How to Use a Walking Stick Correctly: Height, Which Hand and Stairs

A walking stick looks like the simplest thing in the world. Then you start using one and it feels awkward, your shoulder aches by lunchtime, and you are not sure it is helping at all.

Nearly always, that comes down to one of four things: the height, the hand you hold it in, the timing of your steps, or the stairs. Here is how to get each one right, in plain steps you can check in your own hallway.

Need a stick that adjusts to the right height? These three cover most people. All six we sell are compared side by side in our walking sticks guide, along with which handle suits sore hands.

Step 1: Set the height of your walking stick

A stick at the wrong height is the most common reason one feels wrong. Too high pushes your shoulder up and tires your arm. Too low makes you lean and stoop.

1. Put on the shoes you wear most days. Heels and slippers change the height you need.
2. Stand up straight with your arms hanging loose by your sides.
3. Set the stick so the top of the handle sits level with the crease of your wrist.
4. Hold the handle. Your elbow should bend a little, never locked straight and never pushed up.
5. Check the adjusting button has clicked fully through its hole before you lean on it.

If you are buying for someone else, measure them the same way: in their everyday shoes, standing tall, from the floor to the crease of the wrist. As a starting point, the handle usually lands at a little under half the person's height.

Then check it on the person. Arms and legs vary, and the wrist crease always wins over the table.

Step 2: Which hand to hold a walking stick in

Hold the stick in the hand opposite the leg that is weaker, sorer or recovering. A sore right knee means the stick goes in your left hand.

It feels back to front for a day or so. It is right because of how you walk: your left arm naturally swings forward with your right leg. A stick in your left hand moves with your right leg, shares its load, and widens your base on the side that needs it. Hold it on the same side as the sore leg and it takes almost no weight off it.

If neither leg is worse and you use the stick for balance, hold it in whichever hand feels natural, and keep the other hand free for rails and door handles.

Hospital physiotherapists teach the same rule when someone moves from two crutches to one: the single crutch goes in the hand opposite the leg that was operated on, as the physiotherapy sheet from St Vincent's Private Hospital Northside explains.

Opposite hand, together with the sore leg. Get those two right and most of the awkwardness goes.

Step 3: How to walk with a walking stick

1. Stand tall and look ahead, not down at your feet.
2. Place the stick a little out to the side and just in front of you, not far ahead.
3. Move the stick and your weaker leg forward together.
4. Press down through the handle as the weaker leg takes your weight.
5. Step through with your stronger leg, landing just past the stick.

Keep the rhythm even and the steps small. If you find yourself planting the stick a long way ahead and leaning onto it, the stick is probably too long, or it may be time for more support than a stick can give.

Step 4: Using a walking stick on stairs and kerbs

One step at a time, and use a handrail whenever there is one.

Going up: hold the rail, step up with your stronger leg first, then bring the stick and the weaker leg up to the same step.

Going down: put the stick down onto the step below first, then the weaker leg, then the stronger leg follows.

Physios teach it as good leg up, sore leg down. A kerb is just one step, so the same order applies. If the only rail is on the side you hold the stick, swap the stick to your other hand for the stairs and hold the rail, or ask your physio to show you the safest way on your own stairs.

Getting up from a chair and sitting down

Never pull yourself up on the stick. It is not built for a sideways pull, and it can slide out from under you.

To stand up: shuffle to the front of the seat, put both hands on the arms of the chair, lean forward and push up. Find your balance, then take hold of the stick.

To sit down: walk until you feel the chair against the back of your legs, rest the stick to one side, reach back for the arms of the chair, and lower yourself down.

Somewhere to park the stick saves a lot of bending. A quad tip cane stands up on its own, and a wrist strap lets the stick hang from your wrist while you use both hands.

Five mistakes that make a walking stick work against you

• Set too high. Your shoulder rides up and your arm tires. Lower it until the handle meets your wrist crease.
• Held on the sore side. It feels natural, and it takes almost no weight off the leg that needs it. Swap hands.
• Planted too far ahead. You end up leaning onto it. Keep it close, just ahead and a little to the side.
• A worn tip. When the ridges underneath go smooth, the grip goes too, especially on wet tiles. A replacement tip is $12 and takes a minute to fit.
• Slippers or loose shoes. A stick can only steady you if your feet are steady. Flat, closed shoes with grippy soles are best.

Using a walking stick for knee pain, after a hip replacement, or for balance

For knee or hip pain: the same rules apply. Opposite hand, stick and sore leg together. Done right, the stick takes some of the load off the sore joint with every step.

After a hip or knee replacement: follow your physio's plan first. The usual path is a frame or two crutches, then one crutch, then a stick, and your physio will tell you when each change is safe. Our guides to coming home after a hip replacement and a knee replacement cover setting up the house.

For balance: a stick gives you a third point of contact with the ground, which helps when you feel a little unsteady. If you need more than that, a quad tip cane with four feet is steadier and stands up on its own.

When a walking stick is no longer enough

A stick is for light support. These are signs it is time to look at more:

• You are leaning hard on the stick with every step.
• You are still reaching for furniture and walls as well.
• You would like a stick in each hand.
• You have had a fall, or a near miss, with the stick in your hand.

The next step is usually a walking frame or a rollator with a seat. Our guide to walking frames and rollators sets out which one suits which person, and how to get its height right too.

NDIS and Support at Home funding for walking sticks

Walking sticks are eligible under the NDIS Consumables category and sit well under $1,500, so there is no quote to chase. If you are self-managed, order and pay as normal and claim the invoice back. If you are plan-managed, choose that at checkout and add your plan manager's email, and we send the compliant invoice straight to them. Under Support at Home, sticks come from the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications budget. Our NDIS funding guide explains the steps.

Common questions

Which hand do you hold a walking stick in?

Hold it in the hand opposite your weaker or sorer leg, and move it forward at the same time as that leg. A sore right knee means the stick goes in your left hand. If neither leg is worse and you use it for balance, hold it in whichever hand feels natural.

What height should a walking stick be?

The top of the handle should sit level with the crease of your wrist when you stand up straight in everyday shoes with your arm hanging loose. When you hold it, your elbow should bend a little. For most people that lands at a little under half their height, so about 77cm for someone 160cm tall.

How do you go up and down stairs with a walking stick?

Use the handrail if there is one. Going up, step up with your stronger leg first, then bring the stick and the weaker leg up. Going down, put the stick on the step below first, then the weaker leg, then the stronger leg. Good leg up, sore leg down.

How do you walk with a walking stick correctly?

Place the stick a little out to the side and just in front of you. Move the stick and your weaker leg forward together, press down through the handle as that leg takes your weight, then step through with your stronger leg. Keep the steps small, stand tall and look ahead.

How do I measure a walking stick for someone else?

Have them stand up straight in the shoes they wear most, arms hanging loose, and measure from the floor to the crease of the wrist. That is the handle height to set. Our T-Shape Handle Walking Cane, $65, adjusts from 72.5 to 95cm, which covers most adults, so you can fine tune it once it arrives.

Does a walking stick help with balance?

Yes, for light unsteadiness. It gives you a third point of contact with the ground. If one point is not enough, a quad tip cane with four small feet is steadier. If you are reaching for furniture as well as using a stick, it is time to look at a walking frame.

When should you replace the rubber tip on a walking stick?

When the ridges on the bottom have worn smooth, or the rubber has split or gone hard. A worn tip loses its grip, especially on wet tiles. Tips are sized to the shaft, so measure the bottom of the stick before you order. Our Replacement Cane Tip fits a 19mm shaft and costs $12.

Ready to choose a stick? Our walking sticks guide compares all six side by side, including which handle suits sore hands.