamtized in some people’s minds as being for disabled people. 5. They are cheaper.

By: Catarina the Swede

Catarina the Swede — Mon, 06 Sep 2004 20:42:07 +0000

I must agree with Jill. Underarm crutches got a feel in my mind of WWII movies. I’ve never seen underarm crutches being used IRL in Europe. I myself have spent much of my youth on forearm crutches (due to several soccer injuries on foot and knee) and never experienced any problems with them. I even own my own pair because after a while I stopped bothering going to see a doc for another sprained ancle. I just brought out my crutches for a few weeks and stayed off my foot.

By: yabonn

yabonn — Mon, 06 Sep 2004 14:45:06 +0000

Actually, i just like to say crutch. Crutch, crutch, crutch, crutch, crutch.

By: Francis Xavier Holden

Francis Xavier Holden — Mon, 06 Sep 2004 14:35:14 +0000

Have you ever tried to cut down a branch off a tree and try to make a forearm crutch? Americans have a history of carrying big sharp cutting knife things and makeing their own crutches from the nearest tree. It’s just a matter of finding a forked branch and a few cuts here and there and away you go on your genuine pioneer armpit crutch. No tolerance for designer girlie-man forearms crutches.

By: JamesW

JamesW — Mon, 06 Sep 2004 12:05:38 +0000

Brian: going up and down stairs is easier with forearm crutches assuming you have a hand-rail or banister, since you hold the unused rail-side crutch in the other hand. Without a rail, don’t even think of it. When I broke my leg skiing (in France), managing stairs with the canne anglaise was the cricial examination for being let out.

By: bad Jim

bad Jim — Mon, 06 Sep 2004 10:51:08 +0000

Can anyone who remembers the 19th century think of canes as anything but a weapon? Consider Charles Sumner being clobbered over the head and left for dead. I’ve used a cane myself once or twice. Back problems. Haven’t hit anyone. Yet.

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 06 Sep 2004 10:18:40 +0000

> How easy is it to keep all your weight off one leg with forearm crutches? Easy. Although forearm crutches are less stable than underarms, and it’s very straightforward to go arse over tit if you hit a greasy patch of ground.

By: michael s.

michael s. — Mon, 06 Sep 2004 08:29:13 +0000

I broke my ankle last year and was on underarm crutches for six weeks and it beefed my arms and shoulders up quite a bit. Perhaps americans like to beef up more?

By: laura

laura — Mon, 06 Sep 2004 03:02:59 +0000

The people I’ve seen with forearm crutches here in the US have been, as several people have noted, more likely to be encrutched for the long time if not permanently; they have also tended to be able to put at least some weight on their legs, as opposed to many of the people I see on underarm crutches (and as opposed to the person I recently WAS on underarm crutches) who are not putting any weight at all on the foot or leg in question. Is there a difference there? How easy is it to keep all your weight off one leg with forearm crutches? (And while we’re discussing crutches, can I just say ow? I hate those things, although even a couple months after getting off them, I have more muscle definition in my arms than I ever did. But I’m not overweight and I’m in reasonably good shape—what do out-of-shape and/or fat people do when they have to be on crutches? I just don’t see how it’s possible.)

By: laura

laura — Mon, 06 Sep 2004 03:01:16 +0000

By: travc

travc — Mon, 06 Sep 2004 02:41:34 +0000

Why can’t I resist commenting on this…. anyway A good portion of the disparity is probably due to the fact that the American medical system likes using a “one-size fits all” approach. (Lots of reasons for this.) Underarm crutches are overkill for most injuries, but also work on more serious injuries where an forearm crutch wouldn’t. Along those lines, I’ve noticed crutches getting rare in general in the US. Wheelchairs are the default now. Again, just a one-size fits all overkill. Terribly inefficient, but it works. As for price… Medical products have a very very weak correlation between price of production and sale price. If hospitals wanted to start issuing forearm crutches in the US, the price would come down pretty instantly. Right now, forearm crutches are expensive here because the people who buy them know that they are better (at least for them) and are being charged for having a clue.

By: Avedon

Avedon — Mon, 06 Sep 2004 01:39:38 +0000

When I busted my ankle in America, my brother had a handy set of underarm crutches available. When I got back to the UK, I learned that they won’t give them to you here because they are afraid you’ll lean your full weight on them all the time and cut off the circulation to your arms. My verdict: It’s much easier to balance with underarm crutches. So much so that I gave up on the sticks and rented a walker for the rest of the time I needed the assist. None of these were any use to me on stairs, of course, which is a real pain given the design of your average London house.

By: RSN

RSN — Mon, 06 Sep 2004 01:32:09 +0000

“It seems clear to me that the underarm kind is inferior in every important respect.” You’ve obviously never been on crutches before. That, or you’re just another anti-American bigot.

By: eudoxis

eudoxis — Mon, 06 Sep 2004 01:14:05 +0000

“It seems clear to me that the underarm kind is inferior in every important respect.” Why? Is this based on personal observation or a recent study? Axillary crutches bear a higher percentage of user weight and are more stable. They require less training and result in fewer instability injuries. Acute injuries require that the injured leg bears no weight at all. For long-term use, all sorts of ambulatory devices are available, taylored to individual strength and preference. Usually, chronic disabilities are varied in the limitation of limb use, that is, some weight bearing is often possible. The forearm cruthes are preferred in those situations. Great explanations, though.