How to use crutches

Crutches can help your child recover from some injuries by reducing the amount of weight placed on their injured leg. Your child will be shown how much weight they can put on their injured leg when using crutches.

Walking

• Hold the handgrips and take weight through your arms and your uninjured leg. Your physiotherapist will let you know how much weight you can put on your injured leg.
• Place the crutches and your injured leg in front to form a stable triangle (two crutches + uninjured leg). See pictures.
• Step through with your uninjured leg.

Standing to sitting

• Back up to the chair until you can feel the chair behind you.
• Hold on to the crutches on your injured side and hold on to the chair with the other hand.
• Move your injured leg forwards and slowly lower yourself onto the chair. Do the reverse when moving from sitting to standing.

You can do this when using a chair, going to the toilet or getting into bed.

Going up stairs

• Move as close to the step as possible and hop up with your GOOD leg first.
• Bring the crutches and injured leg up.

Going down stairs

• Injured leg and crutch goes down first.
• Bring your good leg down to the step. Take weight through the hands and lower your unaffected leg slowly down to the step

Developed by the Physiotherapy Department, Queensland Children’s Hospital. We acknowledge the input of consumers and carers.

Resource ID: FS010. Reviewed: December 2022.

Disclaimer: This information has been produced by healthcare professionals as a guideline only and is intended to support, not replace, discussion with your child’s doctor or healthcare professionals. Information is updated regularly, so please check you are referring to the most recent version. Seek medical advice, as appropriate, for concerns regarding your child’s health.