Walking stick (rehabilitation)

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Walking stick with anatomical handle

A walking stick as an aid in medical rehabilitation is a walking aid that can be prescribed by a doctor for certain indications for use in "indoor and outdoor areas / road traffic" . A distinction must be made between the (simple) walking stick (indication "Walking disability with the temporary need to relieve a section of the skeleton. Depending on the individual need, the use of walking sticks on both sides may also be indicated") and the walking stick with an anatomical handle ( Indication "walking difficulties due to limitations of the active or passive musculoskeletal system and / or coordination difficulties in the running phase").

Walking disability in this sense describes a congenital or acquired form or function defect of the musculoskeletal system, which can be a permanent or a temporary disability as well as a temporary one (e.g. after a broken bone or other accident).

Conceptual boundaries

Anatomical manipulations are indicated in the event of one of the above disabilities in connection with osteoarthritis in the wrist, stress discomfort in the palm when using normal hand sticks and / or the need to walk with two sticks. While a walking stick is prescribed for "walking difficulties due to limitations in the active or passive musculoskeletal system and / or coordination difficulties in the running phase [...] and / or the need to walk with two sticks" , this is done with a hand stick when a "lighter one is indicated Impairment of walking without the need to relieve skeletal sections ” .
A walking stick with three, four or five "feet" is called a multi- foot walking aid

Walking sticks

(Simple) walking stick

In the aids directory of the statutory health insurance (GKV) , the walking stick is listed as an aid in medical rehabilitation in the product group "10 - walking aids" for the application location "50 - indoor and outdoor / road traffic" in the product subgroup "01 - hand / walking sticks" defined as product type "1000–1999". A walking stick is described in the list of resources as "consisting of [a] metal tube", equipped with a somewhat flexible, non-slip running rubber and having a "functionally designed handle". An individual adjustment to the height of the pole user is possible through an "existing height adjustment". The correct stick length is determined by measuring the distance between the floor and the ulnar - carpal joint of the arm of the standing user, which is bent at the elbow by approx. 20-30 °. The handle is shaped in such a way that it offers the hand of the user an almost horizontal support surface and is "functionally shaped to the hand" - and the walking stick can be used on both sides, right and left.

Walking stick with anatomical handle

The walking stick with anatomical handle is in the directory of aids in the product group "10 - Walking aids" for the application location " 50 - Indoor and outdoor areas / road traffic" in the product subgroup "01 - Hand / walking sticks" as product type "2000–2999" Are defined. A walking stick is described in the list of aids as "consisting of [a] metal tube", equipped with a somewhat flexible, non-slip rubber barrel and having a "handgrip that is anatomically correct for the left and right hand." An individual adjustment to the height of the pole user is possible through an "existing height adjustment". The anatomical handle is "shaped like a normal palm", which means that the pressure can be distributed over the largest possible area, since (in contrast to a standard handle) the entire palm can be used for support - the pressure distribution over a larger area creates the wrist relieved, "so [that] overall higher and longer lasting physical loads are possible".

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