Usually people wear crutches for short-time only because they are recovering from some sort of injury. Obviously leg strength degrades because of the lack of exercise, but walking around with a broken leg also leads to a lack of exercise and reduction of leg strength.
I was assuming that most people are on crutches temporarily, as I've only ever known people to use them this way. I would assume this group are less likely to get a special car just for the duration or their use.
A quick google didn't give me any idea of what proportion of people use them permanently/long-term, although there are reports of complications increasing with prolonged (>1 year) use [0] so it implies they definitely are around.
Is that culture of injury actually normal? I went to a smaller but not tiny high school (~1000) and crutches were always notable, not a common thing for athletes.
> Crutches and leg braces: I saw many more people with crutches and leg braces walking around than I typically see in San Francisco. It was a striking difference, so I don't think it was just a fluke. A few hypotheses:
I too have noticed this. Does anyone have any explanation? Due to better health care? Worse health care? More of a walking culture? more interest in soccer which causes these types of injuries? Something else entirely?
Surely. Surely not something I've battled with great effort for a very long time. Surely not something I've sought and received treatment for. Surely it's just a choice I made.
Maybe people walking around with a cast and crutches are just making themselves look "powerless and victimised". Surely.
People talk like crutches are a bad thing. They're legitimate medical devices! You wouldn't try to walk off a broken leg, and a wheelchair or some crutches will help you get around while the leg is healing, while keeping you active and fit enough that you do actually hopefully heal.
Some people break their get-it-done-femur instead. Why not embrace some crutches if they're effective?
> This is for the same type of person that believes in setting New Years resolutions.
More like the kind of person who knows damn well they're not going to keep those new years resolutions, is sick and tired of it, and wants to try something that might (or might not) be more effective.
Living in boston with a broken leg certainly made me very proficient in the {carry crutches while hobbling up and down countless staircases using only the railing to lift my entire body up and down with one arm} waddle.
Anyone with anything more debilitating should steer clear.
Crutches normally connote injury, but I bet a non-injured person who actually did athletic sports on crutches would become really dexterous with the things. Four points of contact with the ground. Or they could be used to assist when balancing.
Anyway, I don't think the crutch model is correct, even at the risk of disagreeing with Socrates. I think we just learn some way to learn, and part of that is a memorization ritual. Socrates learned to load things into his long term memory by discussing them. The vast majority of over-30 (at least) American who learned to load things into long term memory learned to do so by the ritual of writing them down with pen and paper. I'm sure there'll be a contingent who learn a ritual of typing notes.
No. Don't drop crutches before you can walk with crutches. Then try not to use them less. Some people will always need crutches, that's okay. If you can fly you run, if you can't run you walk, if you can't walk you crawl, if you can't crawl you roll around. Keep moving :).
Please keep in mind, I'm not saying don't use crutches. People with broken legs should use crutches. Just don't use crutches after you gain the ability to walk without them. I do think it's better to every 10 minutes try to question what you did, and whether it was something you wanted to do, or did because you were on autopilot rather than just turning the device off.
Nothing wrong with crutches. If they don't work for you don't assume them useless to others. Ditto the "reward" function that @throwit-hey15 used so successfully.
The main point is always worth reiterating (take care of your body), but before a bunch of people run out and buy wrist supports I just want to add that things like this are not universally endorsed by physical therapists (or fellow injury-prone hackers). They can lead to secondary issues like atrophy and poor circulation, which in turn lead to more issues, etc.
Having been through multiple versions of these (the kind he has, less restrictive ones, custom-molded ones), I found my body held up best when I kept it active and strong on its own. The term "crutch" has a double meaning in the English language for a reason: sometimes it's truly necessary, but when it's not truly necessary it's actually hurting you in the long run.
The person you are talking about could simply have bad biomechanics, or pushed themselves beyond what they should have and not allowed for sufficient recovery.
Overuse injuries got a bunch of people I knew. They'd use crutches to speed recovery up a bit, or to get around if it was bad enough.
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