Don't Fall Over Your Stick! 7 Steps to Keep Your Walking Aid Safe
Don't Fall Over Your Stick! 7 Steps to Keep Your Walking Aid Safe
At Home Links Physiotherapy, we visit people in their homes every day — and we regularly see walking aids being used in all manner of creative ways. Some of these are harmless enough, but others can turn an object that is supposed to help you into a genuine trip hazard.
Walking aids include anything that helps you to walk safely: crutches, walking sticks, Zimmer frames, rollators, and the wheeled outdoor walkers with three or four wheels. Whatever you use, it needs to be in good condition, the right height, and used correctly — otherwise it can do more harm than good.
Here are our top tips for keeping your walking aid safe.
1. Check your ferrules
Ferrules are the rubber stoppers on the bottom of the legs of your walking aid. They are what grips the floor and stops your aid from slipping — so when they wear down, the risk of slipping significantly increases.
Check your ferrules regularly. If the rubber is worn flat, cracked, or has worn through entirely, they need replacing. Replacement ferrules are inexpensive and widely available at mobility shops and some pharmacies. If you are not sure whether yours need changing, your physiotherapist can check during a home visit.
2. Make sure it is the right height
There is no single formula for the correct height of a walking aid — it depends on whether you need it to help redistribute weight, improve balance, or both. What matters is that it helps you stand and move as upright and efficiently as possible.
Ideally, your walking aid should be fitted or reviewed by a physiotherapist who can assess both you and the aid together, watch you walking, and make sure everything is working in harmony. An aid that is too low or too high can cause poor posture, increase pain, and raise your falls risk.
3. Watch out for hazardous flooring
Loose rugs, threadbare patches of carpet, and uneven thresholds between rooms are all common causes of trips for people using walking aids. The legs or wheels of a frame can catch on these surfaces unexpectedly.
Keep rugs taped down firmly at the edges or remove them altogether. If you notice a carpet becoming loose or worn in a key area, get it seen to — it is not worth the risk.
4. Take extra care on wet surfaces
Most walking aids are designed for use on dry floors. In the kitchen or bathroom — where spills and splashes are common — extra caution is needed. Even a small amount of water on a hard floor can cause a ferrule to slip.
Wipe up spills promptly, consider non-slip mats in bathroom areas (secured flat at the edges), and take your time when moving through wet areas.
5. Never carry your Zimmer frame up the stairs
We have seen this more times than we would like to admit — and it is genuinely dangerous. A Zimmer frame should never be carried up a flight of stairs.
If your home has stairs, you should have two frames: one upstairs and one downstairs. This is something your physiotherapist or occupational therapist can arrange when planning your discharge from hospital or during a home assessment. If you have not been set up with two frames and need them, please get in touch and we can help sort this out.
6. Use it correctly — and only when you need it
We regularly see frames being used as impromptu clothes horses, pushed along in front of someone who has long since stopped needing it, or even being walked with the wrong way round. None of these uses are safe.
It is also worth noting that standard Zimmer frames are designed for indoor use only. The wheels are too small to cope with the uneven surfaces of a typical pavement — for outdoor use, a wheeled rollator with larger wheels is a much safer choice.
If you want to carry things from room to room, do not hang bags from the front of your frame — this shifts your centre of gravity and increases your falls risk. A purpose-made basket or caddy that fits onto the frame is a much safer option and widely available.
7. Get your walking reviewed regularly
Walking aids should be reviewed periodically — particularly if your mobility or confidence has changed, if you have had a fall, or if you have been discharged from hospital. Many people continue using an aid they no longer need simply because nobody has ever reviewed whether it is still appropriate. Others are managing on an aid that is no longer right for their needs.
A walking aid assessment at home allows a physiotherapist to watch you moving around your own environment, assess whether what you have is still the right tool for you, and advise on any changes — whether that means adjusting the height, switching to a different type of aid, or working on the strength and balance that could reduce your dependence on it over time.
Walking aids are supposed to help you, not hinder you.
Would you like a walking aid assessment?
If you are unsure whether your walking aid is right for you, or if you would like a home visit to review your mobility and falls risk, our physiotherapy team is here to help. We visit people at home across South East London and Kent — no GP referral needed.
Get in touch with our team to arrange an assessment.
