Welcome to Life with Neuropathy. My name's John and I have peripheral neuropathy. Today let's talk about tennis balls.
So what's the deal with tennis balls and walkers? The two go together like peanut butter and jelly, Bert and Ernie, and Sonny and Cher. You see this combination everywhere especially if you stop by an assisted living facility. Swing by an ortho clinic. Or visit me in my home. Read more about famous walkers on TV at Let's Talk about Humor.
Now that I have a walker I knew it was only a matter or time before I gave in.
I'm not sure who the first person was to ever jam tennis balls onto the back legs of a two-wheeled walker but that unique practice has caught on and spread. Like an unspecified virus of unknown origin. To learn more about my neuropathy journey please read Let Me Introduce Myself.
But why? What's the reason? Well, adding tennis balls to a walker does, in fact, make them safer. Provides more contact with the floor. Also, the felt on the tennis balls helps hold the walker in place to prevent it from sliding so easily across slippery floors. They, of course, don't move as well on carpeted surfaces. Which can be good. You don't want to get overly reliant on your walker wheels. If you do, you'll use your muscles less and simply slide from place to place. And who wants to do anything that's simple? Not me. Never.
So if you do decide you want to add on this fashionable accessory you must first pop a hole in each ball typically by placing it in a vise and then pound a nail through it. Sounds kinda fun. This allows the air to escape. You then remove the nail (obviously) and use a pair of scissors to cut an "X" the size of the walker leg. The ball gets shoved onto the end of the leg and the same process is done with the second one. Easy as that. Read about the looking at another's walker with a jealous eye at Let's Talk about Walker Envy.
Let's hear some call-outs. Who's on the pro-tennis ball team -- and who doesn't want to bother adding these attractive accouterments to their walkers (the non-Zombie kind, of course!)? Would love to hear any thoughts about whether or not using tennis balls has worked out well for you. Walkers rock -- and roll! Let's talk.
Thanks for listening.
John
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Thanks, Ethan, for the awesome image. Photo by https://unsplash.com/@ethanrichardson
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