If you have ever spent a week on crutches, you know the problem firsthand. Every step on a standard crutch sends the impact of the ground straight up the rigid post and into your hands, wrists, elbows, and shoulders. Medical researchers have been documenting the fallout for decades: sore shoulders, irritated wrists, pressure and nerve trouble under the arm, and a walking pattern that takes far more energy than normal walking. For someone recovering from surgery or managing a long-term condition, those costs add up with every trip to the kitchen.
Spring-assist technology takes a simple idea and puts it to work. A spring built into the crutch post compresses the moment the tip meets the ground, absorbing the shock that a rigid crutch passes directly to your body. As you swing forward over the crutch, the spring releases, returning part of that stored energy to help lift and carry you into the next step. Think of the difference between landing on a wooden floor and landing on a gym mat, with a little push back at the end.
This is not a marketing theory. Since 1989, research teams at Brown University, Penn State, the University of Auckland, Brigham Young University, and Inje University in Korea have put spring-loaded crutches through controlled lab testing using strain gauges, force plates, 3D motion capture, muscle-activity sensors, and metabolic gas analysis. Their findings point the same direction: impact forces arrive more gently, stored spring energy is returned to the user, walking becomes more mechanically efficient, and the leg muscles do less of the pushing. Most of these studies used small groups of healthy adults, and the researchers themselves call for larger trials, but the consistency of the results across different labs, countries, and decades is hard to ignore.
That body of research is the foundation for in-Motion spring-assisted crutches, available in both underarm and forearm models built on the same spring-assist design. Our goal is simple: absorb the shock, return the energy, and relieve the pain and pressure that make traditional crutches so hard to live with. You do not have to take our word for it. Below is a short summary of each study, with a link to the full paper so you, your physical therapist, or your physician can review the evidence directly.
The Studies
The Mechanical Performance of Ambulation Using Spring-loaded Axillary Crutches: A Preliminary Report
Parziale, J.R. and Daniels, J.D. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 1989. Brown University / Rhode Island Hospital.
One of the earliest lab tests of the concept. Researchers fitted standard and spring-loaded underarm crutches with strain gauges and had seven subjects, six of them physical therapists, walk with each. The spring-loaded crutches produced 22% smaller shock waves at initial contact and 24% lower peak stresses, and subjects reported better endurance and comfort.
Mechanics of Ambulation With Standard and Spring-Loaded Crutches
Segura, A. and Piazza, S.J. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2007. Pennsylvania State University.
Ten healthy adults walked on force plates with both crutch types. With spring-loaded crutches, the rate at which force built up at the crutch tip dropped by 33% and the total impulse of the ground force fell by 13% to 26%. The authors concluded the changes are likely to reduce overuse injury in crutch users.
Biomechanical Evaluation of an Innovative Spring-Loaded Axillary Crutch Design
Zhang, Y., Liu, G., Xie, S., and Liger, A. Assistive Technology, 2011. University of Auckland.
Using 3D motion capture and force plates, this study found that standard crutches produced two sharp force peaks per step while the spring-loaded design produced one smoother peak. Spring-loaded crutches also generated significantly more mechanical work, with stored spring energy making an important contribution to moving the user forward.
Mechanical Efficiency of Walking with Spring-loaded Axillary Crutches
Zhang, Y., Beaven, M., Liu, G., and Xie, S. Assistive Technology, 2013. University of Auckland.
Participants walked a track for five minutes on each crutch type while researchers measured both mechanical output and oxygen-based metabolic cost. Mechanical efficiency was significantly higher with spring-loaded crutches, meaning users got more walking work out of the same metabolic effort.
An Evaluation of Mechanical Energy Transfer During Spring-loaded and Traditional Crutch Ambulation
Bateman, T.D., Seeley, M.K., Roggia, A.M., Larson, B.J., and Draper, D.O. Human Performance Research Center, Brigham Young University.
Twenty participants, ten men and ten women, walked at a controlled speed with both crutch types under 3D motion capture. At the end of each crutch step, spring-loaded crutches delivered 5% higher forward velocity and 9.6% more forward kinetic energy, consistent with the spring returning stored energy to the user.
A Biomechanical Evaluation of a Novel Mobile Walking Device
Bateman, T.D. and Seeley, M.K. Journal of Undergraduate Research, Brigham Young University, 2013.
A companion write-up of the BYU research comparing the Millennial spring-assisted crutch with a traditional crutch across twenty participants. The team measured energy absorbed in the first half of each crutch step and returned in the second half, found a significant difference between the two crutches, and concluded the spring-assisted design decreases energy expenditure during walking.
Effects of Spring-Loaded Crutches on Gastrocnemius Activity and Upward Displacement of the Body During Gait
Kang, M.H., Oh, J.S., and Yang, S.H. Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 2016. Inje University, Republic of Korea.
Using muscle sensors and motion capture on twelve participants, researchers found that calf muscle activity dropped significantly with spring-loaded crutches while the body rose higher with each step. In plain terms, the spring did more of the lifting so the leg did less, which the authors describe as a more efficient crutch gait.
These studies are shared for educational purposes and are not medical advice. Talk with your physician or physical therapist about which mobility aid is right for you.
