dyspunktional-leviathan reblogged
The plaintext version of this post is below the second underscore divider.
_
Let’s bring back staves as mobility aids.
I’d been a cane user (mainly for chronic leg pain) with a certain need for more support and with shoulder issues. Ideally I’ve dreamt of a powerchair, but while I can’t have that I’d been planning to get forearm crutches.
Then I began making a staff for cosplay, and found out that it is actually much better for me than a cane.
I am still planning to try forearm crutches, but it’s in less priority for me now.
The staff both gives me more support than the cane and puts much less pressure on my shoulders.
I wish I could use it outside of home too. Perhaps I will once it’s fully done, of course ideally I should not care about people’s reactions to me carrying a bigger stick than is conventional but, yeah.
Characteristics:
My staff’s base is a metal pipe, wrapped in some kind of plastic, from a drape runner. It’s 25 mm in diameter and 180 cm in height. A cane tip is pushed into the bottom. (Later it will be decorated: a foam clay dragon claw at the top holding a ball with an LED light, and painted)
I am 155 cm tall. I am most comfortable holding it on the height around the shoulder level. Sometimes I hold it with both hands. I am uncomfortable holding it at around waist level.
_
Let’s bring back staves as mobility aids.
I’d been a cane user (mainly for chronic leg pain) with a certain need for more support and with shoulder issues. Ideally I’ve dreamt of a powerchair, but while I can’t have that I’d been planning to get forearm crutches.
Then I began making a staff for cosplay, and found out that it is actually much better for me than a cane.
I am still planning to try forearm crutches, but it’s in less priority for me now.
The staff both gives me more support than the cane and puts *much* less pressure on my shoulders.
I wish I could use it outside of home too. Perhaps I will once it’s fully done, of course ideally I should not care about people’s reactions to me carrying a bigger stick than is conventional but, yeah.
Characteristics:
My staff’s base is a metal pipe from a drape runner, wrapped in some kind of plastic. It’s 25 mm in diameter and 180 cm in height. A cane tip is pushed into the bottom. (Later it will be decorated: a foam clay dragon claw at the top holding a ball with an LED light, and painted)
I am 155 cm tall. I am most comfortable holding it on the height around the shoulder level. Sometimes I hold it with both hands. I am uncomfortable holding it at around waist level.
#leviathan.txt#disabilityposting#disability#disabled#mobility aid user#mobility aids#mobility issues#cane user#and pioneering the tag#staff user#disabled cosplayer#chronic pain#dyspunktional#and i am against this category but there might be folx who might find this useful who are browsing that tag:#physical disability#physically disabled
dyspunktional-leviathan reblogged
if youre considering using a mobility aid, youre probably thinking about getting a cane. even if it seems like youre issues arent bad enough, you should probably still consider other mobility aids. please look into the pros and cons of several different mobility aids, especially in conjunction with your specific disability/diagnosis/needs.
i got a cane at first because i thought my issues were "mild" and therefore i needed a "mild" mobility aid. but canes are moreso for stability than support. i damaged my wrist and worsened my scoliosis by deciding to use a cane without an educated opinion.
i now use forearm crutches primarily, a rollator for longer outings, and a wheelchair for worse days and longer events. dont make the same mistake as 16-year-old me. dont choose your mobility aid based on palatability, consider your needs and address your internalized ableism if need be.
dyspunktional-leviathan reblogged
oh my other little problem with the mobility aid fearmongering that's going around tumblr crip circles rn is that it's acting like muscle stiffness/pain/reconditioning is, like, always a tradeoff with different pain, when ime a lot of people who rely on mobility aids that aren't prescribed by doctors do so because they're fall risks, not because of pain
pretty much no injury that is caused by a mobility aid will ever be as bad as a concussion and if you're claiming to be imparting risk assessment information on underinformed demographics you should really at least be acknowledging how horrifically fucking dangerous concussions are and how much all muscular damage/weakening from improperly-sized mobility aids and the vast majority of associated joint & muscle damage from long-term mobility aid use pale vastly in comparison to fucking concussions
my advice: if you're a fall risk get the damn mobility aid. repeated concussions will kill you with basically no warning. it doesn't matter if you're a fall risk because of vertigo, seizures, fainting, w/e, use the mobility aid before you end up dead, i beg you.
You don't have to feel guilty if your disability aid got damaged.
It can often directly be the *manufacturer's* fault, and if it is not, still, you don't have to feel guilty for that.
You do deserve to have it replaced or repaired.
dyspunktional-leviathan reblogged
dirkqueer
does anyone know if theres a term for when you kinda cycle between caneian, crutchian, wheelchairqior and nothing? or would that just fall under disabledfluid or something (since yk, disability aids and stuff?)
Proposition: mobilityfluid
Transmobilityfluid if you want to specify transness
Also, you might know that already, but many cisdisabled folkel have fluctuating mobility, I'm pretty sure including from no need for mobility aid at all to complete mobility loss! Many use different mobility aids at different times. Not sure how relevant this might be, and again you might know this already, but thought this could be worth mentioning.
dyspunktional-leviathan reblogged
Please help me to find videos on forearm crutch use with both legs affected? Especially for walking up and down stairs.
So far I only seem to find videos for unilateral leg injury. I have chronic pain in both legs. Currently a cane user but it’s not enough, recently I tried forearm crutches for a few steps and it made so much difference.
hey! forearm crutch user here! what I personally do, is I will shift all my weight to the leg that is standing with the crutches while the other leg steps forward, then quickly swinging my crutches to forward leg and repeat, basically switching your weight between whichever leg has the crutches nearest to support it, if you have any questions or want to brainstorm feel free to DM me!
6-9-23
Thank you so much!!!!
Please help me to find videos on forearm crutch use with both legs affected? Especially for walking up and down stairs.
So far I only seem to find videos for unilateral leg injury. I have chronic pain in both legs. Currently a cane user but it’s not enough, recently I tried forearm crutches for a few steps and it made so much difference.
Tried forearm crutches for a few steps today while at a medical shop for getting a new cane tip, it felt quite weird, but after I put them away I realized how much load they have taken off my legs. I felt perhaps the same way the first time I tried a cane, this time perhaps even more intensely.
Under my mobility aid advice request one person said the forearm crutches were worse for their shoulders then two canes and another said they were better, I still haven't tried walking with two canes and should probably do it (perfect time, as I'm replacing the tip of my outdoor cane, so I can try it indoors with both canes rather than outdoors and washing my indoor cane after); I haven't noticed any load on the shoulders with the crutches today but we'll yeah those were just a few steps. I do kinda feel tho like crutches would be better than two canes; again, I'll try it. But I think I want forearm crutches now.
The assistant also said that the least load on the shoulders would be underarm crutches but I really don't think those would be comfortable. My mom also told me she had a very bad experience with them when she had a broken leg.
I miss the feeling of those crutches (that I have tried today) now.
no but really, so what if someone needs a mobility aid because they're fat? when it comes to mobility aids, it doesn't matter why you need them outside of understanding what your needs are. what really matters is how it would improve your life - make you happier and healthier, like you deserve to be.
this goes for any treatment and support you need because you're fat. fat people have the same right to healthcare that thin people do, and being fat never means you don't deserve wellbeing and safety. fatness is not a wrongdoing. it impacting your health doesn't mean being fat is bad - or that you're bad.
the moralization of disability and fatness is not your fault. please do what you need to be as healthy and safe as you can be. this is your life, no one else's. live it as best you can.