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.
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.
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'm mostly fine walking around. I can even do short flights of stairs. In fact, up until a few years ago they only bothered me when I sat in a really unergonomic chair for a while. Then someone convinced me to try this "couch to 5k" thing, and said that literally anyone could do it, and that I liked like I weighed maybe half as much as people that'd actually followed the timetable and gone from couch to 5k.
Fast forward two months. The doctor says "stay off your feet and see if it gets better". They haven't started feeling better. It's been almost three years.
I understand the viewpoint you're trying to hold, and I sympathize. Knowing there are things you can't do really sucks. Especially when you try and fail at something you really wanted, in Brooklyn or otherwise. Unfortunately, you're being a little bit insensitive, verging on offensive. "Just put down the crutches and walk". "Just stop being depressed and be happy". "Just focus". "Just try harder". "Just stop telling yourself you're incapable".
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.
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.
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 :).
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.
I broke my ankle three years ago and your post reminded me of my post recovery state. Super sympathetic and appreciative of people who accommodated me when I was down.
Fast forward three years and I am getting super frustrated with people going up stairs slowly when getting off the subway. Thanks for the reminder!
> 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?
> how it's unsurprising for a physically-healthy person to take for granted the ability to use stairs
I broke my arm a year ago and I was surprised to see how much rote behavior I relied on using my left hand for! It was pretty enlightening and I try to think about what I take for granted from time to time.
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.
Anyone with anything more debilitating should steer clear.
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