How to Size a Walking Cane

People are often confused when confronted with sizing a walking cane. The general perception is that this involves many complex calculations. However, sizing a walking cane is rather simple. You merely need to know the basics to get your cane sizing calculations right. This is rather important too since most types of canes have a standard size which may or may not suit your personal preferences. We provide a Quick Sizing Guide, along with some handy tips, that should help you make better, quick decisions when evaluating a cane’s size.

For proper walking cane sizing, always have two people present. When you need the cane for a mobility aid, it is best to see a health care professional for your walking cane sizing. However, if you would rather not go to the therapist for this, then you can perform walking cane sizing on your own (with another person’s help!)

Walking cane sizing when you already have the cane with you:

1. Remove the rubber tip from the cane. If it is tight...a squirt of WD-40 works wonders; twist the tip off rather than pulling.

2. It takes two people to "fit" a cane. The cane user should be wearing their usual walking shoes and standing as naturally upright as possible. Their arms should hang at their side with a normal bend at the elbow.

3. The second person places the cane with the handle on the ground on the side the person will be using the cane. The shaft is marked where it touches the middle crease of the user’s wrist. The cane should then be cut using a sharp saw and miter box for an even cut. Reattach rubber tip.

Choose The Size you will need:

Perform the same steps as above, only use measuring tape or a yard stick to measure from the crease of the wrist to the floor. That measurement should tell you the length of the cane that will be most comfortable for the user.

Walking cane sizing for another person:

If you don’t have the person there with you to measure, you can do a rough estimate. For 98% of people, the correct walking cane sizing is within an inch of half their height. So, take the amount of inches of a person’s height, and divide it into two. If you order the cane slightly big, that is not wrong but do remember that a wooden cane can always be shortened, but never lengthened. Measure twice and cut once!

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