Orthopaedic mobility aids

Walking sticks, crutches, walking frames and wheelchairs make getting around easier, or make it possible at all. Such aids help younger people after an injury and older people with degenerative diseases or conditions; after surgery, they make it easier to get upright again (verticalisation) and to re-establish gait patterns, and they also have a psychological effect as an encouragement to progress. The gradual increase in load and the confidence gained from rehabilitation mobility aids ultimately reduce their use, and sometimes they are no longer needed at all. A permanent need for an aid requires servicing, adjustment and reassessment of the need for the aid and of its type.