I have made a post on this before, loooooong ago, but let’s talk about crutches. Break a leg, shatter a knee, snap an ankle, whatever your heart desires, and throw that oc on crutches. Here’s some unfortunate real world experiences on what it’s like to be on the damn things for an extended period of time.
First, what kind of injury? If it’s something more mild, like a broken shin or ankle, or a stress fracture, then you will be moving FAST. I could book it on crutches, like normal person jogging speed.
Now if it’s an injury that hurts to move or requires a heavy brace, you will be moving like a fuckin snail. And it’s annoying, but trying to go faster is usually PAINFUL so 0/10 recommend going faster with a severe injury like a surgery recovery.
How to use them properly. Literally, besides myself and my sister, I have never seen someone use crutches properly. They should be like 3-4” inches below your armpit, and you use your traps and triceps and related muscles to press the crutches up against your ribs.
Along those lines, there WILL be a bruise along your rib cage the first few days if you’re using them properly. The bruise goes away when you get used to them.
Back to speed. If it’s an injury that doesn’t hurt to move, and you’re hauling along like a champion, oh just wait until you get to some stairs.
Going up is easier than going down. Leg goes first on the way up, crutches go first on the way down. Do NOT rush stairs, unless you want to miss a step and tumble face first down an entire flight and freak your parents and your dogs out once again I unfortunately speak from experience 0/10 recommendation
Of course, being on crutches has a couple positives. Those back muscles and triceps? Instant workout. Everyday. It’s great. You’ll be sore the first few days, then you’ll be buff.
Plus number two? Moses reincarnated. Aka people part like the fricken Red Sea when you’re going through a crowd. It’s excellent, especially at crowded football games.
And another fun factor. Ice. Ice+crutches is a bad combination, right up there with toothpaste and orange juice. Slipping on ice and having your bad leg jam against the ground is another thing that I would rate on the “it really hurts and don’t do it” spectrum.
Also good luck trying to find a place to stash those things, they fall over, get knocked over, get tripped over, get run into… They’re always going to be in the way no matter what you do.
And back to walking. It can be a slow progression: such as weight bearing as tolerated from day one, or it can be eight weeks absolutely no weight bearing, then suddenly full weight bearing is allowed.
Atrophy. Those muscles on the injured leg are going to be teensy tiny. And in the case of my surgery, it took a few days to actually be able to use my quads again since a nerve is blocked for surgery. Point is, that the leg will be half the size of the other one, and it’s necessary to build the muscle back SLOWLY and not overdue it
