Using a Walker With Arm and Hand Paralysis

When my husband regained enough strength in his leg to start using a walker, a new problem presented itself. What to do about that hand and arm that are hanging limply at his side?

Because the muscles are not working properly, there is some separation in the shoulder that can happen if the arm is not supported. This can become painful for your stroke survivor (SS).

It’s also not a good idea to support the arm with a sling. The other situation that can happen is to much muscle tone, which can cause the hand or arm to start to curl up. So if you have the arm in a sling it can actually make this worse. And once it curls up and locks in that position it is difficult – and sometimes impossible – to get the arm to straighten out again.

So what should we do if it’s not supposed to hang and it’s not supposed to be supported with a sling? I was really frustrated with this situation.

Paul mentioned one day that at therapy they had these attachments on the walker (none of the therapists told me about it) that he could strap his arm in. I started researching and found exactly what he said they had at therapy. The walker platform attachment is an excellent solution to this problem!

I, purchased it on Amazon and was able to install it myself (and I am not at all “handy”). This was a HUGE help for the several months that he was using a walker.

Here’s a picture of my husband’s paralyzed arm in the platform:

Here’s the walker attachment I purchased on Amazon.

NOTE: You do want to make sure the walker you have has the bar for the device to attach to (see above pic). We purchased a Drive brand walker and it had the bar. We purchased the walker prior to knowing about the attachment, so it was great that it all worked out.

Here’s the link to the walker that we have. My husband was very happy with it – and it fits through doorways easily!