People who use Crutches (forearm/underam or other) plz read

Hello!,
We are a current group of Industrial Design students from MSCD(Denver). Our class is Human Factors. Our assignment is this: To re-design the crutch. We are seraching for people who have experience with crutches. Someone who has some opinions to voice! Any input from crutch users will help our design solve problems that truely need solving.

If you have read to this point and still have not navigated away... how about answering some of our inital questions???? Pick one, pick 2.... answer them all???? any help/opinions would be appreciated.


1)What is the hardest part of your day as a crutch user? Or What is the most frequently encountered crutch-related problem you see?

2) How long have you been using the crutches?
-What is the type of injury/disadvantage?

3) What have you done, if anything, to mitigate or solve any crutch-related problems you have encountered on your own?
example: wrapping washcloths around underarm pads of typical crutches to reduce fatigue.

4) Where are you most fatigued by the end of the day? i.e. forearms, underarms, wrists etc.

5) Do you have any suggestions for improvements in areas such as grips, footprint, underarm/forearm contact points?

6) Does health insurance help pay for assistive devices(Percentage?)?

7) If they truely improved on problem areas, a reasonable price for new crutches would be:
$0 - $50
$51 - $100
$101 - $ ?

Thanks so much! Any replies will help us sooo much! If you would prefer to email us directly rather than posting on the public forum, feel free to PM me.