“Armpit cushions” is a strange phrase. Not so strange though if you’ve been struggling along on crutches for a week. If you are cursed with having to use crutches for an extended period of time, as I have this past week, you understand how the inventor of armpit cushions might be able to give the medical establishment one more product for patients. And this one would prove useful.
When you have surgery, you don’t think much about how you are going to get around. In my case, I knew I’d be on crutches or need one of those scooters where one leg is up and you use the other to shove yourself around parking lots, your kitchen or the hallways at work.
One of my toes was taken out of commission for several weeks, to repair multiple things gone wrong over the years. Screws were inserted, along with a pin, the toe was sewn up, and then it was time to figure out how to get around with a boot on and an inability to put pressure on the foot.
I’d never really thought about how comfortable crutches are, something you probably haven’t thought about either, unless you’ve had the opportunity to need them. When I came out of surgery, they were waiting.
A day later, it was clear they could use some improvement. So here’s some feedback for the manufacturers or some entrepreneur out there who wants to start a medical device company or plain wants to try something new.
Two things stand out about the basic crutches we were given by the hospital. The wedge that goes under your armpit is not soft enough to provide decent cushioning. It also isn’t quite long enough to cover the entire expanse of an adult male armpit, so you’re constantly trying to get it just right so your weight is balanced properly and one edge or another isn’t digging into a sore spot.
When you think about this, neither requires a complicated fix. Manufacturers can make the cushioning with a slightly higher level quality. They can extend the length of the part you put up under the armpit by an inch or two to accommodate all us overweight Americans. Job done. They can go whistling on their way.
It’s hard to say whether the hospitals or manufacturers have never asked for feedback, patients have never given the feedback or no one has ever had this problem before. If the rubbed-raw rash on my sides where the crutches cause friction is any indication, I can’t imagine millions of other people haven’t had this problem. Since there have to be millions of people who use crutches at some point in the course of the year, this is a large market and someone should be paying attention to it.
The son of a friend of ours has had the same problem recently, and my unscientific polling of others’ use of crutches reveals an overwhelming amount of evidence pointing to this as a concern. Padding the cushion and extending the length are a solution.
Another one, and this is more for the style conscious entrepreneur to consider, is to invent wraps that fit over your shirt, sliding on easily, with material that allows them to seal under your armpit and provide the added padding you seek. The advantage this product provides is you could create a fashion statement for people on crutches.
Find some attractive models, create some sleek designs in multiple colors that you can wear to work and a whole new product line is possible. All it takes is a little marketing savvy and you can have all us crutch-laden individuals eating out of your palm.
Let’s hope someone takes on this challenge. After that person makes a million bucks, goes on Shark Tank and gets Mark Cuban to invest in him, he can figure out how to add some padding to the hand cushions on crutches, too. That would be nice.
When you have surgery, you don’t think much about how you are going to get around. In my case, I knew I’d be on crutches or need one of those scooters where one leg is up and you use the other to shove yourself around parking lots, your kitchen or the hallways at work.
One of my toes was taken out of commission for several weeks, to repair multiple things gone wrong over the years. Screws were inserted, along with a pin, the toe was sewn up, and then it was time to figure out how to get around with a boot on and an inability to put pressure on the foot.
I’d never really thought about how comfortable crutches are, something you probably haven’t thought about either, unless you’ve had the opportunity to need them. When I came out of surgery, they were waiting.
A day later, it was clear they could use some improvement. So here’s some feedback for the manufacturers or some entrepreneur out there who wants to start a medical device company or plain wants to try something new.
Two things stand out about the basic crutches we were given by the hospital. The wedge that goes under your armpit is not soft enough to provide decent cushioning. It also isn’t quite long enough to cover the entire expanse of an adult male armpit, so you’re constantly trying to get it just right so your weight is balanced properly and one edge or another isn’t digging into a sore spot.
When you think about this, neither requires a complicated fix. Manufacturers can make the cushioning with a slightly higher level quality. They can extend the length of the part you put up under the armpit by an inch or two to accommodate all us overweight Americans. Job done. They can go whistling on their way.
It’s hard to say whether the hospitals or manufacturers have never asked for feedback, patients have never given the feedback or no one has ever had this problem before. If the rubbed-raw rash on my sides where the crutches cause friction is any indication, I can’t imagine millions of other people haven’t had this problem. Since there have to be millions of people who use crutches at some point in the course of the year, this is a large market and someone should be paying attention to it.
The son of a friend of ours has had the same problem recently, and my unscientific polling of others’ use of crutches reveals an overwhelming amount of evidence pointing to this as a concern. Padding the cushion and extending the length are a solution.
Another one, and this is more for the style conscious entrepreneur to consider, is to invent wraps that fit over your shirt, sliding on easily, with material that allows them to seal under your armpit and provide the added padding you seek. The advantage this product provides is you could create a fashion statement for people on crutches.
Find some attractive models, create some sleek designs in multiple colors that you can wear to work and a whole new product line is possible. All it takes is a little marketing savvy and you can have all us crutch-laden individuals eating out of your palm.
Let’s hope someone takes on this challenge. After that person makes a million bucks, goes on Shark Tank and gets Mark Cuban to invest in him, he can figure out how to add some padding to the hand cushions on crutches, too. That would be nice.