Uh, oh, aahhh! (Crashing noise) Hey everybody, it's Doctor Jo. I got an email from Emma,
who is the Co-founder and CEO of foreveryoungcane.com She asked me to do a video on how, when, and
why should you use a cane? She so graciously donated some canes. This is the Everyday in
black. This is the Fashion cane in purple. One of the biggest things that I hear from
my patients why they don't want to use a cane is it will make them look old. Well on their
website at foreveryoungcane.com, they have a whole bunch of different kind of canes with
different colors, different kind of bling which is awesome. So the first cane here is
basically a standard cane. Straight down here with a little hook and a handle. This cane
is going to be a kind of cane where you just need it for a little bit of balance. Just
to help you with your support, so you're not stumbling and falling. But if you need something
to really take the weight off your foot, your going to need something with a little more
support like this. This is a smaller version of a quad cane. Quad canes are actually a
little bit bigger than this. They kind of have metal prongs going down. This is kind
of what is becoming the more standard because it's not as big and bulky and in your way.
But still, if you walk away, it will stay standing up, and it gives you a little bit
more support if you're a little more off balance than just stumbling every once in awhile.
So when should you use a cane? Well the scenario I used in the beginning, helps give you an
idea. One of the biggest things I see with my patients when they are not using a cane,
is what I call a furniture walker. So at home, they actually do okay because they are in
a comfortable environment with their furniture that's around, and they know that they can
kind of hold onto the couch when they're walking, they're counter top is right here when they
are walking. So they feel safe because they know where everything is, but what happens
is when they get out into the community, they're not familiar with their environment, and they
have nothing to hold onto. The other scenario that you saw in the first section of the video
is a dog or pet on the ground. So that happens a lot, if you don't have a lot of balance,
you're walking through your house, and your dog might not even be moving, they might just
be lying there. Then you kind of stumble and you can't catch yourself. So these are reasons
why you might need a cane or quad cane to give you some extra balance. If you feel like
also, your foot's dragging a little bit. Sometimes people might not have a lot of strength in
their foot, and if you feel like your toes are dragging a little bit, what's going to
happen is your are going to catch them on something and fall. If you're walking, and
you feel like you're changing the way you walk, your limping. You're gonna need a cane
because the more you do this, even let's say I can walk without a cane, you're using your
muscles in a different way and they are going to become unbalanced muscles, and it will
make something else start hurting. If i'm doing this, then I'm working one side more
than the other, and that sides going to start hurting because it's taking on more of a roll
than it should. So once you decide to get your very fashionable cane, what you want
to do is make sure the height of the cane is just at your hip bone here. You want a
slight bend in your elbow, but you don't want a big bend in your elbow, and you don't want
no bend in your elbow. So nice comfortable ben in your elbow. I'm going to start off
with just the standard cane. You want to put the cane on the opposite side of your weak
side. So if my right side is weak, I'm putting the cane in my left hand. The cane is going
to always follow that weak side. So if it goes forward, the cane goes forward. If it's
behind, the cane is behind. And then you're just going into a smooth motion, stepping
through, stepping through. Sometimes if you think about it too much, you're going to see
people kind of going like this, and stepping through. Our natural gait pattern, our arms
swing oppositely. So just let it go with the flow. So you're stepping through, stepping
through. Stepping through, stepping through. Now if you need a little more support where
you are getting a pronged cane or quad cane, it's still the same kind of concept, but you
might end up needing to do a step-to pattern. If you need a little bit more support. What
I mean when I say step-to pattern, is you're bringing the cane and the bad foot forward,
but you're just stepping-to where they are. You're not stepping through making a full
step, you're just kind of stepping-to. Sometimes, people that might have suffered from a stroke
where they need that extra support on that weak side, might do better with the step-to
pattern. But just because you're using a quad cane doesn't mean you can't use that step
through pattern, which you can. So basically what I tell my patients, if you don't feel
like you are walking normally, if anything is changing or you feel off balance, you really
need to be using a cane. If you're not using a cane and you end up falling and breaking
something, you are going to have to use more than a cane. So I definitely recommend using
a cane if you're off balance or if you're weak or if there are lots of things in your
home you might stumble and fall over. So if you have any questions, leave them in the
comments section, if you would like to check out some other videos, go to askdoctorjo.com
And remember be safe, have fun, and I hope you feel better soon!