I've used crutches off and on since I was about two years old. (One of the many joys of having hemophilia.) Stairs are a little tricky, but the technique is simple enough. To go up stairs, you stand before the stair on your crutches with your good foot/leg and the crutches all on the ground. Center of gravity is important here. A slight forward balance is better than a backwards balance. What you'll do first is lift your good foot/leg and place it on the step you're looking to climb. Then both push off with your crutches and use your good leg to stand up on that good leg, then bring the crutches up with you and stand on that first step just as you were standing on the ground a second before. Then you simply repeat that process for each step.
The center of gravity is very important when climbing steps. You really, really don't want to fall over backwards going up the stairs , or forwards going down the stairs, so make sure your center of gravity stays centered or if you're going to err, have it slightly forward going up and slightly backwards going down. When in doubt, look for the closest place to land if you should fall and lean that way. That forward momentum helps you climb the stairs. You're not asking your good leg to do anything it doesn't already do as it takes one step at a time anyway. It's really not that hard. (Of course I have 56 years of experience, so it's easy for me.)
Coming down stairs, you lead with your bad foot/leg and the crutches. Coming down the stairs you want your center of gravity slightly back, so if you fall, it's back on the stairs and not down the stairs. If you get your center of gravity too far forward, it's easy to topple forward. Coming down you stand on your good leg, swing the crutches and your bad foot/leg down to the next step then when secure there you simply slide your good foot down, stand up straight and repeat the process until you reach the bottom.
Not teaching people how to use crutches is nothing new. I went to high school with a local football player who tore up his knee in a game and needed knee surgery. Back then after the surgery he was in a cast from his toes to his hip. I first saw him towards the end of his first day back in school, he sat behind me in bio 2 and he was already there when I entered the classroom. He looked like he'd been in a marathon as sweat was dripping off him and he was still out of breath from gettng to the class. He told me how much he admired me for being able to use crutches as they were killing him. With about ten minutes to go in the class he raised his hand and asked to be excused to go to his next class and the teacher agreed. He asked me to carry his books for him and I agreed. I picked up his books and walked to the door and then turned around to look for him and he'd disappeared. I glanced down and there he was just above the floor on a pair of ridiculously short crutches staggering forward.
I stopped him and had him take a seat in my chair and had him hand me his crutches. I asked who adjusted them for him and he said that's how they gave them to him. Our teacher came over and agreed that they were way too short. He said he was told not to mess with them and that they told him shorter crutches made it harder to fall. We asked how many times he'd fallen on them so far and he said too many to count. I adjusted his crutches to my height and gave him an impromptu ten second lesson on how crutches should be used. He was several inches taller than me, so his crutches should be even taller than where I use them, but he agreed to give it a try. We set off for his next class with him now on crutches that were closer to what they should be and he was suddenly finding the going much, much easier. His mom picked him up after school for a follow-up visit with his surgeon and she almost had a panic attack when she saw how tall his crutches were now. When they went into the doctor's office she ratted me out to the doc and was surprised to hear the doctor say the crutches were fine set to that height and for him they could even be taller.
I think a lot of doctors and physical therapists just assume patients know how to use crutches and don't bother giving the necessary instruction. They really aren't that difficult to use and truth be told, I can move faster on crutches than off of them. My healthy leg is around 33 inches long where my crutches are more like 55 inches long. The stride from that 55 inch long leg is a lot longer than the stride from my good leg and I can cover a lot of ground in a hurry. I have to purposely slow down on crutches if I'm with someone or else they have to jog to keep up with me.
I personally prefer a taller crutch to a shorter crutch. I've always used a taller crutch and I think it's easier to maintain your balance on a taller crutch and also makes it easier to just roll over the top of a taller crutch. Crutches that are too short tend to throw off your balance in a forward lean as you lean forward on the crutches. That's not horrible most of the time and is probably better for those learning to use crutches, but once you're used to crutches a taller crutch can make life much easier.
Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
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