What Are Canadian Crutches? The Same Thing as Forearm Crutches

If you have been sent to buy “Canadian crutches” and cannot work out what makes them Canadian, here is the short answer: nothing. It is one of five names for the same design, and the design is the one with a cuff around your forearm rather than a pad jammed under your armpit.

The five names, and where each one is used

Name	Where you will hear it
Forearm crutch	The common term in Canada and the United States
Canadian crutch	An older North American term, still used in catalogues and by some clinicians
Lofstrand crutch	The brand name that became the generic one, common in clinical settings
Elbow crutch	The standard term in the UK, Ireland, Australia and much of the world
Arm crutch, arm support crutch	Informal, and what people often type when the other names are not working

All five describe a crutch with two contact points on your body: a cuff that wraps the forearm just below the elbow, and a handgrip. What they all rule out is the underarm crutch, which has a padded top that rests against the ribcage below the armpit.

Where the “Lofstrand” name comes from

Anders R. Lofstrand Jr. filed a patent in 1951 for a crutch whose shaft and forearm section could both be adjusted to fit an individual user. It was granted in 1955. The Lofstrand company’s crutches became common enough in clinical use that the brand name turned into the everyday word for the design, in the same way people say “biro” or “thermos”.

Where the “Canadian” name comes from

Honestly: nobody seems to know for certain, and we would rather say that than invent a story.

The explanation you will see most often is that the design became popular in Canada and Europe earlier and more widely than in the United States, and the name stuck as a way of distinguishing it from the underarm crutch that dominated American hospitals. That is plausible and it matches the fact that forearm crutches remain the more common style in both Canada and Europe. It is not documented in any authoritative source we can point you at, so treat it as the accepted account rather than an established fact.

What we can tell you flatly is that the name says nothing about manufacture. A crutch called Canadian is not made in Canada by virtue of the name, and ours are not: the in-Motion Pro is made in the United States, and shipped north.

Why the naming matters when you are shopping

Because the terms are not evenly distributed across the internet, and you will miss stock if you only search one of them.

A Canadian buyer searching “forearm crutches” gets the biggest set of results. Searching “Canadian crutches” surfaces a different and smaller set, often older listings and clinical suppliers. “Elbow crutches” mostly returns British and Australian retailers who may not ship here. If you are comparing prices or hunting for a specific feature, run the search two or three times with different names before concluding something does not exist.

The same thing happens in the other direction when you talk to a clinician. A physiotherapist may say “Lofstrands” and a retailer may say “forearm crutches”, and it is easy to leave that conversation thinking you have been told to buy something you cannot find.

What actually distinguishes one forearm crutch from another

Once you know the names all mean one thing, the useful comparison is between the features, which do genuinely vary:

• Whether the leg is a rigid tube or has a spring in it. A rigid crutch transmits the load of each step straight back up. A spring-assisted leg compresses under load instead.
• How the tip meets the ground. A fixed rubber tip contacts fully only when the crutch is near vertical. An articulating tip pivots to hold contact through more of the step.
• Whether the wearing parts are replaceable. Tips, cuffs and grips wear out on any crutch. On some, you can buy the part. On others, you buy a new pair.
• How the cuff is shaped and whether more than one size is included. Cuffs are where most fit complaints come from.
• The adjustment range, and whether it is set by your height or your hip height. The second is the more accurate method.

Those are worth comparing. The name on the box is not.