Walking Sticks and Straps

When I first had my stroke, I started using sticks without straps. The NHS grey stick or quad stick don’t come with a strap. 

But as my rehabilitation went on, I felt I started to drop my stick more as I’d have to put it down so that my only working arm was free and then, you guessed it, it goes crashing to the ground, causing a fall risk to pick it up. Well for me anyway, because when I bent down, I also went crashing to the ground. 

When I got my first beautiful, custom made walking stick, I loved it. I ditched the grey and started using green, blue or clear, vowing to never go back to grey. But the problem was, the sticks weren’t hospital grade and over time, they got damaged and sometimes very badly. So I realised I needed to start using straps on my sticks. A strap was one of the best additions that I should have used from day one with the sticks that were long lasting, but surely didn’t mean going backwards in my rehabilitation? 

Neo Walk offer walking stick bracelets so I gave them a go, a green link bracelet to go with my green stick and now GlamSticks are offering wristlets on Etsy. I’ve got a rainbow glitter strap to accompany my rhinestone covered carbon fibre GlamStick.

A strap is so badly needed for both style and safety. Really, your occupational therapist should give you this advice, but hey, as long as you can make a cup of tea 😂

I am saying that in jest. I have absolute respect to ever single OT, I cannot thank my wonderful therapists any more but there’s a joke from stroke survivors, that this is the pass rate from a OT assessment. 

Just make sure what you get is strong enough. As I use my right hand to shake someone’s hand for example, I’ve had sticks be too heavy for the strap. If you have use of both arms you might be ok, but being hemiplegic means I need a light enough stock and a strong enough strap.