Every crutch possesses both advantages and disadvantages regarding its use.
It is very difficult to choose one before researching it thoroughly.
We will be talking about the advantages and disadvantages of crutches below.
Hopefully, that will clear confusion & help us to choose the best one.
- Pros and Cons of Forearm Crutches
- Pros and Cons of Underarm Crutches
- Pros and Cons of Platform Crutches
- Pros and Cons of Leg Support Crutches
- Conclusion
See also: Best Crutches of 2022.
Pros and Cons of Forearm Crutches
Forearm Crutches are recommended for long-term use by many peoples including specialists.
These crutches are shorter than underarm crutches with designed cuffs on the top portion of the crutches.
The cuffs are designed in such a way that helps with our body posture & helps us to be relieved from pain.
Pros
- Suitable for long-term use.
- These are lightweight and that helps with carrying around.
- Due to its short build, it helps to put less pressure on legs & help to distribute weight more suitably.
- The cuffs present help to reduce stress on the arms and provide comfort & support.
Cons
- It provides less stability.
- The usage of forearm crutches requires upper body strength and many patients & elder people don’t have that much strength for using this crutch.
- As weight is augmented on the wrist, sore feelings are possible in many peoples.
These crutches are very suitable only for those people who have good upper body strength & body balance.
So, people need to learn & know which crutch they need to use or which crutch would be better suited for them.
But these are good to work with for the long-term duration.
Pros and Cons of Underarm Crutches
Underarm Crutch is one of the standards & most common crutch popularly used.
The top portion of the crutches provides support to our underarms & ultimately keeps the lower part of the body supported & comfortable.
It is heavier in weight. This crutch set is suitable for use in short-term durations.
Pros
- For someone with strong upper body strength, these crutches will provide much convenience during movement.
- This crutch is suitably used for moving past most short-term disability incidents.
- Budget-friendly inexpensive Crutch.
- It doesn’t provide pressure on our lower bodies, it is highly recommended by people for use during lower-body injuries.
Cons
- Reduces freedom of the upper body because the crutch requires whole support from the upper body.
- Long-time use of this crutch isn’t recommended as the top portion of the crutches provides severe pressure on the arms & wrist.
- The risk of losing body balance is significant.
This crutch is designed for peoples with temporary injuries & short-term durations who requires more rest.
This kind of crutch needs the whole support of our upper body.
But this crutch doesn’t put pressure on the lower body and that’s how people can get complete rest for their lower-body injuries.
Pros and Cons of Platform Crutches
This kind of crutch is very uncommon and it is very suitable for people who have a weak hand grip.
When people are using this crutch, their hands take a grip while the forearm of people rests on the horizontal platform.
Learning to use this crutch for keeping balance is time-consuming.
Pros
- The whole body weight is supported by the forearm & not the hand or wrist which ensures no pain in the hand or wrist.
- Very useful for people with weak hand grip.
Cons
- It needs more stability & balance.
- More expensive.
- Learning how to use this crutch is generally harder & time-consuming.
This is not generally used for common phenomena but for a special phenomenon like weak hand grip, this crutch is the most suitable & most wanted.
And by using this crutch, anyone will be benefitted by reducing pain in the wrist & hand. This is a very useful crutch.
Pros and Cons of Leg Support Crutches
This type of crutch is also very uncommon to use.
These crutches are a bit special compared to other crutches we have seen, This crutches don’t need any help or work from the hands.
This crutch is attached to the weak leg for support.
Pros
- Provides good support to the leg.
- No need to use our hands.
- No pain in hand and wrist.
- Muscle atrophy in our legs is reduced.
- Lightweight & portable.
- Easy to use.
- Provides good balance.
- Safe to use while moving through stairs because our hands are free.
Cons
- We need time to learn how to use it & how to balance it well.
- Bit expensive.
Although it might be a bit expensive & time-consuming to learn, this is a special crutch that we need to look out for.
Hands-free & pain-free in hands and wrist are some special features that guarantee the popularity of Leg Support crutches.
This is a very useful & helpful tool.
Conclusion:
We have gained some necessary knowledge about the features of different types of crutches available.
We also gained important information about the advantages and disadvantages of crutches.
Since different types of crutches are being used by people in different conditions, it is difficult to choose which one will be perfectly suited for us.
This knowledge will help us figure out our necessary situation & help us choose the best suitable crutch for us.
