Brought to you, by me, remembering that I have a rolling kneeling chair that I can use in the kitchen instead of lying on the floor between each step of cooking food.
Absolutely this. I resisted until a friend showed up at my door one day with a cane and told me he was sick of seeing me stagger around and to use the fucking thing. That pushed me to find and use the cane I have now which works MUCH better for me.
I had to nearly smash my face on a monument at Gettysburg in my twenties because I almost fainted before I finally made carrying my cane a huge part of my personal style and now I look dapper AF, so I can only recommend them. I would buy everyone who kinda sorta wants one a cane if I could.
I know you have joint probs, so how do you deal with any hand or wrist pain from leaning your weight om the cane?
Is it a problem at all? It's something i worry about if I eventually need one
Fwiw, I've found that a cane with a spherical grip as opposed to a handle helps because it provides support in a line down your arm, but your mileage may vary.
Because I rarely, almost never, stand around leaning my whole weight onto the cane, there's really no wrist pain for me. My cane is pretty heavy (over a pound) but I don't get hand fatigue unless I'm using a cane with a squishy handle.
The way I hold my cane accomodates the dynamic motion of swinging my cane (I swing it more than other people I know), which also helps avoid wrist pain bc it's not a static pose, as well. It's hard to explain? It's like how wearing shoes that fit doesn't make my legs tired by itself.
Also make sure the cane is the right length so you can lean on it fully from the back of your palm and with a straight arm so you lock the elbow and the line of force goes up the bone (well it works that way for me)
I learned that the only time I don't always need my cane is when I find myself habitually leaving it behind. Currently I'm in medication-induced remission from my autoimmune arthritis, so my cane waits, ready, next to the bed.
Nevertheless, I'm getting a folding one to put in the car just in case.
I like to point out that we live in a world with so many (socially accepted) mobility aids - eyeglasses, cars, *shoes*, grocery carts, backpacks, all these are supports that have been destigmatised at some point. Canes, wheelchairs, rollators all the same, but are politicised. Use the dang aid!
Fear, I think? I hid my increasing visual impairment (the cataracts, not the socially acceptable myopia) from colleagues until I'd had the first operation and knew it was getting better.
I didn't want to be seen as weak. Ableism internalised from childhood when even the myopia was stigmatised.
My mother has SO MANY FEELINGS about my occasional cane use. Thank goodness for therapy (both being a client and a therapist) so I can say MOM I THINK YOU LEFT YOUR FEELINGS OVER HERE ON ME, PLEASE TAKE THEM WITH YOU WHEN YOU GO, BYE
I actually want to say this to MY mother! She shuffles painfully (and I mean painfully- she’s genuinely suffering) around and refuses to use her cane or walker because she’s waiting until she’s “bad enough”. 😭
Something I had to tell my coworkers: its OK to make fonts bigger to make them easier to read. A bunch of them were shocked I do that cos Im half their age, meanwhile they struggle and strain. Just make the font bigger. You're allowed to, its ok!
Ive realized this is maybe the key to aging gracefully. My grandma is struggling with internalized ableism and won’t use her walker!
Thanks to you internet heroes, I’ve learned this lesson and feel well prepared for the macular degeneration and mobility limitations I’ll almost certainly experience.
What do you do when you have worse hand-pain after a short use of cane or walker than improved knee/hip/ankle trouble with the aid? Especially since the hand pain doesn't abate for a long time of avoiding the aids?
I use a walking staff. Instead of pushing down on a cane through your hand, you can lean on the staff. You can use both hands, and grip as high or low as is comfortable.
I'm glad that works for you. I use hiking poles when I'm too fatigued to have no support, but they are a bother when I also have to carry a camera or other tools.
And there we get back to things which are prone to make things worse for me. It's nice that works for you; I'd be down, probably with my head downhill, the first time a laden two-handed staff hit a hole in the path.
Knee scooters, mobility devices, wheelchairs, and other devices you don't have to grab exist. What's available where you are etc is unfortunately variable. See if your doctor or the local PT has ideas too.
