5 Signs You Could Need a Mobility Aid - And How to Overcome the Emotional Blocks
There is no moral value in needing a walking stick, walker or wheelchair, but the emotional hurdle can be hard to overcome, even when your body is telling you it needs help
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It can feel difficult to accept that it’s time for a mobility aid, but there is no moral value in having one - only the opportunity to move more easily and safely, while regaining your independence. Photo: Unsplashe
This article is based on personal experience and general pain science education. It is not medical advice and is not a substitute for care from your doctor.
If you’re wondering whether it’s time to start using a mobility aid, your gut is likely telling you something your body already knows: that movement is hard or giving you cause for concern.
As a once-upon-a-time reluctant walking stick owner and now willing ambulatory wheelchair user, I understand at 39 the unfair societal and media stigma around these devices and what that can do to your psyche when your body starts to signal that help is needed.
Popular media have often depicted walking sticks as a visual marker of old age, stigmatising younger people who might need them. We’ve all seen them used as an adjunct for evil in cartoons. Take, for example, your average Disney villain. Jafar, Maleficent and Dr Facilier wielded canes or staffs despite not having any problems moving around (as far as we could tell), and they served only as a creepy visible manifestation of their no-good intentions.
But useful mobility aids are, in fact, a force for good, and there is no moral value or lower age limit on needing one. They can be as vital as a pair of shoes or prescription glasses.
I spoke with physicians about the signs that it could be time to consider a mobility aid, as well as a psychologist, who has chronic pain herself, for tips on moving past the emotional barriers to embrace the items you need for easier movement, less pain and fatigue.
You Are Unsteady on Your Feet
Declining balance is one of the leading reasons a person might need a mobility aid. If you find that you are steadying yourself on furniture or the walls, feel wobbly on your feet, or are suffering falls, your balance might be compromised. This could lead to a fall or injury.
A longitudinal study published in The Lancet found that women are disproportionately likely to need but not use mobility-assisted products compared to men, so do speak to your doctor if you notice any symptoms that are impacting your mobility.
Patient advocate, Dr Gerda Maissel, MD, BCPA, CPE, is the founder of My MD Advisor, helping patients navigate complex medical systems. She is a board-certified Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physician.
Sometimes, physiotherapy may help improve proprioception and balance. Other times, that wobbly balance might be a warning sign that requires investigation, or that a mobility aid could help keep you safe.
Dr Gerda Maissel founded My MD Advisor, a private patient advocacy service, and is board-certified as both a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physician and as a private patient advocate. She explains, ‘Frequent falls or near-falls are a good reason to start using a mobility device. It's much better to take a cane than to fall and break your wrist or your hip.’
She adds that people need canes, crutches, walkers, and wheelchairs for several reasons other than paralysis, including, primarily, fall reduction, offloading, and reducing the energy needed for mobility.
‘Fall reduction is obviously very important,’ Dr Gerda continues. ‘Canes and walkers are commonly used to widen the base of support, which means you are less likely to fall. Think of walking on a tightrope vs. walking with your legs farther apart. A wider base of support (and more points of contact with the ground) is safer because it makes you more stable.’
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2. Moving Around Is Excessively Tiring
If you find yourself wiped out after movement, your body may be working extra hard to stay upright.
For example, PoTS (Postural Tachycardia Syndrome), means your body finds it harder to pump blood up from your legs to your heart, potentially causing swelling in your lower limbs, and other symptoms such as dizziness and feeling faint. Pain can impact as can fatigue syndromes such as myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). You should always see your doctor if things are not feeling right, you have new symptoms or your existing conditions are flaring.
Dr Gerda adds that when your mobility is compromised, whatever the cause, short windows of movement can make you very tired. She explains, ‘When you are in pain and have trouble moving very fast, or the way you walk has changed, you may find that using an assistive device like a cane or a mobility aid like a scooter gets you there faster and feeling better.’
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The benefits of using mobility aids in this scenario are profound. Dr Gerda adds, ‘When you move more efficiently, you use less energy to cover the same ground, and you can go further and often faster. Assistive devices can reduce the amount of energy you need to use to get from here to there. It may be easier to use a wheelchair or scooter to go down a long hall than to try to walk it.’
I have seen this firsthand when using my Visible band to track my heart rate variability as part of managing chronic pain well, and therefore my energy usage, which means that going to the supermarket with my walking stick still uses up a ton of energy and leads to an energy crash (and pain flares). But when I have a wheelchair and spend hours shopping, my energy consumption and pressure on my joints is very low, leaving me feeling well even after a busy day out. This leaves me in better health to continue other regular activities at home or the days afterwards, rather than having to go to bed or pay the price with a pain flare.
Chronic fatigue is not uncommon in the population, impacting one in five people. It’s interesting to note, too, that fatigue prevalence rises sharply to 60% for those in chronic pain. Yes, it really is exhausting being in pain.
3. Being Mobile Is Causing You Pain
I have hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, so any walking or standing is extra hard on my joints and soft tissues, causing daily dislocations and injuries. I cannot walk even small distances without physical consequences. But there are, of course, countless conditions or acute injuries that might make walking painful, both in the short term or the long haul. These can include broken bones, nerve pain, lipodema, arthritis, osteoarthritis, ligament and soft-tissue injuries, and issues in the feet, ankles, knees, hips, or lower back.
Using a walking stick or a pair of crutches means some of the load of your weight and movement is going through the aid, easing the strain on the painful parts of your body. This can help reduce your pain levels during and after activities, compared to doing them without, and also reduce the risk of injury.
You can pick up crutches at the hospital if your doctor’s investigations find there is a cause, or your doctor recommends it. You can also pick up a lightweight, folding pair from Amazon easily.
Dr Gerda explains, ‘Offloading means less weight bearing through an area. If you've sprained your ankle or your hip hurts, you can walk better by bearing less weight through the painful joint. When you use an assistive device, the weight goes there instead of through the painful joint because you've offloaded the weight onto the assistive device.’
And it’s not just reducing the negative impact of the movement itself, mobility aids help to reduce pain flares and the pain penalty you might currently be paying - pain for hours or days after going out or walking around.
One thing I have learned, however, is that there is still a fine line to balance, and mobility aids are not always a magic fix. When I got my walking stick, I was able to do more, but that extra activity came hand in hand with flares and fatigue. Any increased activity needs careful management. I had to make a mindset shift that it wasn’t my ‘get out of jail free’ card, but something that required considered pacing.
4. You Avoid Socialising or Going Out
Do you find yourself turning down invites, cancelling plans or avoiding leaving your home due to the often subtle and increasing difficulties of mobilising? You’re not alone.
A study on the link between walking speed and self-reported difficulty walking and social Isolation in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that this subset of people had a strong association with loneliness and social isolation. The research considered data from people who were, on average, around 75 years old, but the researchers noted that ‘among persons with limited mobility, clinicians should consider a careful social history to identify social needs and interventions addressing mobility to enhance social connections.’
Dr Gerda adds, ‘Some people don't go out as much as they would like because they are worried they are too slow or they might fall. A cane or a walker can make you safer and reduce your risk of falling. It's better to go out if you want to than stay home. And, I promise, the only one judging you for using a cane or a walker is you.’
If walking or standing is zapping your energy, many aspects of leaving your house and travelling somewhere, even if it’s close by, can feel worrying. Even having people visit you at home can be worrying. I, for one, cannot have guests unless my husband is home to stand up in the kitchen and cook or make hot drinks for our visitors, as this is a task that is out of reach for me on the average day without injury.
The concerns I had before getting my mobility aids when going out included: Will there be parking? Will I need to queue? What if there are no seats, the ground is cobbled, on an incline or uneven, or it’s just too far for me? Then I got my comfortable and stylish walking sticks from Cool Crutches, and a self-propelled wheelchair, available at Amazon and the combination was transformative for my quality of life.
After this, my husband and I headed to shopping centres, days out with our child, and took holidays abroad again. With every successful trip, I only feel more grateful for the useful aids I now use daily, and am so much happier for feeling like I have a chance at doing what I want more often without enormous physical penalties.
5. Even Short Distances Are Proving Hard
It may be that your declining mobility has crept up on you, starting with feeling a little unsteady on your feet in fleeting moments, to feeling unable to walk short distances. A study on the prevalence of mobility-limited disability published in the Journal of Internal Medicine found that the difficulty of walking a quarter mile sharply increased with age, with 18% of men and 19% of women in middle age (50 to 64) reporting some degree of difficulty. Most attributed this difficulty to lower limb pain, but some reported shortness of breath and fatigue as obstacles, too.
Some conditions make the prevalence of mobility aids higher in younger people, such as spina bifida. A study looking at patients aged 13-27 found 57% percent used wheelchairs, 35% used braces, and 23% used walking aids. In another study, it was found that around 10% of the general population had some reported difficulty mobilising, with an incidence of 4% in 18-49 year olds, and 15.4% of people aged 50 to 69 years.
Many other conditions that limit mobility exist, such as connective tissue disorders, including HSD and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which can make it harder to stand up or walk for any length of time. Symptoms can begin in childhood and often worsen over time. Additionally, EDS and HSD, which appear on a spectrum of severity, take an average of 11 years to diagnose in the UK, with many patients reporting up to 20-30 year diagnostic odysseys - this writer included.
Finding what works for you in the meantime can be vital in helping you lead the life you want to, regardless of whether or not you have been diagnosed with a condition yet.
Photo: Jenny Smith Photography
Dr Meg Arrol, Charterted Psychologist and author of bestselling Tiny Traumas, also suffers chronic pain from endometriosis and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Her career began researching the emotional impact of medically unexplained conditions and stigma.
How to Navigate the Emotional Toll
Psychologist Dr Megan Arroll offers some transformative tips for coming to terms with a new need for mobility aids. She explains, ‘Our resistance to mobility aids is often rooted in cultural narratives rather than lived experience. Ask yourself: where did I learn that needing support is something to be ashamed of?’
Dr Meg advises ‘recognising the story, not the reality’. She explains, ‘Separate identity from equipment, because a mobility aid is a tool, not a label. Just as we don’t define someone by their glasses or their orthotics, a cane or wheelchair says nothing about who you are, only what helps you move through the world more freely.’
Here are three vital mindset shifts that Dr Meg advises, so that you can start to use any mobility aids you need without negative emotions:
Reframe from loss to gain: The psychological shift from ‘giving in’ to ‘gaining independence’ is powerful. Mobility aids don’t signal the end of capability; rather, they extend it.
Find your people: Peer support matters enormously here. Connecting with others who’ve navigated this transition, whether online or in person, can normalise the experience and reduce the sense of isolation that stigma creates.
Give yourself the compassion you’d give a friend: If someone you loved was struggling with pain and a mobility aid would help them, would you hesitate to encourage them? You deserve that same warmth and practical care.
Next, explore how to get doctors to take your pain seriously.
