Why do slow walkers swerve and drift?

[wave rider]

M A V I C wrote:
wave rider, thanks for sharing. I'm curious just how much you swerve. An example of what I see is like this:
- Six foot wide sidewalk
- Person in the right 2'
- 20' later they're in the left 2'
- 20' later they're in the right 2' again

Thanks.

I don't think you would have a problem overtaking me, but…

If the six foot wide sidewalk is:
- smooth,
- straight,
- level,
-and I am concentrating, currently you will have a guaranteed two feet on my left to pass, three feet most of the time.

Squirrels, birds, other distractions, all bets are off. Ditto for uneven and curvy.

With arms tight against my sides, I'm a tad over two feet wide base line, normal arm movements while walking make me wider. I've always been adept at pivoting my shoulders to ease passing for oncoming traffic and try to be aware of overtaking folks.

On the coastal bluff, I'm walking most on dual track dirt roads around agriculture. The curved bottom of the tracks tend to keep me centered in them and the occasional stab of my walking stick aids in balance. The path in town took too much concentration to be fun.

[M A V I C]

Thanks again. We often down know what's going on with a person, so I need to remember that perhaps it's harder for them than how they look.

[wave rider]

M A V I C, happy to give you my experience. Maybe carry one of those teeny tiny bike bells to warn folks? Earbud people might think you are on a scooter and give you space.

It’s been a year and three quarters since I tripped on an uneven sidewalk and broke the femur in four places. I am still feeling improvement. I have been walking in earnest to build bone density, need to add some upper body resistance work too. Goal is to get strong enough to resume bodyboarding.

I need to not feel fragile any more…

[M A V I C]

Hopefully you'll be back on the waves again soon. I've always wanted to do that, and need to make a point of it while my body still works.

[wave rider]

M A V I C wrote:
Hopefully you'll be back on the waves again soon. I've always wanted to do that, and need to make a point of it while my body still works.

There is still time. “Surfing For Life” will give you some inspiration.

https://www.cultureunplugged.com/documen...g-for-Life

[modelamac]

Blankey Blank nailed most of it for me. I have a bad back that when not in position, really messes with my walking. My right knee has a mind of its own. Both hips are tolerable. My balance is such that I need a hand-rail to navigate stairs. You won't see me on the sidewalk without my walker. I just don't go where I have to walk any distance, simply because I can't. I'll let you have all of the sidewalk you need. Just be considerate of all those that can't move at your pace, and hope they try to stay out of your way in the right lane.

[Buzz]

Sorry for the delay in responding. While I'm for infusions for two days every three weeks, and have been for going on nine years, some sessions wipe me out more than others, so it took a bit longer than I hoped to get it together this time.

As wave rider notes, peripheral neuropathy is a common cause for swervers and drifters. After the Drifters split from the Swervers in the 1950’s they had a fairly successful run on the pop and rock Top 40 charts. Peripheral neuropathy is quite common for diabetics, often leading to a foot drop, which can seriously impact one’s gait. While I’m not diabetic, a myriad of mostly athletic related mishaps from my youth, combined w/ some nasty neurological autoimmune diseases I seemed to have started acquiring in my mid 30’s have left me as a poster child for slow walkers.

Pretty much any deficit that affects the legs/feet can become exacerbated enough to adversely affect gait. When we (peeps dealing w/ gait issues) compensate, or try to compensate for whatever deficit is acting up, the result is that other muscles involved in walking will malfunction to some degree that cause a wobble, swerve, and/or drift.

Those of us slow walkers often cannot go any faster, and to do so, or try to do so could be quite hazardous (and I can attest to multiple nasty falls). There are a few more contributing factors of note. When people are affected by gait disorders, they/we have to pay much closer attention to every step taken, and that means having to think about every movement necessary to complete each step taken. Walking is no longer an involuntary task we can embark on while thinking about other stuff, or looking around to enjoy the view or surroundings. My heavy-duty walker helps a lot, but it mostly means I don’t have to walk next to the sides of walls and buildings. Walking next to walls/buildings is a telltale sign of gait impairment and trying to eliminate, or minimize mishaps. When you see a wall or building hugger, please give them/us space.

While paying that close of attention to walking, the gait impaired simply cannot pay attention to all other stimuli that may affect them/us. That makes us susceptible to many outside stimuli, that most normal gaited people don’t ever recognize, that might cause us to fall, or otherwise react poorly to. Because of the difficulty controlling everything that goes into taking each step, any distraction from the walking process can trigger a mishap. It might just mean losing attention for a split second, long enough for the wrong nerve to fire, or muscle to twitch, causing a face plant, or something equally un-fun.

As gait impairment progresses, this enhanced stimulus (startle) response may/often becomes chronic. It is also an inherent characteristic of a couple of my neurological autoimmune diseases. It’s really a matter of degree, and I can look back over the past decades, and recognize the progression of susceptibility to the startle response, and its effect. Don’t get upset if the slow walker doesn’t respond immediately to you. A slow walker often has to process the stimulus, rather that react to it, and then process controlling their/our body, and then acknowledge and formulate a response. If you bark at a slow walker before they’ve/we’ve acknowledged your initial action, you may likely be making things worse by your impatience.

Yes, it’s hard to conceptualize someone not reacting as quickly as you know you would in a similar situation, and it’s easy to get to a “c’mon buddy, what’s your problem… get a move on”. Neurological challenges are not fun, and when factored into something as mundane as walking, it’s hard to appreciate how it translates. I can process stuff a lot better when I’m sitting down, than when I’m trying to walk. I can process stuff a lot better when I’m using my walker to walk, than when I’m holding onto someone else for support, or trying to wing it next to a wall or a building, and the thought of crossing the street unaided is terrifying. I can’t imagine trying to process anything while being forced to cross the street unaided.

I was the consummate jock when I was young, and there’s a part of my brain that thinks it’s still attached to a jock. If I’m sitting comfortably and someone flips a ball at me, my mind has already caught it and thrown it back, before the ball hits me because my body can’t react or function to catch a ball. I cannot imagine the horror of a tossed ball while crossing a street unaided, so all my actions have to be governed accordingly. Most gait impaired folks have similar issues to deal with, so allowing them/us time to process even mundane things will be appreciated.

As to earbuds, if/when a slow walker is wearing earbuds that are actually in use, it may be a ploy to control outside stimuli and minimize the startle response. On windy days, it may be to minimize the effects of a unwanted breeze vibrating little ear hairs. When pdq asks about how people should react when a slow walker exhibits a startle response; no need to look away, a simple, “sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you…” with an empathetic look and tone, will work wonders.

The thread also noted bells and rear view mirrors. Funny; I’ve actually had both on my walker for a lot of years. I’ve been using the walker since 1999, and my earliest surviving digital pics (from Hawaii trips) in 2003 have the bells and mirror on the walker. While I use them for self-protection, I’m not sure they make sense for able-bodied folks. Again, when confronting a slow walker, time to respond and acknowledgement are your friends. Space is helpful, too, if that wasn’t implied earlier. Gait impaired individuals like/need to have comfort with a controllable amount of space around them/us. If/when startled, a slow walker is always concerned with a safe “bail out” zone. If/when the safe “bail out” zone is impinged upon, that creates an instant anxiety spike, triggering the good ol’ fight or flight response that a gait impaired person is not equipped to handle, and nothing good usually happens.

Wanna have some real fun? Wait for a slow walker hugging the wall down going down the hallway about to switch walls, and cut in between the slow walker and the wall they’re switching to, then laugh like crazy when they fall down. OK, not so much fun for the gait impaired crowd, but you’d be surprised how many gait impaired people can tell you this same story.

I do my best to keep my head up with my walker, not to enjoy the surroundings, but to eyeball the other pedestrians to make sure we don’t get in each other’s way. When there are no pedestrians around, I can concentrate more on the path I am taking. The better shape the sidewalk is in, especially if I’m familiar with it, the less stressful the walk is. In new territory, especially with uneven pavement, each step becomes an art form. It’s a blend of keeping track of the pavement and making sure other pedestrians don’t interfere. When it gets really crowded, my bells get a lot of use, though I also try to wait out “rushes”. I haven’t been back to Manhattan since I’ve had my walker, but I’ve been to other parts of New York and survived. In Manhattan, I get the feeling a few of the people’s whose shins I would undoubtedly bruise with my walker, because they ignore the bells, might pummel me, so I’m in no hurry to go back.

I hope this puts slow walkers into better perspective.
==

[wave rider]

Buzz, thanks for the education! I admire your eloquence and humor. Had not considered the startle reflex before.

My peripheral neuropathy is a side effect of some or all of the treatments for cancers I’ve had in the last few years. The layer of numbness on the bottom of my feet accentuate my innate clumsiness but my gate has improved with time.

The emotional part has been hard. Being “less than” and coming to grips that it may be permanent frustrates me often. Especially since my grip strength has been affected ;-). I used to be the “Hey, open this jar” guy!