Mobility Aids are indispensible devices, assisting people who find difficulties moving independently due to injury, physical disability or old age. They allow a person with mobility limitations to walk without experiencing pain or fatigue.
There a number of mobility aids available in the market and is necessary to know them if you need to purchase one for yourself.
Thankfully, in this post we put together some of the major types of walking assistance for people having mobility issues.
- Canes
When we reach our seventies, our balance begins to fail and a cane can help with stability while minimizing leg pain.
Canes are the most common and typical form of walking aid that a senior would possibly be using. It is a simple and convenient tool that is easy to carry around and help people balance their weight and avoid falling on the ground.
- Crutches
Crutches help remove the weight from the knees and move it to the upper body. They are commonly used in pairs by the elderly, however they are generally much more obstructive, tedious and hard to use than standard canes.
Crutches are more useful for short-term injuries such as a leg injury. But people who are comfortable using them can consider them as a walking assistance device for long term use.
- Walkers
Walkers are mobility aids made of metal and ideal for non-weight bearing injuries. They have four legs which makes them very strong to hold the weight of the patient.
They are convenient for people who have limited abilities but don’t have the strength to use a cane. Walkers are required to be lifted a few inches up to the ground and put ahead to make a step.
- Wheel Chairs
Wheel chairs are most suitable for people who cannot walk at all. They can be either pushed by the person sitting in it or by another person, if the patient isn’t able to able to do it himself.
However, there are electronic wheelchairs available which can be easily moved independently with the help of simple controls.
- Mobility Scooters
Though they are similar to wheelchairs, mobility scooters are bulkier machines, designed to be used on outdoors. These machines have handlebars or steering wheels to control direction and footplates to rest the feet.
Mobility scooters are not walking assistance devices but a walking replacement device. In fact, they are often considered as the second best thing to a motorbike for the physically impaired.