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Steve
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Posted: Thu Apr 1st, 2010 11:29 pm |
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http://www.litegait.com/md.html
BACKGROUND
I am a C4-quadriplegic, post injury by enough years to no longer qualify for outpatient therapy. Because I live with a therapist, I recently purchased a "Mobility Device" MD 200 for my own home use. I'm very surprised not to have found other reviews on the web, either for the MD 200 or for the MD 350. Hopefully my personal observations will help someone in the same circumstances.
My particular problem is that my upper body strength and in particular my wrists are quite weak despite exercise, and my leg flexors are very strong and spasm frequently due to a great deal of muscle spasticity. Other then that, my legs, trunk, shoulders and arms are decently strong. I have spent hours a day in an Easy Stand glider for many months now, can lock both legs and slowly walk with a full wrap-around walker, but stumble frequently and require someone to hold on to me for lateral stability.
I ran across the Mobility Device purely by accident while reading about the Lite-Gait models. A few months after writing back and forth to a sales representative of Litegait and discussing my condition, I ordered and received a MD 200 just two weeks ago.
ASSEMBLY
UPS Freight only promises curbside delivery, but the deliveryman in my particular case, aided by an empty driveway, a lack of stairs, and a recently emptied and cleared living room was gracious enough to deliver the wooden pallet and all directly inside.
The device was heavily bolted down and requires moderate physical strength to assemble, but this was not too difficult with the detailed instructions and 18 color picture showing step-by-step assembly. Only during one step, holding the upper part of the frame while bolting the thing together, were two able bodied people strictly required.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
My first usage would have been smoother if the same detail involved in assembly was paid to the actual usage of the device. Every aspect and component of the device was described verbally, yet without any diagrams or pictures it took some extra experimentation to figure out the best possible way to strap me into the device.
Those who need less help to walk probably can get in and use the device themselves, but for those closer to my physical condition, I would like to stress the statement made by the manual. Plan to use this device only under the direct supervision of someone who is capable of assisting you and knows what they are doing. With the leg safety straps and back strap in place, I felt absolutely secure and stable and could not fall out no matter what I tried, yet if the straps are not adjusted properly or if you exercise until the point of fatigue you may need help to avoid strain.
The very first time I tried the device, it took a decent amount of time to experiment with the adjustments of the safety straps and hydraulic lift to adjust the height to find the most comfortable settings. I then put a mark on the position of the leg belts to indicate where this position was. The safety straps go from behind the leg around to the front inside of the leg and attach to the device more or less "in front" of the body. My brother discovered that with an "outward twist" the strap would lie vertically against the side of the leg instead of horizontally into the crotch area.
The actual walking motion is the most natural and unobstructed I've felt in any walker. I am able to keep a good posture and the safety straps are perfectly placed to not only avoid pushing me into an unnatural slouch, but to encourage a straightened back and good unobstructed leg motion. Again if adjusted incorrectly it can be very uncomfortable to fall and support your weight on the straps, but correctly adjusted this problem does not exist.
For someone with weak sit-to-stand, the safety straps somewhat balanced with weight on your shoulders holds most of not all your body weight until you get into a standing position. This motion is smooth and controlled with a hydraulic lift and I look forward to endlessly using it for sit to stand exercise. This first week however I've been far more interested in walking. Once in a standing position, my brother will readjust the length and position of the straps yet again so too much of my weight does not impact my shoulders if I slip.
During my e-mails back and forth with Mobility Research, they discussed the three different inside base widths available to order. Roughly speaking, the outside width is approximately 3 inches wider than the inside width. The 25" inside base can fit through 28" doorways and fit around any wheelchairs with an outside wheel diameter of less then 25 inches. The 27" can fit through 30" doorways, and the 30" can fit through 33" doorways. Because the outside diameter of the front wheels of my power chair are 26" roughly, I purchased the 27" base that nicely fits around the outside wheels of my TDX3 power chair (26" width).
USAGE
If you can hold up your weight by your legs, this device lets you support all your weight by your legs and gives you a very wide range to move them without obstruction. In various walkers I would kick my feet or legs into the walker itself. No danger of that here.
This device is the very first walker I have ever tried that allows me to work on my balance in perfect safety. The straps keep me in a very good posture and just attempting to stand in place is excellent therapy. On a hard surface, the device rolls freely in all directions with all of the casters unlocked, or with one of the directional casters locked it maneuvers like a car with one "fixed axle" and stiffer turning, or with both directional casters locked the device will allow you to concentrate only on your balance front to back while providing complete lateral stability. Again if I lose my balance, my leg simply swing outward and my weight is temporarily dropped onto a combination of the safety straps and my shoulders. I found it fairly easy to pull my legs back underneath me again without any outside assistance.
The device works equally well on hard carpet and on the tile flooring in my kitchen. The casters on the left side of the device lock it into place, and the casters on the right side lock the device into a perfect front and back motion only as described before. For walking this is incredibly useful in several ways. I can focus on walking forward, backwards, or to either side either myself by leaning into the device or concentrate purely on developing a clean and smooth stepping motion and remaining in an upright position while someone else gently pulls the device along.
Update 3/29:
Because I do not have any lateral stability, I have become fairly dependent upon the locked the rear directional caster to prevent me from falling from side to side. (also see my previous note about my muscle spasticity) The directional casters are completely assembled out of plastic. After two weeks of heavy home usage, the plastic tab that is held into a notch on a circular ring inside of the rear directional caster wore down to the point where it will pop out of place now, and it is no longer possible to lock that caster.
I don't know how many other people are in my condition: able to take strong steps forward but pushing strongly laterally against the rear wheel lock. I probably would never have used the lock so much if it was not used on kitchen tile floor most of the time.
Update 4/1:
Because I purchased the device directly from the company, I e-mailed Mobility Research concerning the issue and they immediately offered to replace not only the broken caster but all the casters with metal ones - and they are sending someone out to do the work as well.
It is still very usable even with that one directional lock broken, and my exercise in the device now is made up with sit to stand practice, standing in place to work on my balance, pushing on the walker directly to make me do the work pushing it forward, and walking upright with proper gait except temporarily with my brother providing support from the back of the walker instead of the front.
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