My new walking stick is helping me feel free!

by Charlie Ridgewell


Recently I’ve found a walking stick to be very helpful when out and about. Being 18 and using a walking stick (borrowed from my gran) would seem a daunting and simply embarrassing experience, because of onlookers’ glances, but it isn’t if you simply ignore them. What do they know anyway?

Why should I suffer in agony with my knees because of what strangers might think or see? When did these people start to dictate what aid I could or couldn’t use to get around? They answer is they didn’t, it is just that part of my brain worrying that I may look weak, when I actually feel better than ever to be out.

I confidently use my walking stick anywhere I go now, if I know it’s going to be a long walk for me. It enables my knees to have a break when walking about, and when stationary it means I’m not using my legs to lean on because a stick gives me that support to take the weight off.

My walking stick is now a must-take when I go out, as although I’ve had my cortisone injection, I’m still waiting for the full effect, fingers crossed.

There comes a time when you have to give in and accept some form of help, and giving in to using a stick has helped me for the better and made me embrace my arthritis more than ever. I feel a lot freer than I was before, in accepting my situation and taking the support that I need, instead of being stubborn and trying to carry on against the odds.

Thanks for reading,

Charlie

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(Any opinions expressed in Charlie’s blog are not necessarily shared by Arthur’s Place. Nothing that you read in Charlie’s blog constitutes medical advice.)