Deciding To Use Crutches For Chronic Illness

As some of you may have notice from my Autumn Accessories Shop My Wardrobe post, I have started using crutches. I found it really hard to know whether I was making the right decision. When I Googled “do I need crutches” and “when do I need crutches” the search results returned information related to injury and short term use of crutches. I couldn’t find anything about using crutches for chronic illness, so I relied heavily on the support & advice of friends with EDS. Speaking to people, it seems that a lot of EDS sufferers have to make the decision themselves, with little or no input from medical professionals.

I think the first thing you need to think about when deciding if using crutches for chronic illness are the way forward, is what difficulties you are having and what is causing them? For me, my left foot was pointing outwards at almost 90 degrees. It was also rolling inwards, while my knee was also rolling inwards. What my hip was doing at this point I dread to think! This was happening constantly & by the time I made the decision to use crutches, my right knee was also starting to cave inwards.

The result of this was that I was unable to safely walk up and down the stairs. To get round this I was having to go up and down on my bottom to avoid falling. I was struggling with fatigue and on the days I was able to cook dinner I found it very difficult to stay upright. I managed to burn my hand and set fire to a tea towel because my so much of my concentration was being used to avoid falling.

To me, the biggest indicator that I needed to use crutches was that I couldn’t move round the house without holding on to furniture. I was experiencing intense pains that were keeping me awake at night in my arms and legs. I’d be lucky if I could fall asleep by 2am. The pain that was a sharper version of pins and needles. I think it was affecting my arms as well as my legs because I was having to hold onto things at different angles and heights. This had a knock on effect on the intensity of my migraine.

I would always advise seeking support from the medical professionals who are involved in your care. Ultimately though, you are the one having to live with the difficulties not them. I spoke to my GP when I was having difficulties moving around the house but before my joints were going out at funny angles. I then saw her again when my movement was significantly slower.

The bending of my joints came about quite quickly and by that point I wasn’t able to get myself to the surgery to see her. I had a hand therapy appointment, which I was able to get transportation to from the local medical transport charity. I asked the physio here what his thoughts on crutches were but he said he was unable to comment as I had been referred for my hands & advised me to seek a referral from my GP. I can understand where he was coming from, but if I had walked in with an injury, it would have been seen to. Because I had deteriorated in two weeks & the hand therapy appointment had taken 4 weeks to come through, I knew waiting for a physio appointment was not an option. When I next saw my GP (with my crutches) I told her that the hand therapist had suggested physio, but she didn’t think it was necessary.

I have since seen my neurologist, who asked me why I was using crutches for chronic illness, before I had even had the chance to sit down! While he said that it wasn’t that he thought crutches weren’t a good idea, he wasn’t happy that my joints were bending oddly. I had no support from a physio to try to stabilise an strengthen the muscles. He is writing to my GP to ask that I be seen again by a physio. It was a relief in some ways to know that I was right in what I was asking for from my GP.

So, you think crutches are for you? Did you know there are different types? It’s worth considering whether your hands are also problematic, incase you need something more than the standard crutch grip and whether an open or closed cuff would be better for you. I’ll go into this in more detail in another post. I really hope this was helpful!

Do you use crutches for chronic illness, or other mobility aids? Did you have to make the decision yourself or did you get support from medical professionals? If you did, who?

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