Snow and Ice Stability

A winter weather advisory has been issued for the Baltimore, DC and Northern Virginia region. So far this year we have been relatively lucky about avoiding accumulating snow and ice. If the weather forecasters are accurate, our luck is about to end.

Being a lower extremity amputee poses unique obstacles every season. In the summer many amputees complain of excessive sweating within their liners. In the spring and fall, slipping on wet leaves or nut shells poses a risk of falling. In the winter, the threat of snow and ice strikes fear into many lower extremity amputees.

Slipping a prosthetic into winter boots is not always feasible. Some amputees adapt by wearing a treaded boot on the sound foot while keeping their everyday shoe on the prosthetic. In addition to contributing to instability because of the differing heel heights, the lack of winter tread on the prosthetic side can lead to slipping and falling.

A safer option is donning a pair of Yaktrax Walker Traction Cleats. The hand-wound coils on these cleats provide a full 360 degrees of traction on snow and ice. With each step the metal coils "bite" into the ice to provide stability and thwart slipping. The cleats are easy to slip over bottom of shoes and are quickly removed. The prosthetic does not need to be removed in order to don and remove these ice grippers.

As you are stocking up on milk, bread and toilet paper for the impending storm, you might want to consider picking up a pair of Yaktrax Walker cleats. Although they are available through amazon.com and various on-line merchants, they can also be purchased at Wal-Mart, Target and various shoe stores including Payless shoes.