Health Topic

Mobility Aids

Mobility aids help you walk or move if you are disabled or have an injury. Choosing these devices takes time and research. Learn more.

Reviewed Reviewed by a registered pharmacistGeneral information

Also called: Ambulation devices

Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

About Mobility Aids

Mobility aids help you walk or move from place to place if you have a disability or an injury.

Types of mobility aids can include:

  • Crutches
  • Canes
  • Walkers
  • Wheelchairs
  • Motorized scooters
  • Prostheses, a device to replace a missing part of your body or make part of your body work better, such as a leg

Ramps, stairlifts, and handrails are also mobility aids. These additions can help you safely move around your environment.

Mobility aids can help people who have a physical disability or trouble moving around be more independent. A few reasons a mobility aid might help you include:

  • If you are at risk of falling or are healing from a lower-body injury, you may need a walker or cane.
  • You may use crutches to keep your body weight off your foot, ankle, or knee.
  • You may need a wheelchair or a scooter if an injury or disease has left you unable to walk.
  • Various mobility aids may also benefit people with certain health conditions or older adults.

Your health care provider or a physical therapist may help you choose a mobility aid. Choosing these devices takes time and research. You might need good upper body strength or balance to use some mobility aids safely. Otherwise, they may not be the best choice for you. You should be fitted for some mobility aids such as crutches, canes, and walkers. If they fit, these devices give you support, but they can be uncomfortable and unsafe if they don't.

It sits within Wellness and Lifestyle.

When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.

Research on Mobility Aids

432 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.

What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.

Research currently under way

Research already completed

Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.

Where to read more

Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.

Related Issues

Clinical Trials

Medical subject headings

Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Self-Help Devices. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.

This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Mobility Aids, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.