Hey everybody, it's Doctor Jo and sweet Kali.
And today I'm gonna show you how to sit to stand when using a walker.
So step one, move your dog.
So let's get started.
So as you can see, I followed step one and removed the dog.
And you might think I'm just kidding, but believe me, I have seen patients who have
tripped and fallen over their dogs, their cats, even little grandchildren, so make sure
you have a safe environment because lot of times, especially your pets, you know they
want to stay close to you.
But sometimes you have to be a little firm with them so that they're not gonna end up
making you trip and then hurting yourself even more.
So the biggest thing with getting up and getting down using a walker is to make sure you're
doing it safely.
A lot of times this is what I see people try and do, and it's really kind of a bad situation
cause it's gonna make it really hard to get up.
And it might even make people fall.
People will grab their walker like this and pull on their walker to get up.
They're trying to do this and they're gonna plop tight back down.
See that's kind of almost impossible to do.
I can probably do it, but I'd probably strain something and then have issues.
So when, if you're trying to help someone out, or if you need to do it yourself, and
you're watching this.
Don't grab the walker with both hands.
The easiest, best way to do it.
And if you have, are in a chair with arm rests that the absolute easiest way to do it, but
if you're not, you want to put one hand on the walker.
And it doesn't really matter which hand, if you want to use your dominant hand, you can.
But it's really just there for stability.
You're not using it to pull because then you're gonna pull that walker towards you and, again,
either you're gonna end up hurting yourself or you're just not gonna be able to get up.
Then use the other hand either on the edge of the seat, or again the arm rest is usually
the best if you're in a chair with arm rests, but obviously as you know not all chairs have
arm rests, so that's why I'm doing it without one so you can see it.
So you still want to do how you would get up normally, and I have some videos for that.
The safest and easiest way.
So you want to shift to the edge of the chair.
This is gonna help give you that momentum to get up when you go to stand up.
Whatever side is your strongest leg, sometimes I know it's not easy to decide because they
are both weak, whichever side you think is your strongest leg, maybe even your dominant
side.
You want to slide that back a little bit.
So let's say my right side is my stronger side.
I'm gonna slide it back just a little bit.
To help get me that push.
So I'm sliding to the edge, putting that foot back, one hand on the walker, one hand on
the chair, and then I'm gonna push up and as soon as I get up, then I put my other hand
on the walker.
So see I'm keeping my had here for that stability.
Keeping it there.
And then I'm pushing up where there's something sturdy.
So that's the goal.
You're pushing up here, and you're using that stronger leg slightly behind you to get that
push as you come up.
So really, it's the same concept coming back down.
A lot of times this is where people will, they want to hold on to their walker cause
they want to stay safe, but then they're trying to sit down like this.
And that ends up again, they're either gonna just plop down, or they have all this in the
way, and they're gonna miss the chair.
So really the goal is take that one hand, leave on on the walker, start trying to find
either the armrest, which will be easier to find.
Or as you're going down, put that one foot back, start reaching for the chair.
As soon as you grab it, then you can support yourself and go back down.
But don't bring that walker with you.
Because, again, that's just gonna cause a lot of issues.
So et me go back and one more step.
I'm here.
My walker's there.
It's slightly out in front of me because when I stand up I don't want to be so close to
the chair.
So I'm gonna scoot to the edge, put mu strong foot back, put my hand on the seat here, my
other hand here on the walker to keep it steady, and then I'm gonna push up and get that other
hand on there.
And then same thing, put that stronger leg back just a little bit.
Start reaching back for that chair.
As soon as I find it, then sit down and then I can scoot back.
So it's as simple as that.
It seems simple, it looks like it should be simple, but it really is a little bit more
complicated.
If you have the walker and you're really relying on that walker for safety, but that's really
the safest way to do it.
So make sure you're practicing.
Make sure you have someone there you know with you to practice, so they can help you
safely do it.
You can have somebody else hold on to the walker over here, if they're standing here,
just to make sure they're holding it the first couple of times you do it so it doesn't come
swinging back towards you.
So that's the couple different ways that you can do it in the safest way.
I'm gonna do it smoothly without saying anything.
ok.
So there you have it.
That's how to sit to stand when using a walker.
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And remember, be safe (don't trip over the dog), have fun, and I hope you feel better
soon.