What are Walkers?
Elders and those with limited lower body strength find it challenging to move around by themselves. Walker for Adults is designed to assist them in providing a good deal of independence and the safety and support required. It offers good support than the walking stick and is ideal for stabilizing patients with poor balance. Adult walkers provide a safe and secure hold to the patient and protect them from falling or tripping while having issues with walking. Various health conditions like weak muscles, osteoporosis, chronic arthritis, and/or injuries cause ambulatory problems for some people and restrict them from moving independently. HPFY offers you a wide range of medical walkers that provide additional support to injured and disabled people so that they can independently perform their daily activities.
Types of Adult Walkers
- Seated Walkers - These Walkers come with a comfortable wide seat and back support for resting. Users can raise the seat to step inside the walker frame. Some walkers also come with a utility basket for carrying your belongings, like the Essential Medical’s Featherlight Aluminum Walker with Four Wheels and Loop Hand Brakes.
- Posture Control Walkers - These walkers possess forward-facing handles that promote a better posture. These medical walkers help improve cadence, velocity, energy use, and step and stride length—for example, the UPWalker and UP Walker Lite.
- Folding Walkers - These walkers come with a folding design to fit into narrow spaces or folded to take along on the go. These walkers feature an easy-to-use folding mechanism designed for operation with the palm, finger, or arm. Try the lightweight Easy Care Folding Walker from Guardian or the Dolomite Jazz 610 Walker from Clarke, and Walkers With Wheels by Medline is ideal for taking along on short trips.
- Bariatric Walkers - These walkers are designed with extra wide sturdy aluminum frames with a weight capacity of up to 850 lbs. Proper walker sizing helps prevent poor posture and injury from misuse or falling. Try the ConvaQuip Bariatric Rigid Walker, which is available in various height configurations.
- Dual Release Walkers - The two-button folding walkers are designed with a two-button release and a sturdy frame that allows for easy folding, compact storage, and lateral access.
- Hemi Walkers - These are designed for people with no strength in one arm. These walkers fold compactly for storage. Some models feature bi-level hand grips for transitions in and out of the chairs. HPFY brings you a range of hemi walkers like the Guardian Adult Hemi Walker, which offers added assistance and height adjustments.
- Knee Walkers - These walkers are designed to aid with mobility along with stability and balance. Knee walkers allow the user to walk with one leg while the other sits upon a support platform. The hand brakes can be adjusted for right or left-hand use.
- Support Walkers - These are designed for users with good lower body control but limited upper body strength necessary for walking with traditional walkers. Support walkers feature thoracic supports to support the upper body, as in the Kaye Anterior Forearm Support Walker with thoracic support and stability support.
- Single Release Walkers - These walkers fold easily with a push of a button and are suitable for traveling. Single-release walkers like the Carex Single-Button Folding Walker easily fold and unfolds with a push button.
- Beach Walkers - These walkers are equipped with special tires to be used outdoors or on the beach. The two front tires rotate 360°, and the rear tires come with breaks for stability.
When to use a Medical Walker?
Walker for Adults is ideal to use for the following purposes:
- Can’t take all your weight on your legs
- Recovering from surgery
- Recovering from illness, disease, or a stroke
- Recovering from Arthritis, Parkinson’s, Osteoporosis, or Multiple Sclerosis
- Those who get out of breath easily
- You have a fear of falling
FAQs About Walker for Adults
1. What should I look for when buying a walker?
When choosing a walker for adults, it is mandatory to make sure the option you prefer to have must fulfill all your basic needs and, if possible most of your wants. The ideal walker could be selected by keeping the following points in mind -
- Height of The Walker - While buying a walker, customers MUST make sure that the walker and user's heights are compatible with each other considering their standing and walking positions.
- Width of the walker - Buyers must always check the inside and overall width of the walker. Inside dimensions are checked to ensure proper posture, and outside width is checked to ensure maneuverability through the house and doors.
- Weight Capacity - The walker you wish to buy now fits your dimension requirements, but does it support your body weight? Make sure to check the specifications section to see the weight capacity of the product. You can also select the desired range in the "By Weight Capacity" filter on the category page and select the option you see fit.
- * Once you make sure the walker fits your needs, it is time to check for optional features that you might require. *
- Folding Option - If you are an active user or in dire need of space management, you can also check out folding walkers. These will fold to fit near-bed when not in use and easily put in the trunk of cars.
- Optional Seat - Having a seat on your walker is always beneficial, especially for elders who cannot stand for long periods.
- Optional Wheels - If the individual cannot carry the walker's weight, having wheels on the walker is the best option, provided they are weight-bearing people only requiring slight support.
2. What is the correct way to walk with a walker?
To know how to use a walker properly, you first need to understand how to stand in one. Make sure you note and practice the following points to ensure proper use of a walker -
- Step inside the walker and check your wrist height and elbow bend - while keeping the shoulders and arms relaxed and the back straight, the walker's grip shall align with creases of your palm, and the elbow should be at a 15-degree angle.
- Do not stand too far or too close to the walker. For the first step, move the walker half-a-step ahead and step ahead with the injured leg first.
- For the next step, put your other(good) leg slightly ahead of the injured one.
- Repeat the above steps until you're familiar with them, and you can gradually increase the length of your steps.
- Please keep your back straight and never lean in or out of the walker as it may prove to be fatal.
3. What is the proper height for a walker?
Your elbows should bend at a comfortable angle of about 15 degrees. Check your wrist height. Stand inside the walker and relax your arms at your sides. The top of the walker grip should line up with the crease on the inside of your wrist.
4. How do you walk up & down stairs with a walker?
- Place the walker sideways so the crossbar will be next to you
- Place the walker's two forward legs on the step above you
- Hold the railing with one hand and your walker with the other
- Carry your weight equally between the railing and the walker
- Step up with the healthy leg
- Next, lift your wounded leg
- Now shift the walker onto the next pedestal and repeat the above steps
5. Is it safe to put tennis balls on a walker?
Although it is common to put tennis balls on walkers' legs, we do not recommend it as this is an unhygienic and unsightly practice. One alternate to that can be using walker gliders. These are manufactured to withstand rough use and protect the walker's base while allowing individuals to use it without having to lift the walker.
Where Can I Buy Walking Aids Online?
HPFY offers a wide range of walkers for daily needs or special needs from top manufacturers like Kaye Products, Inc., Drive Medical, Essential Medical, Medline Industries, Graham-Field Health Products, Inc., MJM International Corp, Inc, Clarke Health Care and, many more at best prices. Shop today!
HPFY's Top 5 Best Selling Walker for Adults
Useful Links Regarding Walking Aids
FAQ's
Frequently asked questions
Basic walkers are the most common type of walkers, and are available in heavy duty (bariatric) and pediatric styles. A basic walker has no wheels and therefore are more stable than wheeled walkers. These walkers are best used on indoors.
Wheeled walkers are appropriate for those who require a little extra support for walking. These walkers can have two-or four wheels as per the user’s requirement.
The decision of which type of walker to select requires a careful thought on the following:
- You should consider whether the user will be able to handle the wheels or not. Wheels and brakes need to be handled with care else it can lead to imbalances resulting in patient falls.
- Depending upon the users height, weight and lifting capability you must select a model that is easy to handle and suits the built of the user.
- The walker should be lightweight as there will be times that you need to lift or shift the walker away from uneven surfaces.
- You must choose a walker that is fold-able if you are a frequent traveller.
- Users who get tired frequently must select walkers with a seat.
Types of walkers include:
- Seated Walker
- Posture Control Walker
- Folding Walker
- Bariatric Walker
- Dual Release Walker
- Hemi Walker
- Knee walker
- Support Walker
- Single Release walker
- Speciality Walker
- Two-Button Release Walker
- Beach Walker
- Stair Climbing Walker
For those patients who get tired very easily and frequently walker with seats are very useful. A seat is added for the user convenience. In some models the seat is foldable so as to provide proper room for users to walk.
Also popularly called 'gutter frames' feature forearm troughs or gutters that allow users to bear weight through their forearms rather than hands. Thus gutter frames are helpful if the user has arthritis in the hands or have broken your hand or wrist. The troughs and handgrips can be adjusted to find the most suitable and comfortable position. Alternatively, some walkers have a platform rather than individual gutter rests on which to rest the forearms and a vertical handgrip. High or forearm walkers may be wheeled or non-wheeled.
