How to Use Walking Poles After Surgery: Tips, Technique and Posture

Used badly, with the wrong height or the wrong tip for the ground, poles can feel awkward and unsteady. This guide takes you through setting up your Recovery Kit poles, choosing the right tip, and the technique we teach patients to use before their surgery, ready for when they move on from crutches.

If you can, buy your poles and learn to use them properly before your surgery. Then, when you come to partial weight-bearing afterwards, you'll already be an expert.

If you are recovering from surgery, always follow the weight-bearing instructions from your surgeon or physio. Move on to poles once they have cleared you for partial weight-bearing.

Step 1: Set the height

Stand up straight in the shoes you will walk in, with the pole tip on the ground beside your foot. Adjust the pole until your elbow is bent at roughly 90 degrees with your forearm level. As a rough guide, poles are often set to about two-thirds of your height, so start there and adjust afterwards.

To adjust, open the flip lock, slide the section to the right length, and close the lock firmly.

Step 2: Use the wrist strap properly

The strap is there to take load, so you don't have to grip the handle tightly. Put your hand up through the loop from underneath, then bring your hand down and hold the cork handle with the strap running across the back of your hand. Tighten it so it is snug but not pinching.

Used this way, much of the push goes through the strap, your grip can stay relaxed, and your shoulders and forearms don't tire as quickly.

Step 3: Choose the right tip for the ground

Your poles come with five types of end. Swapping them takes a few seconds, and using the right one makes a real difference to grip and confidence.

In the early weeks after surgery, most of your walking will be indoors and on pavements, so start with the rubber tips. Move to the bare carbide tip, with a mud basket if needed, when you start walking on grass and trails.

Step 4: Find your walking pattern

We base our technique on Nordic walking, which uses the poles in the same rhythm as a natural arm swing: as your left foot steps forward, your right pole plants, and the other way round. Research using instrumented hip replacements has found that Nordic walking puts no more load through a new hip than ordinary walking, and that on level ground one technique reduced it slightly (Palmowski et al., 2021).

After surgery, build up to it in stages. Your physio will tell you which stage suits you.

1. Four-point pattern (most support). Move one pole forward, then step with the opposite foot. Then move the other pole, and step with the other foot. Only one point moves at a time, so you always have three in contact with the ground. Keep the poles fairly upright and plant them level with your front foot.
2. Two-point pattern (the natural rhythm). Move a pole and the opposite foot forward together, then the other pole and the other foot. This is how you walk normally, with your arms swinging, and it is where most patients spend the bulk of their recovery.
3. Nordic technique (building strength and fitness). Keep the two-point rhythm, but angle the poles slightly backwards and push through the straps as you pass them, so they help drive you forward. This works your upper body and core as well as your legs. Save it for when you are walking comfortably and your physio is happy for you to progress.

Step 5: Keep your whole body aligned

The main reason we recommend two poles over a single crutch is symmetry. Whichever pattern you use, check these points as you walk:

• Head up and eyes forward, a few metres ahead, not down at your feet
• Shoulders relaxed and down, away from your ears
• Chest open and back straight, without leaning forward onto the poles
• Core gently braced, as if you are about to be nudged
• Hips level, without dipping or hitching on one side
• Even steps: the same length and the same time on each leg, with a heel-to-toe roll
• Arms swinging from the shoulder, with the elbows close to 90 degrees as the pole lands

While you are getting the hang of it, focus on taking small steps with the correct technique.

It can help to have someone film you for 20 seconds from the front and the side. A limp or a lean that you can't feel is often obvious on video.

Common mistakes

• Poles too long, which pushes your shoulders up and tires your arms
• Gripping the handles hard instead of using the straps
• Planting the poles too far ahead, which makes you reach and lean forward
• Taking a short step on the operated leg and a long step on the other

Stairs and kerbs

On stairs, use the handrail where there is one. Hold both poles in your other hand, or leave them at the top or bottom. The rule most physios teach is “up with the good, down with the bad”: lead with your stronger leg going up, and with your operated leg going down. Ask your physio to go through this with you before you leave hospital.

Want someone to check your technique?

If you would like more help, you can book an online session with one of our qualified strength and conditioning coaches, who will help set your poles up, check your technique and talk you through the next steps in your recovery. Get in touch to arrange one. Not sure whether you are ready for poles yet? Read which walking aid to use at each stage of recovery.

This article is general information and is not a substitute for advice from your own surgeon or physiotherapist.