Question: I have muscle spasms and pain in my back and shoulders after walking with my cane for an extended period of time. I don't want to switch to a walker, so how can I make a cane work for me?
Answer: This is not an uncommon problem! It's a shame that many people continue to live with this pain because in most cases, it is entirely preventable and, in fact, easy to fix. While you should discuss this pain with your doctor, as with any physical difficulty, some advice that many people find helpful is to carefully evaluate the height of their cane and determine if they are using it properly.

Most back and arm pain or muscle tension when using a can is associated with a cane that is too tall or too short. You can read more about the proper height for a cane here but the general rule of thumb is that your arm should be bent at approximately a 15 degree angle when you hold the cane-almost straight down at your side, but lifted slightly to hold the cane in front of your body. The quick way to check cane height is to hold you arm straight down at your side and have someone check to make sure the top of your cane lines up with the crease of your wrist between your arm and your hand. This is the proper height, and if your can is too short or too long, you should adjust it or buy an adjustable cane that will allow for greater customization.

Canes that are too tall cause discomfort because they require so much effort to lift with every step. In order to prevent dragging the cane on the ground, the user needs to pull the weight of the cane up past a comfortable point before stepping and putting it down again. This can cause tension and soreness because of the amount of effort it requires from the user's upper body muscles.

Canes that are too short are also problematic because of the way they cause the user's body to move as he or she uses the cane. When the top of the cane is too low, the user will have to lean down in order to support his or her body's weight on the cane. Doing this repeatedly puts demand on the body because of the unnatural positing the user must repeatedly take during walking.

A great way to prevent either of these problems is to invest in an adjustable cane that allows you to control the height of your cane in increments (usually an inch) in order to always have the perfect height.