Help? Where can I buy my first walking stick?

e-nid

I just bought a plain black, folding, adjustable walking stick in the Focus closing down sale £4 ! They had a few other disability aids but shelves were emptying fast.

Not a place I'd expect to find mobility aids, we went looking for paint!

mcculloch29

I've got a Switch stick (red poppy design) fitted with an ergonomic handle and I wholeheartedly recommend it. As my arthritis worsened I found my two conventional sticks painful to use on my hands for long periods. Both conventional sticks are black foldies. One was from Age Concern, cost a tenner and the other from Aldi cost a fiver - about every 6 months or so Aldi sell quite a wide range of disability aids as their specials. The Switch stick also came with a gorgeous candy-red conventional handle. However my mate who is a senior nurse advises me that the ergonomic handle is the only one to use.

mary-op

Found another hiccup.......just when I think I've found what I want I discover they're too long and won't shorten enough for ''petite'' little me..............lol I look at ''petite'' ones and the price seems to go up on some sites.
I'll get there.........would have done by now had builder not come to give a quote on some much needed work.........:)

mary-op

Walking stick now ordered.........pretty blue floral pattern -very summery and its cold and wet now ! Typical.
Foster daughter has paid half and another lad we fostered insisted on paying the other half so I left it to them and its all sorted.
Might get a little cheapie fold up one myself to put in a bag and have on my scooter later on.

kentyy

I've got the nhs wooden sticks.. not the best looking things but practicle. My gp suggested trying walking poles and joked I'm too young to have 'granny sticks' (thankfully he and I have the same sense of humour)
Anyway, he also said be careful with the fold up sticks just because if they weren't strong enough I could do myself even more damage if I fell over. (also have crutches & wheelchair depending on how i am at the time). Just wanted to pass on what he said to me about the folding sticks.

I'd love trendy sticks but the only ones I've found fold up..

Someone suggested painting and decorating the sticks but not sure if they'd look rubbish.

Also I've seen the walking poles in poundland in the past, if anyone did want them.

mary-op

Thanks.........hadn't thought of anywhere like poundland but then our nearest one is 20 miles away.
I'll ask OT about the fold up ones..........I need 2 really..............did think they may be ok just to pop in a bag when I nip into town on my scooter, going into a shop for something won't be like walking any distance. Didn't know NHS did wooden ones.......OT just brought me some metal ones so I assumed that was all they had.
Some folk have jazzed up their nhs ones so you could give it a go...........sticky backed plastic Blye Peter type thing........lol I was going to but couldn't pluck up the nerve:)

RuthnJasper

luminated wrote: »

I still go to Dartmoor but stick (excuse the pun) at the Dartmeet Bridge car park and have the biggest Molly Mack ice cream from the van that's there. So these days I see Dartmoor as a passenger in the car and not as I used to with a good walk around.

Looked in a local gift shop this morning and was surprised to see a few sticks on sale in there. But too dear and too gaudy for me:cool:

Ooooh - Good old Molly Mac's! That brings back memories! The guy in the van at the Hound Tor car park ("The Hound of the Basket Meals", I believe) also does a good cuppa!

Anyone who likes to get out and about but is less steady on the ol' pins than formerly could contact the Disabled Ramblers' Association (I deal with them sometimes at work) - they're a really good bunch who roam far and wide and sometimes use 4WD all-terrain mobility scooters. Here's a link to their website if anyone's interested: http://www.disabledramblers.co.uk/

Also, if a commercially-bought walking stick needs to be shortened, maybe it could be done for free at home (instead of having to try and source 'petite' versions) - trimmed as necessary and then reapplying either the original rubber ending, or get a rubber door-stopper/bung from a Hardware/Ironmonger's shop to use for a new end-bit.

Best wishes! xxx

RuthnJasper

kentyy wrote: »

I've got the nhs wooden sticks.. not the best looking things but practicle. My gp suggested trying walking poles and joked I'm too young to have 'granny sticks' (thankfully he and I have the same sense of humour)
Anyway, he also said be careful with the fold up sticks just because if they weren't strong enough I could do myself even more damage if I fell over. (also have crutches & wheelchair depending on how i am at the time). Just wanted to pass on what he said to me about the folding sticks.

I'd love trendy sticks but the only ones I've found fold up..

Someone suggested painting and decorating the sticks but not sure if they'd look rubbish.

Also I've seen the walking poles in poundland in the past, if anyone did want them.

Kentyy - you seem like such a jolly type that I'm sure your decorations wouldn't look in the least bit rubbish!

Go for it - you could use old wallpaper or some eye-catching gift-wrapping paper - then wind clear Sellotape (or larger sheets of sticky-back plastic - available cheaply from WH Smug or other stationers) to make it waterproof.

Who cares what people think of your sticks anyway?! They ought to mind their own business - if they cannot, then consider what a pity it might be if they should stumble on an outstretched stick (if ever anyone in the vicinity happened, co-incidentally, to have one readily to hand ...!) whilst they were making their wretched assumptions.

A friend of mine, Angie (who sadly passed away a few months ago), used to jazz-up her wheelchair a treat and she (plus chariot) always looked fantastic!

Good luck! xx

wogglemaker

luminated wrote: »

NO NO NO please not yet but who knows in future. Thanks for the help but it is enough me trying to get my head around having to use a stick for the first time:)

This was me a few months back when a short trip round Tesco or Morrisons took two days including recovery time , 'umble pie got eaten and now the supermarkets electric shopper is my little bit of independance and it's lovely

luminated

wogglemaker wrote: »

This was me a few months back when a short trip round Tesco or Morrisons took two days including recovery time , 'umble pie got eaten and now the supermarkets electric shopper is my little bit of independance and it's lovely

I must admit I have not been around a supermarket for a very long time. When I did it had to be 8.00 a.m. when it was civilised. Then I was parked in the cafe whilst my wife did the shopping. Now I am left parked at home as even the cafes get too noisy for my delicate constitution . My wife seems to like going even though she always moans, on return, about the numbers of folks who bash into her:eek: