Below you will find a series of videos to help you learn how to walk with your crutches.
If you are weight-bearing
Walking with crutches – weight-bearing
After your ACL surgery, you’ll be walking on crutches to help offload your knee. It’s important that you try and get your knee straight when you’re walking and walking without a limp. When you walk, you’re going to put your crutches and place them in front of you. Step with your operated leg into the line of the crutches and then bring your unoperated leg through.
If you have been told you are not to weight bare on your operated leg
Walking with crutches – not weight-bearing
If your surgeon has requested that you are non-weight bearing or your foot is still numb after your surgery, you will need to learn to use the crutches in a different technique. For this, bend your knee, keep your toes off the floor, place the crotches in front of you, and then hop into the line of the crutches with your other leg. You’ll need to brace your arms and keep your elbows into your body.
How we measure you for your crutches
Measuring for crutches
Before your operation, when we see you from physiotherapy, we will measure you for elbow crutches. To do this, we will ask you to stand up and relax your arms at your side. We want to make sure the handle of your crutch is in line with the bony point on your wrist.
How to sit and stand using your crutches
How to sit and stand using your crutches
We’ll then teach you how to stand up and sit down with the crutches. If you’re full or partial weight-bearing, the crutches will create a h shape in front of you. One hand goes onto the handle, one hand on the chair arm, and pushes up to stand. Your free arm will go through the hand of the crotch. Hold on to both handles to allow your other hand to bring the crutches out to the side handles, pointing forward, and your elbows in towards your body to sit down.
Bring the crutches in front of you, one hand feels onto the crutches, and hate shape one hand onto the chair, and sit down if you are non-weight-bearing post-surgery due to your nerve block. When you stand up and sit down, you need to make sure your operated leg is kept up off the floor. Let’s have a standup of the legs off the floor, one hand in then the other, and crutches out to the side, maintaining your balance to sit down. It is the reverse, keeping your operated leg off the floor and a controlled sit down to your chair.
How to use crutches when going up and down stairs
If you cannot bear weight on your operated leg and have a handrail (up and down):
Using the stairs – not weight-bearing with a handrail
If you’re non-weight-bearing, and you have a rail, you pass your opposite crutch across the opposite hand, hold on to your bannister, bend your operated knee, so your toes are off the floor, and you’re going to pull up on the rail and push down on the crutch to hop yourself up the step. Bring your crutch up to join you on that same step. Come back down again. You’ll pass the crutch across to your opposite hand. Move the crotch down onto the step in front of you. Straighten your leg out in front, so your toes don’t catch, and then you’re lowering yourself down on your unoperated leg onto the step below.
Using the stairs – weight-bearing and no handrail
To go up the stairs if you do not have a handrail, you will step up with your unoperated leg, push down through your crutches, step up with your operated and bring both crutches up to join. To come back down the stairs you’re going to step up to the edge of the step, place both crutches down making sure they’re towards the back of the step. Step down with your operated leg and bring your unoperated leg to join.
If you have been told you are NOT to bear weight on your operated leg and DO NOT have a handrail (up and down):
Using the stairs – not weight-bearing and no handrail
If you’re non-weight bearing, and you have a rail you pass your opposite crutch across opposite hand hold on to your bannister bend your operated knee, so your toes are off the floor you’re going to pull up on the rail and push down on the crutch to hop yourself up the step bring your crutch up to join you on that same step. Come back down again you’ll pass the crutch across to your opposite hand move the crotch down onto the step in front of you straighten your leg out in front, so your toes don’t catch, and then you’re lowering yourself down on your unoperated leg onto the step below.
Wearing a knee brace
You may find you need to wear a brace after your knee surgery. See our knee brace page for more information about how a brace is fitted by your physiotherapist, how you can adjust your brace and how to look after your knee brace.