Saturday, May 27, 2017

Regain Fitness With An All Terrain Walker

By Raymond Cole


Taking our elderly parents or grandparents on family trips can be a huge responsibility. Keeping them safe while expanding their horizons and allowing them to enjoy time with their people is the goal all families seek to accomplish. This ideal is more easily achieved with an all terrain walker.

Any physical therapist will tell you that walking is the most important activity to engage in when attempting to regain physical fitness after an injury. When a patient has lost their prior level of fitness, it can be difficult to get them back out. In the case of an elderly patient, family members are sometimes afraid to take the responsibility of getting them outside.

The healing process is very slow as we get older, and fear of injury often keeps elderly people inside. If the patient avoids getting out and being active, then the healing process may not take place at all. Walking is vital for them to regain their strength and vitality, and they will need the encouragement of those around them in order to stay on a regular fitness plan.

Healing a patient who has experienced a loss of mobility can be hindered when they become depressed, and seem to want to give up. Friends and family are a key ingredient in healing, and with their positive encouragement to get out and walk, they can get better. With the right equipment at their disposal, everyone involved in the process can feel safer and more optimistic about the potential outcome.

No matter the age of the individual, physical therapy is a key element in becoming well again. Traditional walkers were inadequate for the various environments that one may wish to explore on a hike. Without the right equipment, a simple afternoon stroll can be more difficult to accomplish, and potentially impossible for the patient to do on their own.

When the lower back is supported, taking pressure off knees and ankles, it is easier for an injured or elderly individual to be mobile. Once improvement is noted, however, the patient may want to ditch the support for short trips. It is vital to the healing process that they be able to walk at a normal stride as soon as possible, so their prior level of activity can be resumed.

It is this hope for improvement that makes walkers a better option to motorized chairs. For patients who are not expected to be able to walk again, motorized assistance is necessary. However, for a patient who suffers mere obesity, or for anyone who has the potential to regain their prior level of physical activity, dependence on a chair can have a detrimental effect to their potential for regaining a healthy level of activity.

Improving mobility and returning to an active lifestyle is the goal for most any patient. A walker that folds down easily to fit in the trunk or back seat of their vehicle allows continued independence as they recuperate. A patient may even be able to continue to work, so long as they are able to get from their car to their job with relative ease and safety.




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