Document And Entity Information (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Feb. 23, 2012 Common Class A [Member]	Feb. 23, 2012 Common Class B [Member]
Document Type	10-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2011
Entity Registrant Name	INVACARE CORPORATION
Entity Central Index Key	0000742112
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2011
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding			30,734,171	1,084,747
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Public Float		$ 941,389,942