Best Crutches for Arthritis: Protecting Sore Hands and Joints

When you have arthritis, the catch with crutches is obvious: the joints doing the work are often the ones that hurt. The right pair offloads your legs without punishing your hands, wrists, and shoulders. Here’s how to choose.

Why arthritis changes the priorities

Standard crutches concentrate force into the palm and grip, exactly where rheumatoid and osteoarthritis flare. So the priorities shift to:

• Load off the wrist and hand. A forearm crutch shifts weight onto the forearm cuff rather than the palm, and an adjustable forearm platform can move it further still (see crutches that don’t hurt your hands).
• Wide, cushioned, ergonomic grips that don’t force a hard, sustained clench, which is hard on arthritic fingers and thumbs.
• Shock absorption to reduce the repetitive impact that aggravates inflamed joints.
• Light weight so your shoulders and grip aren’t fighting the crutch itself.
• Easy adjustability to find a position that keeps joints in a comfortable range, and to change it on bad days.

Which crutches fit best

From our best forearm crutches picks, the models that score highest on comfort and ergonomics suit arthritis well: the In-Motion Pro (spring-assist, ergonomic handles) and the smartCRUTCH (adjustable forearm platform that takes load off the wrist). Both reduce the hand and wrist strain that makes ordinary crutches rough with arthritis.

Take the quiz for a match to your situation, or compare the In-Motion Pro vs. smartCRUTCH head to head.

This is general information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or physical therapist about what’s right for your joints and condition.