Do You Need Crutches with a Walking Boot

Walking boots are great for protecting your foot against injuries and for healing sprains. Also called orthopedic shoes, they are useful assets when you’re recovering from a leg or foot surgery. Wearing them helps speed up your recovery, but that’s only if you wear them the right way.

Do You Need Crutches with a Walking Boot? No, you don’t. It is advisable that you use crutches with your walking boots but you actually don’t have to. If you won’t use crutches for one reason or another, it is best to opt for other types of walking aids.

We’ll discuss all these details in this article. We’ll also see how you can use your walking boots without crutches.

What do You Need Crutches for?

Crutches are walking aids recommended after a foot injury that requires you to take some of your body-weight off your legs.

The feet carry your weight on a typical day, especially when you’re standing, walking, or running. After an accident or a leg injury that may occur as a result of wear and tear as people age, you may be required to use crutches for a while to speed up your healing. After you have healed, you can begin walking again without aids.

What crutches do is that they transfer your body’s weight when you walk and stand from your legs to your upper body. Crutches are made using walking sticks as models. They are made with strong steel, wood, thermoplastic, and foamed upper to let your body have some measure of comfort when you transfer weight to them while walking.

Can you use crutches alone? Yes, you can. But since the goal here is to speed up your recovery, you should consider using walking shoes as well.

The Importance of Walking Boots

Walking boots are shoes that are specially designed to protect your feet after an injury or foot surgery. They are modeled after the shape of your feet to cushion the effects of stepping on the ground and limit the extent of damage that your feet take per time.

They’re different from normal shoes in that they have a special kind of construction and that they’re orthopedic, that is, they’re made to keep your feet in perfect health. Apart from this, walking shoes also do the following:

They help you walk comfortably: The more comfortable your shoes are, the better your strides. Walking boots fit you perfectly, leaving no room for discomfort.
They help to prevent foot injuries: Walking boots don’t cause injuries to your feet, unlike other shoes that may be dangerous to your health. They’re balanced and well-cushioned.
They help in absorbing shock to the feet: Movements cause some measure of a shock to the foot. Walking boots are great shock absorbers.
They help protect your Achilles tendon: Walking boots come with a tendon protector that helps take off the stress from your Achilles tendon.
They help your feet breathe: The breathable upper of your walking boots help keep your feet well aerated while you wear them.
They provide you with a comfortable and roomy toe box: Roomy toe box is crucial to your feet’s comfort. Walking shoes provide wide toe boxes that fit you perfectly.

How to Wear Your Walking Boots the Right Way without Crutches

Walking boots are highly effective during the recovery process. You can walk in walking boots during the broken foot but they won’t help you if you don’t wear them the right way. How to walk in a walking boot without crutches? Let’s find out the most required tips for wearing a walking boot in the right way.

1. You Must Wear the Right Size and Perfect Fit

If you don’t wear the right size, the walking shoes will do you no good. Find the perfect size for yourself and use those. Ensure you don’t accept anything short of the perfect size.

2. Wear Equal Heights with Your other Foot

If you’re wearing your walking boot on only one leg, ensure that the shoe on the other leg has a similar height to the walking boot. This is crucial to your balancing and to avoid further discomforts.

3. Take Short, Graceful Steps

Through your recovery period, take short steps, and avoid long strides. Don’t engage in any activity that will cause more pain to you.

How to Walk in a Walking Boot Without Crutches

It is advisable to use crutches when you’re using a walking boot so that you can take the weight off your feet temporarily. But there are reasons why some people don’t want to use crutches.

Crutches are bulky to carry around. They also require that you use your upper body to support your body’s weight rather than your legs. Not many people can go through the strain of leaning on crutches, not to say walking with them. For these, and other reasons which you may have, crutches might not be your best option.

If that’s the case, there’s good news. You can use your walking boots without crutches. All you’ll have to do is to opt for the replacements to crutches, which we will discuss right away.

1. Use a Cane or Walking Stick

You can use a cane (or a walking stick) instead of crutches. Canes are simply designed as a single stick that supports you when you walk.

They have strong handles and are less bulky, compared to crutches. They’re lighter and so easier to carry around. This option will work fine for you while you’re using your walking boots.

2. Use a Walker

Walkers are only slightly different from wheelchairs as they don’t run on wheels. They’re walking aids that are easier to use than crutches.

A walker is made as a four-legged frame that you can lean on for support and for moving from place to place. If you don’t want to use crutches with your walking boots, walkers will do just fine for you. They’re safe to use and not too expensive to purchase.

3. Or You Can Use a Wheelchair

A wheelchair is a perfect option. It runs on wheels and all you need do is turn those wheels or use an automated system. Though they’re expensive, wheelchairs are more convenient to use, especially if you want to avoid the strain of using crutches.

Note that with a wheelchair, you may not be able to do the required amount of training needed to teach your legs to walk properly again. You can discuss this with your doctor to make a final decision.

Graceful steps from now on…

In the period of your recovery, the least you can do is take care of yourself. While it’s not advisable to use walking boots without crutches, you can do it. All you must do is ensure a replacement, like a cane, walker, or wheelchair.

And it’s a wrap from here. Keep taking those graceful steps. Cheers to you!

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