Mary Maryland, Ph.D., RN, presents an informative talk titled, “Do You Wiggle When You Walk?” at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, in the Terrace Room at the Oak Park Arms Retirement Community, 408 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park.
Dr. Mary, as she’s affectionately called, will present tips on proper walking and how to recognize when one needs an assistive device for walking.
Needing assistance with walking is something that may affect anyone at some point in life. Whether the help will be permanent or temporary, knowing what options there are can be important.
People have many different reasons for needing help with walking. Using an assistive devise for walking will help take the weight of the body off lower limbs, improve balance, help relieve pain in lower extremities and redistribute weight to make movement easier.
Types of walking devices available include canes, crutches and walkers. All of them are available in different styles and with features that will help make using them more comfortable.
For minimum walking and balancing assistance, a cane may be enough help. If there is less strength in legs or if there is a broken leg, crutches may be called for. Seniors sometimes use them to increase mobility. Walkers offer more stability for all over balance help and those who have less strength to support themselves.
The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay - a weekend, a week, a month or longer.
The event is free and open to the public. Call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040 or visit http://www.oakparkarms.com.
