Canes aren't fashion accessories

A few years ago I suffered a minor fracture of my right ankle. I had an air cast and walked with a cane for awhile. I used the cane in my right hand, to take pressure off that ankle when walking.

I see people all over New York walking on canes. About 50% use the cane on the opposite side of their injury. It makes me cringe to think that 50% of the people are adding injury upon injury. I even had the chutzpah to stop one woman with a big cast on her foot and ask her why she was using her cane on the opposite side. She claimed that her doctor told her that that was the correct side. Now, when she sees me she tries to avoid me.

Puzzled by this matter, today I wrote to Tara Parker-Pope, who writes a weekly Q&A column in the Health Journal section on Tuesdays in The Wall Street Journal.

My precise question to her was: "If you injure, say, your right foot. What side, right or left, should you use a cane for support?"

Tara Parker-Pope wrote back: "I love this question. My answer is you should use it on the same side as your injury. You are using it to relieve pressure on that side. Makes no sense to put it on the other side. I will ask an orthopedic expert. Do you really see people using it wrong? Sounds nutty to me. Maybe it's just a fashion accessory now..." tpp