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Could you imagine if it was a broken leg? Ouch.
The only injury I can imagine this device would work for is a sprained ankle.
Best advice would be trying not to break one's legs. That would really help...
the way you steer the old one is by lifting up on the handle bar pivoting on the back wheels readjusting your direction then putting the front wheels back down then pushing.
i have broken ankles/feet now for the 3rd time and i can tell you definitely that a roll-a-bout is absolutely freakin' awesome....IF. If that is you have good balance and are comfortable with the rolling motion. i have the distinct advantage of skateboarding for over 20 years so for me it was like being on my board again (which is how i broke my foot).
the roll-a-bout saves you from the pain induced by crutches in your hands, wrists, forearm, tricep and most importantly shoulder. it also saves your working leg and feet from the strain of carrying your entire weight on one leg/foot which over time can actually lead to further injuries.
aside from all that, i am completely enabled with this device. i am an engineer working in an office and this has allowed me to do everything i needed to before without being confined to my chair due to lack of desire to stress my body with crutches. i have been able to go everywhere and behave totally normally. i have even taken it to clubs where people go out of their way to be helpful 'cause this thing makes it look like you have a much more serious injury than you might.
anyway, i can talk about how great this thing is for days. i literally get xrays tomorrow and may be off of it in 2 days.
with all that being said, if you are not an active, balanced person with decent strength ('cause you have to fold it, pick it up and throw it in the back seat of the car then hop to the drivers seat) then i can see this thing potentially being dangerous. but again, if you take it slow you should have no problems.
the ONLY pain that results from the use of this thing which happened to me because i abused the mobility it provides by being overly active is that the padding my get to your kness after a while causing discomfort. also, with how often i was on it the thigh that rests on it sees the majority of your weight if you're wheeling around a lot. but those 2 drawbacks and nothing when compared to the freedom you get from having it. i think i would have been clinically depressed if i had been confined to crutches.
check it out at www.kneecrutch.com.
Bill
Just like any other bit of medical equipment, it's not going to apply to every condition, every situation, or every person. But for some people, it will work wonders, just as it did for me.
As as far as the drink cup meaning you can be inebriated is concerned: does "drink" automatically mean alcohol? To mean it usually means water. Maybe coffee or tea. To some people it may mean a carbonated beverage. It's really helpful to be able to carry around a beverage so you don't get dehydrated. (Try carrying ANYTHING on crutches sometime.)
I broke my ankle week before last and am in a non-weight-bearing cast. I have not tolerated crutches well at all (my weight plus an old shoulder injury) and have not been able to get around my apartment easily much less return to work, which I very much want to do. Asked my orthopedist on my second visit about one of these things and he said sure. Picked it up Saturday, with the help of a friend, and will be returning to work today. Have been zipping around the apartment all weekend. So many people, young and old, fit or not, have broken lower limbs here in Cincinnati during snow/ice storms recently that the medical supply places can't keep this kind of device in stock.
It has given me my life back, more or less. This non-steerable model is not only collapsable-to-flat (I thought the steerable one was too, actually, but someone else said it is not), but is only 14 lb so I can drag it (folded) up the 7 steps to my apartment, which I can manage by going up and down on my rear. Frankly, it is my new best friend, unlovely though it is. Make fun of it if you wish, but it's relieved a great deal of stress on all the OTHER parts of my body, relieved the depression that was setting in, and allowed me to go back to work.
I think overall I stayed in far better shape than if I'd stuck with crutches (where I couldn't leave my apartment, much less work) or a wheelchair. The opposite leg gets plenty of exercise (more, of course, the farther one travels -- going through hallways at work in a medical school/hospital complex kept me moving without being outside), but the injured leg ALSO gets some muscle work, at least the thigh, and my PTs told me that helped reduce atrophy from my cast. Yay for that. Plus I felt MUCH better getting some "exercise" this way, instead of just sitting on a couch all those weeks.
A potential hazard I hadn't expected: sidewalks and crossing streets. I learned to watch for cracks in sidewalks, so I didn't fly over the front and land on my skull. Uneven spots in streets made crossing more dangerous than I had anticipated. Too all bad drivers aren't more considerate of pedestrians, even those with a handicap (many were great, though).
I still fail to understand how anyone could think that crutches would be better, safer, more stable.
And it cost me $75 to RENT for the month (shop was not on my insurance co's provider list; didn't want to wait to have shipped). Considering what that saved me in sanity, missed days from work, inability to shop, etc., WELL WORTH IT.