[Tennessee Conservative]

My physical therapist adjusted my cane and told me how to use it. He corrected the height first and then said to hold the cane in my left hand to take the weight off of my right injured ankle. If I want to take the weight off my left leg/foot to hold it in my right hand. The cane goes on the side opposite of the injury.

[cherry]

but with crutches its different....you want less pressure on the affected side.....the whole point of the boot/crutches....

a cane stabilizes...its not necessarily for having less pressure.

[17strings]

...The cane goes on the side opposite of the injury....

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Okay, you guys, I just got out my old cane to try this, and I can’t see how the above makes the best sense physically when I actually start walking. The mechanics are clumsier and more labored. Having the cane and the injured leg farther away from one another makes balance more precarious, and progress more gingerly and cautious. Holding the cane on the same side, I can move the healthy leg forward, then the injured leg and cane combo forward, etc. - having a rhythm and speed much like a normal gait, rather than a series of slow and hesitant steps.

So I’d do it the same way I did again, in a heartbeat! Let’s just say I’m glad that nobody told me I was ‘doing it wrong’ after I had my injury, or I wouldn’t have been as coordinated or gotten around nearly as quickly and painlessly as I did... To each his/her own, I guess!