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Midlife cool mobility aids for the able-bodied

Use "cool" mobility aids in your thirties and then again in old age.
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Initially I envisaged the idea of either scaling up toddler mobility aids for the elderly or scaling down elderly mobility aids for toddlers, but this wouldn't work because it would be perceived as belittling.

Apparently in one's dotage, one tends to focus on one's thirties as the prime of life in the sense that one's memories tend to be centred on that period. If able- bodied people in their thirties were to spend a couple of years using walking frames, mobility scooters, hoists and wheelchairs, and perhaps incontinence pads and the like, and these were somehow styled in a cool and trendy manner, they could then be replicated exactly when mobility became a real problem, which would then create nostalgia and one would also be used to them because memory would come back. They would also be less associated with the idea of getting old. Additionally, disabled access would receive more attention if the people with the most clout were actually having to emulate the physically disabled, who are disadvantaged with respect to advocacy.

One slight problem with this is that actually using mobility aids when one is in one's prime would probably lead to disability after a while. This could be addressed by doing things like making wheelchair wheels really stiff, using a heavy metal to make a walking frame, or by compensating with extra exercise at other times.

nineteenthly, Jul 01 2020

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       //One slight problem with this is that actually using mobility aids when one is in one's prime would probably lead to disability after a while.//   

       I can attest to that, a few years ago, while doing ninja high-kicks in the kitchen, I pulled a ligament in my knee making it prone to spasm and collapse at unhelpful moments. So as not to upset anyone on the train/tube/walk to work, with an unexpected tumble, I took up a walking stick and hobbled about for nearly a year. It was quite fun to begin with, people offered me their seat on public transport, and I was once saluted having been taken for some kind of veteran. After going to physio after lots of nagging, it turned out that not using that leg had caused the muscles to wither quite substantially.   

       After a few rounds of physio I stopped using the stick and just started walking very deliberately - and now it's pretty much back to normal. So yes, interesting to try out, as I experienced a very different commute for those few months, but watching out for that last set of issues.
zen_tom, Jul 01 2020
  

       Glad you're on the mend, [zen_tom]. This is the biggest problem I anticipate, and it would need to be balanced somehow.
nineteenthly, Jul 02 2020
  

       I'm loving the concept, as more and more of my high school friends suffer with arthritis and other chronic diseases. And I really liked your last paragraph because that would be the first concern. "Use it or lose it" is so very true. So +, my friend.
blissmiss, Jul 02 2020
  

       Thanks [blissmiss]. It's sad to care for someone who's lived by that dictum and literally can't use it any more, so he is knowingly losing it.
nineteenthly, Jul 02 2020
  


 

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