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Tag Archive for Replacing Crutches with Knee Walker

Non Weight Bearing Scooter Accessory Ideas

When you first received your non weight bearing scooter, you might have been a little less than impressed. Sure, it wasn’t a pair of crutches (what a relief!) but it still looked a little clinical for your tastes…and you want to do something to jazz it up. After all, you may have a broken ankle, but you don’t have broken spirits.

And you want to make your knee walker look a little more fashionable!

Courtesy of https://www.kneewalkercentral.com/testimonial.php

If you’re ready to make your non weight bearing scooter as unique as you are, here are some accessory ideas that can make it shine:

• A knee walker basket can add a unique look while providing a heavy dose of functionality. This basket can be placed in the front of your knee walker, much like a basket on a child’s bicycle. You can carry groceries, books, and other items in your basket, which makes this accessory a pretty important part of your new and very fashionable non weight bearing scooter.

• See that picture above? That woman is turning her knee walker into a walking (well, scooting) advertisement for her patriotism! Consider letting the world know where you’re from by placing a heritage flag on your scooter. Or you could let your national pride take hold and hoist the Red, White, and Blue on your scooter.

• Kick back to the ‘90s and put a boom box in your knee walker basket. You could even bring back the best decade by playing music from that era. We’re talking Boyz II Men, Madonna, Backstreet Boys…we promise you’ll get smiles and cheers when you roll on by.

• Want to trick out your knee walker? Then consider going old-school – and by this, we mean getting bumper stickers and other labels that demonstrate your personality. You could slap on a bumper sticker that lets the world know you ran a marathon or one that indicates that you’re going to do some serious traveling once your foot has healed.

• Accessorize it however you want – after all, it’s YOUR knee scooter!

One important note – if you rented your knee walker, you should check with your vendor to make sure that you can make changes or tweaks to it without incurring a penalty. For example, a front basket will generally be considered fine, but you may run into some vendors who might not like the idea of having stickers on their scooters.

No matter which non weight bearing scooter accessory ideas you use, make sure that you select those that speak to your personality and style.

 

Little Known Facts About Roll About Scooter History

The roll about scooter may seem like a miraculous entity sent from your doctor to help you move your broken foot or ankle around. But however celestial the actual device feels, the truth is that roll about scooters – or knee walkers – have been around for some time now.

 

Whether you’re the reluctant owner of a new knee walker or just interested in this special mobility device, here are some little known facts about the roll about scooter, including its history.

•Knee walkers are a surprisingly recent development, and one that was particularly inspiring. For hundreds of years, mankind had to rely on crutches, canes, and other unwieldy mobility devices in order to hobble around performing day-to-day activities. However, knee walkers were developed in order to help people minimize the use of the broken foot or ankle while providing a strong sense of balance and stability.

•Roll about scooters are surprisingly versatile, considering how large they might appear at first. However, knee walkers were developed to fold up and be transported, which makes it easier for individuals to go about their normal activities. Instead of struggling to use crutches in your office, you can simply unfold your roll about scooter and start rolling around the workplace.

•Since their inception, knee walkers have become surprisingly affordable. Units used to be rented for almost $700; now you can find an excellent roll about scooter rental for $100. This is a significant advantage for those individuals who may want the stability of a knee walker but are worried they may not be able to afford it.

Knee walker rental companies have exploded since the development of this mobility device. With this in mind, it’s easier for individuals to find a vendor who can offer the perfect terms and conditions for renting roll about scooters. You can find a local knee walker vendor in your city or you could go online to find a roll about scooter rental company.

We hope you enjoyed these little known facts about the roll about scooter history!

 

 

Avoid Crutches-Related Injuries by Using a Steerable Knee Walker

We know what brought you to this article on steerable knee walkers. Maybe you lost your balance for a few terrifying seconds on your crutches. Maybe you slipped on your hardwood floors and gave your injured foot a good shock. Or maybe you even re-injured your ankle and have to stay in a cast for another three months.

Whatever the case, there’s one thing you know for certain: you’re ready to avoid crutches-related injuries by using a steerable knee walker.

Unlike those wobbly toothpicks we generously call “crutches,” a steerable knee walker offers a heck of a lot more stability. Most knee walker models have large and sturdy back wheels that are complimented by sleek yet stable front wheels, which make for easier turning. Rather than balancing your entire body weight on a couple inches of rubber and wood, you’re supported by a strong mobility device that actually works with your body.

Just say no!

Let’s face it: the chances of re-injuring yourself on crutches are really high. There are even more risk factors that can up your chances of falling or losing your balance, including:

  • Moving around on hardwood floors, carpet, or bumpy surfaces (basically ANY surface)
  • Suffering from arthritis or any other condition that makes it painful to use crutches
  • Suffering from back, neck, and/or muscle conditions

A steerable knee walker, on the other hand, presents a much more sensible solution to your mobility woes. By completely balancing your weight on the knee of your bad foot and propelling yourself forward with your good leg, you can get around much more quickly without looking like you grew two extra wooden arms.

Knee walkers are also much kinder on the body, especially the back, neck and shoulders. Because you’re no longer balancing your entire weight on your upper body, you’ll be able to ease any muscle aches in your back, neck and shoulders.

With so many advantages to using steerable knee walkers, it’s honestly a wonder that people still opt for crutches!

If your doctor is attempting to saddle you with crutches, don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself and insist on a steerable knee walker. Trust us – your body (and sense of balance!) will thank you later.

What Is It Like to Be On A Broken Ankle Knee Scooter?

Dealing with the broken ankle was bad enough – but now your doctor is trying to convince you to master some sort of mobility device known as a knee scooter. Fat chance, right? But before you write off your doctor for attempting to turn you into a half-person, half-machine hybrid, take a moment to really get to know the broken ankle knee scooter…

Because it just might change the way you approach your broken ankle recovery forever (or, well, the next three to six months).

Broken Ankle Knee Scooters Are More Convenient: Forget hobbling around on crutches – a broken ankle knee scooter will make walking feel more like gliding…because you actually are. You see, the knee scooter is a mobility device that completely takes all weight off of your broken ankle. By balancing your knee on the seat cushion and using your good leg to propel yourself forward, you can keep any ounce of weight away from your tender ankle (just try getting that kind of promise from crutches!)

Take a look at the picture to get a comprehensive idea of how the broken ankle knee scooter works:

 

Broken Ankle Knee Scooters Are Sturdier: When your broken ankle is just an accidental stumble away from another six months of recovery, you want to make sure you’re using a mobility device that’s 110% sturdy and well-balanced. Enter the knee scooter: this clever contraption is balanced out by four large wheels that can handle uneven surfaces, like floors with insidious rugs and evil walkways with mini-hills.

Broken Ankle Knee Scooters Are Sexier: You scoffed at this, didn’t you? (Gotcha!) Sure, you may be doubtful that the word “sexy” could ever be attached to anything described as a “mobility device.” But trust us – it’s a lot easier to strike up a conversation with your office crush when you’re cruising on a broken ankle knee scooter, not pitifully hobbling on a pair of ancient-looking crutches.

Helpful Hints to Get Used To Your Broken Ankle Scooter

You’re about to get a broken ankle scooter – and admit it, you’re excited. When you first broke your ankle, you thought you’d be resigned to a few months awkwardly wandering around on wooden crutches. But with your new broken ankle scooter, you won’t even have to worry about losing your balance or dealing with those painful (and disgusting) armpit blisters…

Right?

Not exactly. Just like with crutches, you’ll want to take time getting used to your broken ankle scooter. This makes it more comfortable for you to use, as well as minimizes any possibility of injury when you first start using your knee walker.

With this in mind, take a look at a few helpful hints to get used to your broken ankle scooter:

• Clear plenty of paths throughout the house before the knee walker rental is delivered to your home. You may want to recruit the aid of your friends and family members, as this will likely involve carrying and moving heavy objects.

• Have a family member or friend test out the knee walker before you actually start using it. You don’t want to discover that your broken ankle scooter is faulty when you’re lugging around a broken ankle and a heavy cast.

• If you’re taking any medications that interfere with your sense of balance, be sure to ask your doctor how using a broken ankle scooter will impact its use. Don’t skip your medications or taper off without the expressed approval of your doctor.

These helpful hints will ensure that you’re making the most of your broken ankle scooter.

 

How to Calculate the Cost of Your Rolling Knee Walker Rental

It doesn’t take an accounting degree to realize that recovering from your foot or ankle surgery is really, REALLY expensive. Like, the kind of expensive that makes you almost dread checking your bank account. There are co-payments. Money spent on medications. Money spent on modifications made to your house.

So when it comes to your rolling knee walker rental, it’s no wonder that you want to calculate the total cost before signing the contract!

While the cost of your rolling knee walker rental will vary based on the model you pick, there are some constants that will influence the total cost of your rental. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how you can calculate the cost of your rolling knee walker rental.

The length of time you’re expecting to rent will play a big role in the total cost of your rolling knee walker rental. If you’re only renting for a month, you can expect to see your total price broken down by the week. However, if you’re renting for a few months, you should expect to see the rental price presented to you per month.

Once you understand the base cost of your rolling knee walker rental, you should contact your insurance company to see if they’ll cover all or part of the rental costs. Ask your insurance agent about the HCPC E0118 code, which dictates how the company will cover “wheeled crutch alternatives.” The best outcome is if the insurance company will cover all of your rental costs; if they don’t, you should analyze your budget to see how much you can afford out-of-pocket.

Don’t forget to calculate any shipping costs, as they’re not often included with the total cost of your knee walker rental. Also, be sure to check if the rental agency charges a deposit, which could increase the upfront price of your knee walker rental.

Calculating the cost of your rolling knee walker rental can be a hassle, but it’s crucial for understanding just how much you’ll be spending on this essential mobility device.

 

How to Get the Knee Scooter Insurance Coverage You Need

In an ideal world, knee scooter insurance coverage would be incredibly simple to approach. You’d simply need to collect your knee scooter, submit a photo of yourself waving and smiling happily on your knee walker, and your insurance company would respond with a big thumbs-up and a completely covered bill.

Of course, knee scooter insurance coverage doesn’t exactly happen this way. And while it may be fun to dream about an insurance company who’s desperate to make you happy (Zero co-payments! Free prescriptions! Birthday cards!), there’s no denying that operating within the realm of reality means playing a little tug-of-war.

Or does it?

When it comes down to it, there are two options you can use to get the knee scooter insurance coverage you need. You could call the insurance company, cry, yell, and harass them until an exasperated insurance agent finally gives you the information you need…

Or you could use these knee scooter insurance coverage techniques:

Get out your insurance policy and look for a special insurance code known as HCPCs Code E0116, which essentially dictates how your insurance company will handle paying for crutch alternatives with or without wheels. This code should outline the percentage of coverage, as well as additional caveats. For example, you may discover that the insurance company will only pay for a knee walker rental if it comes from an approved provider. When you call be sure to ask if you have out of network benefits, a deductible or co-pay.

Have your doctor sign a Letter of Medical Necessity, which lets the insurance company know that you need a knee scooter to stay mobile. You may also need to provide a prescription to your insurance company. All of this information can help prove to your providers that you have an absolute need for knee scooter insurance coverage.

Some knee walker rental companies provide you with the Letter of Medical Necessity for your doctor to sign. This can make it very easy to get your knee walker as quickly as possible – and that’s always a benefit when you can barely hobble after your foot or ankle surgery.

If you’re renting a knee scooter, get the company to provide you with a detailed invoice that contains billing codes. This can provide your insurance company with the information they need to determine how much they’re going to cover.

Submit your claims at the end of your treatment, as this can help ensure that your insurance company receives all the documentation they need.

Keep copies of all of your paperwork. If you don’t have a scanner in your home, have a family member or coworker make scans for you at the office or the public library. This can make it easier for you to re-submit any information your insurance company needs, especially if they claim that they’ve lost valuable paperwork.

Remember that you’ll be dealing with your insurance company throughout the course of your treatment. If you follow this checklist, you can ensure that getting knee scooter insurance coverage is a lot easier than you originally anticipated.

Phil’s Experience with a Knee Walker

My husband, Phil, is an active biker and adult kick scooter rider who loves being outside on wheels. Unfortunately, on June 2012, the front wheel of Phil’s bike got caught in an asphalt rut, tipping the bike and pinning his ankle in an unnatural position.

Worse, Phil did not like walking with crutches and simply did not. Fortunately, he had a favorite chair, upon which he sat day-after-day, thinking penuriously about his upcoming medical expenses.

As a surprise, I purchased a knee walker for him. It was, indeed, a surprise because if it was up to him, living in misery was better than taking on a new expense because he didn’t want to be a burden. As I didn’t regard him as a burden, I splurged first, and told him later.

In less than a half-hour of receiving his knee walker, Phil scooted down our hallway to our apartment’s elevator, then out the door to our car to go to Weehawken, NJ’s prime kick scooting area along the Hudson River.

Within an hour of receiving the knee scooter, Phil had no trouble navigating around Houlihan’s outside café tables and after dining, he had no trouble scooting along Harbor Boulevard to take in the views offered by the Lincoln Harbor Yacht Club.

The knee walker instantly transformed Phil from invalid to normal person. Although he continued to be penuriously (it’s a lifestyle), he was happy that I spared no expense in acquiring this device (which, truth be known, was reasonably priced).

He felt so strongly about how it improved the quality of his life during this period, that once he was out of his cast, he contributed the knee walker to his doctor, who passed it on to someone in need. He has also pontificated about the joys of a knee walker to people in leg casts ever since.

Note that the day after his cast was removed, Phil resumed adult kick scooting with a trip to the Walkway Over the Hudson. Read about here: Kick Scooting on the Walkway Over the Hudson.

This was a guest post from Karen Little. Karen Little is a professional writer who specializes in creating technical articles and training manuals. She is also an adult kick scooter enthusiast who shares her passions on www.LetsKickScoot.com along with many contributors. Karen and her husband, Philip, live in Weehawken, NJ, and enjoy area Hudson River Parks on a daily basis.

Are You A Member Of The “I Hate Crutches” Club?

Us too.

The “I Hate Crutches” Club has one of the highest online memberships around (well, in our head anyways). But seriously, who actually likes using crutches? Who likes wobbling around on two glorified wooden sticks, which are slowly and devilishly building up a firm layer of armpit blisters under your arms?

Yeah, that’s right.

So as part of opening the “I Hate Crutches” Club, here are just a few reasons why members have joined:

  • “I hate that I feel sore everywhere. Seriously, I have calluses on my hands and my arms are practically screaming in pain.”
  • “I miss being able to wake up at night and just go to the bathroom without making it a massive production.”
  • “My crutches always fall down no matter where I put them. And it’s really embarrassing when it happens – especially when you’re trying to rock a first date (Ed note: yikes]”
  • “Crutches make me really reliable on strangers, and I’m not really comfortable with that. I always have to ask people to open doors or carry things for me. Going on the subway is tough too, as people very rarely give up their seats for me, and I feel too embarrassed to ask.”
  • “I feel like this is a medieval torture device. How is this still being used in today’s modern society? We’ve invented invisible braces, for cryin’ out loud!”

If you recognize yourself among these poor souls, then it’s time to ditch the crutches and pick up a knee walker. A knee walker (otherwise known as a knee scooter) is a great alternative to crutches; you simply need to rest the knee of your injured foot on the kneepad, and propel yourself forward with your good leg.

Oh, and look supremely cool. That’s another important part of rocking a knee walker.

You hate crutches – so why are you still using them? Find out more about knee walkers, and stop dealing with the spine-chilling curse of armpit blisters.

Adventures To Have With Your Scooter For Non-Weight Bearing

Just because you’re laid up on the couch from your foot or ankle injury doesn’t mean your adventures have to be limited to surfing daytime TV (that’s more like a nightmare, am I right?).

Here at Knee Walker Central, we’re all about encouraging our clients to take their scooter for non-weight bearing out into the world for some safe yet awesome adventures. Ready to put some mileage on your scooter for non-weight bearing? Here’s what you can do:

  • Play knee walker bowling. Push aside all carpets and rugs in your living room or head to your kitchen (the goal here is to find a room with wooden floors). Set up a bunch of plastic bowling pins or empty water bottles. Challenge your kids or friends to beat you in bowling. At random times, fake your friends out by using yourself as the bowling ball. It’s a guaranteed way to get a strike!
  • Head to a busy museum or crowded restaurant that you can never get into. When the employees see you in a scooter for non-weight bearing, they’ll make every effort to make your visit more comfortable. It’s like getting first class service without having to pay a first class price.
  • Challenge your family to come up with a dance routine that you can use with your scooter for non-weight bearing. This is a great activity to do if you have energetic kids, so roll up those rugs and start practicing. Bonus points if you can come up with a routine to “Thriller” (and if you do, send us the video. Seriously. We’ll make you famous.)

Get ready to look as cool as this guy…

Dealing with a foot or ankle injury doesn’t mean you have to be a boring lump on the couch for the next three to six months. Just whip out your trusty scooter for non-weight bearing, gulp down a cup of coffee, and get ready to have some seriously memorable adventures.