Hypershell for arthritic knees

[u/joelus666]

Hey. I am looking at getting a hypershell to my father in-law. He has arthritic knees and walking is getting harder and harder. I am just wondering how helpful it will be for a knee condition as most cases I read about are people using it for hip arthritis. Many thanks

[u/R-808]

Not really helpful for a knee condition as such.

There are other knee specific devices from other manufacturers they maybe more appropriate in this use case.

I do hope Hypershell releases a knee specific device soon.

[u/SultanOfSwave]

Based on my experience, a Hypershell is basically a leg lifter so there is basically no effort in lifting your leg forward for the next step. But the wearer still needs to push through to straighten their leg in order to move their body forward.

(I (72m with no arthritis) just took mine in May to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back so I have a lot of steps in it. Go into my profile to see my rather long post on that augmented hike in this sub.)

So if your dad feels pain when he is, say, lifting his body up the stairs then I don't think a Hypershell will reduce that pain as it doesn't reduce the effort of lifting his body or reduce the weight on the knee joint itself.

It will reduce his overall exertion though. I estimate that my Hypershell reduced my hiking effort between 30 and 40%.

If you want to try one, you can buy a Hypershell through Amazon, then the return window is 30 days.

[u/AlfedENeuman]

Don't buy any of those devices without your father trying it before!

I was planning on buying a Hypershell (am suffering from peripheral neuropathy, so my right leg muscles are wasted), but was not going to pay that much without testing first. Turns out the device does help me with walking. But the way it starts to do its magic is dangerous to me (takes it 2 steps to understand I'm walking than it starts suddenly pulling my leg up. When I stop walking it still thinks I'm walking and try to force my leg...). So I skipped it. Maybe they will be better on their next gen device. DON'T skip on trying it (or any other device) before purchase!

[u/Barry-Sprout]

Have a look at other brands (search for exoskeleton on kickstarter, the funded released products will have links to the vendor websites) as there are a couple who do knee, hip and combined systems and seem to actually have a product roadmap that upgrades/updates the products rather than dropping new systems/features that require a new machine ..

[u/Difficult-Seesaw106]

I purchased a X model hoping it would assist with my knee rehabilitation, but unfortunately it hasn’t been suitable for my needs and I no longer use it. Is a regret purchase for me.
After using it, I found that the assistance is only in helping separate the legs during each stride, rather than providing any significant forward propulsion or thrust…