Hand-Friendly Walker & Poles

[jesse_the_k]

I mentioned to anankastic I used mobility aids that were easier on my hands, so here are a picture and a video.

When I’m inside the house or in smooth places for short times, I use a four-wheel rolling walker. As I got older, my hands got more arthritic, so grabbing the walker got harder. MyGuy wrapped 1/2" foam pipe insulation around the handles on my original device, which gave out last year.

The handles on my new device solved that issue nicely: they’re a “palm grip” design (also available on canes).

This photo is a close up of the left handle¹. The top of the handle has a bulbous ledge the width of my palm. My thumb doesn’t rub against it because the ledge is narrow at each end. It’s wide enough in the middle so I can use a loose hold on the “grippy” surface to steer the walker.

I use Exerstrider² one-piece poles when I’m primarily walking on non-paved surfaces (the dog park, outside the cabin up north).

They don’t have wrist straps because they do have outstanding ergonomic grips. As the many pictures on the seller’s page show³, the grips are inclined cones, which cradle the palm (basically the same way as the handle above). A loose hold is all that’s needed because the 2–3/8" tops serve as a lid, preventing the pole from sliding out of a loose grip.

The video demonstrates how I walk, dragging the boot-shaped tips along the ground (boot toes pointing backwards). The drag means I don’t need to lift the poles but I do get my arms swinging. Unlike with previous walking poles, when I move with the Exerstriders I get that lovely lower-back looseness as my hips move.

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1. Although the site for the Access Active Walker no longer shows my handles http://active-walker.com/active-walker-details/ ↩︎

2. That it’s a local company is an unexpected plus ↩︎

3. https://www.walkingpoles.com/exerstrider-poles-standard-features ↩︎

Comments

[davidgillon]

Interesting. For forearm crutches and sticks I favour the flat palm ergonomic grips, I really don't think the somewhat cone-like grips that sometimes get called ergonomic on crutches cut it for full weight-bearing.

I have two pair of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008PR5NLQ/ref=s9_acsd_zgift_hd_bw_b35HKMZ_c_x_w?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-5&pf_rd_r=EBNS9VARE9WE52V575XT&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=44b62d15-b9f0-5ebf-9d2a-d24790f28564&pf_rd_i=2826410031 and a pair of these for smart https://walkeasy.com/shop/crutches/forearm-elbow/495.php (though the Walk Easy version of the grip is a little small for my hands).