Just realize that not everybody is looking at you. Most people are self absorbed with their own lives and their own problems and their own needs and desires. Anyone who would not approve of someone using a walker is not worth your worries. You have to put your safety first and your well being, which is to be able to still get around, even with a walker. Think of the many people who are confined to bed and wish they could get around with a walker. Did you have someone who properly adjusted the walker to the correct height and taught you how to use it properly? Also you might want to look into attaching those glides making it easier to navigate, depending on what type of floors you will be using most of the time. I wish I had realized my mother needed a walker earlier and when she did finally get one made her use it, b/c she might not have broken her hip. I have a relative, a former doctor, who won't leave his apt b/c he doesn't want anyone to see him in a wheelchair. What would you tell him?
It is better to avoid a fall than to care for your vanity and just ditch the walker. I know it's hard but think about the consequences and you will see that you are better with one. You might also want to use a rollator instead, there some good ones from All Time Medical and they function more smoothly than walkers so you don't look like you're struggling.
My mom was hesitant to use a walker, she did not want to look like she was incapacitated when she was out with her boyfriend. She paid the price by falling and breaking her back and has been in a lot of pain with her back ever since. The last time she wanted to go meet an old male friend, she refused to use her walker, and she made me hang on to her for dear life the whole time coming and going from the restaurant. Then when they ran into each other at a doctor apopintment, I had mom in a wheelchair and she got right up out of the wheelchair with no walker and stumbled over to greet him, I tried to grab her to hang on to her, but she even refused that. In my mom's case, she wanted so bad to have a social life and meet another man her age that she was willing to take a lot of risks. She is in the nursing home now and gets into a lot of trouble with the staff if she is not using her walker. She is so angry about being in the nursing home that she is trying to prove that she can walk without assistance and taking a lot of risks. It is better to use walkers and even the wheelchairs if necessary to keep from falling and breaking something and then ending up with a lot of pain that will never go away.
I think it's like anything in life. When we can no longer read without squinting, we get glasses. When we can't remember like we used to, we start putting sticky notes everywhere. When our body can't take food we used to eat, we make adjustments. And when our balance isn't that great anymore, we get another set of wheels to help us. The fact that it can come in a color we like, and has a seat or a basket is just a bonus. I took my mother-in-laws walker (the old fashioned kind) and totally bedazzled it for her, it even has a horn. She is the center of attention now with all that I did to it. And she can pick it out from everyone else's since she can't see very well. Win, win situation.
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Did you have someone who properly adjusted the walker to the correct height and taught you how to use it properly? Also you might want to look into attaching those glides making it easier to navigate, depending on what type of floors you will be using most of the time. I wish I had realized my mother needed a walker earlier and when she did finally get one made her use it, b/c she might not have broken her hip. I have a relative, a former doctor, who won't leave his apt b/c he doesn't want anyone to see him in a wheelchair. What would you tell him?
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