LAL 9:51pm Jul 3 2012
I went up stairs starting the day after I broke my ankle because of necessity. At home my stairs are carpeted so I go up and down on my butt. when I reach the top, I stand up on the second to last step, then hold onto the railing with one hand and onto my crutch with the other (the other crutch I just lay flat on the ground), and push down on both to basically lift up my good leg and hop up backwards for that one step to get to the very top.
At work or in public places, I go up and down stairs on both crutches, not on my butt! For this, I had to look up some instructional youtube videos on how to do it.
basically when going up, push down on your crutches and lift your good leg up to the next step, then stand up straight on that step and bring your crutches up to meet your good leg. And repeat.
when going down stairs, lower both crutches to the next step (but keep body upright so you're not leaning forward down the stairs!!) and allow your BL to also lower down to keep your center of gravity stable. Then with your crutches firmly planted on the lower step, bring your good foot down to meet the crutches.
If it's a long flight of stairs or if I'm very fatigued, then I will do the above (whether going up or down) with one hand on the handrail, and the other hand holding both crutches together as if they are one crutch.
the other day I was going up a flight of stairs at work and was already very tired from crutching around all day, and I almost fell up the stairs cos my good leg was getting so tired that I couldn't lift my foot high enough to clear the step.
Usually I use the handrail (so the other hand is holding both crutches together to support my weight) when going down stairs unless it's only 2 or 3 steps.
but when I'm at home then I go up and down the stairs on my butt since it's so much safer and less tiring.
5/18/12: comminuted bimalleolar fracture, with dislocation
(closed reduction, surgery delayed due to swelling; NWB)
5/31/12: ORIF - 1 plate, 9 screws
6/8: NWB/boot
7/13: PWB/boot
7/31: FWB
8/12: crutch-free/boot
9/5: HWR 2 synd screws
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