I got a great question from a reader:
Question: “I have EDS: When should I get a mobility aid? I feel like it’s my ankles and feet that hurt so bad. I can almost not move after a day of walking. If I got a walker that I could use to sit whenever I need to. I don’t even feel like I have EDS most of the time. Then I have these days and I’m like…maybe this is abnormal…So, I basically just suffer.”
My Answer: I finally realized that this pattern of slogging through the day and ending up in pain and exhausted is not going away: in fact, it is just going to get worse. It’s a degenerative condition. There is a difference between exercise that builds strength in our muscles and activity that strains and drains us. This is when we would need adaptive equipment to help us rest. The walker has pros and cons, in that you have to lean on your arms, which put pressure on your wrists and neck. The scooter is good, but can be cost prohibitive and sitting for long periods of time puts pressure on our lower spine discs. (Especially L5/S1 – the most common disc to require surgery as we age.)
(A good walker for a great price! $56.99 at time of publishing…)
(Holy Moly! $674.16 is 50% off…If you are in the market for a scooter, check out these reviews.)
If you can balance some of these options, that is best: use public scooters when you go out to save energy. Stores can be a real drain. So are places like zoos, amusement parks, etc. They all have either free or rentable scooters, and it’s really up to you when you want to pull the trigger and start feeling better. You don’t need to show a doctors note to anyone to use them. The kicker is, you need to keep up with your daily physical therapy regimen to stabilize and strengthen your joints so that you have the stamina to tolerate activity.
Do you have EDS? Do you use a mobility aid? What helped you make that transition?
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