“Fear” of walking with canes from the rollator

“Fear” of walking with canes from the rollator

My MS therapist was here yesterday. She was doing some balance stuff with me in the pool observing my core. She said you should be walking now without the rollator. Not without help mind you, but with canes. My back is so straight I should be able to be upright, not leaning over with the rollator. So that is the new game plan, to start teaching my legs to walk again with two canes for balance.

We did a practice lap around the pool. She said you need to get over the “fear” of falling. You have the core strength to catch yourself, trust yourself. It made me question, do I have a “fear”. Wouldn’t walking with canes be so much easier? It has to be easier to get canes out of my car then the rollator. Then I realized the “fear” isn’t on the good days, it’s the bad days. My MS therapist has seen me on good days before my legs have tired out. What about those bad days when I can barely walk? Wouldn’t that be tremendous strain on my arms?

I never went to a cane. I went from walking unaided to the rollator. I never felt “safe” enough with the cane. Plus I had a habit of tripping over them. Granted I’ve never learned to actually use them correctly. My MS therapist is trained in this stuff. She’s not giving me this equipment and exercises hoping for the best. She has license after license in this area. She has watched my body perform for well over a year and knows what it can and can’t do. Do I? Am I scared? I guess the only answer here is we’ll see. Safety first. I do completely trust my therapist, now it’s time to trust myself.

4 thoughts on ““Fear” of walking with canes from the rollator

  1. I’m a two cane guy and I try to walk with a straight back. I walk better when I’m more upright. Trust your PT. It sounds as if she knows her stuff. (I’m a little biased, however, because I’m married to one).

    Ed

  2. Do you mean forearm crutches,which is what I use.canes would seem very unstable to me.

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