Long-Term Debt	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011
Long-Term Debt [Abstract]
Long-Term Debt	Long-Term Debt—On May 9, 2008, Staff Position APB 14-1, Accounting for Convertible Debt Instruments That May Be Settled in Cash upon Conversion (Including Partial Cash Settlement) (FSP APB 14-1) as codified in Debt with Conversion and Other Options, ASC 470-20, was issued to provide clarification of the accounting for convertible debt that can be settled in cash upon conversion. The FASB believed this clarification was needed because the accounting that was being applied for convertible debt prior to FSP APB 14-1 did not fully reflect the true economic impact on the issuer since the conversion option was not captured as a borrowing cost and its full dilutive effect was not included in earnings per share. ASC 470-20 required separate accounting for the liability and equity components of the convertible debt in a manner that would reflect Invacare's nonconvertible debt borrowing rate. Accordingly, the Company initially split the total debt amount of $135,000,000 attributable to its 4.125% Convertible Senior Subordinated Debentures due 2027 into a convertible debt amount of $75,988,000 and a stockholders' equity (debt discount) amount of $59,012,000 as of the retrospective adoption date of February 12, 2007 and is accreting the resulting debt discount as interest expense over a ten year life. The Consolidated Balance Sheet as of September 30, 2011 reflects a decrease in long-term debt of $4,132,000 and a deferred tax liability of $1,446,000 compared to comparable amounts of $25,137,000 and $8,798,000, respectively, as of December 31, 2010. During the nine months ended September 30, 2011, the Company repurchased $63,259,000 ($42,254,000 reduction of debt and $21,005,000 reduction of equity) principal amount of its 4.125% Convertible Senior Subordinated Debentures due 2027. The Company retired the debt at a premium above par. In accordance with Convertible Debt, ASC 470-20, the Company utilized the inducement method of accounting to calculate the loss associated with the early retirement of the convertible debt. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011, the Company recorded pre-tax expense of $7,462,000 and $24,198,000, respectively, related to the loss on the debt extinguishment including the write-off of $424,000 and $1,552,000 of pre-tax of deferred financing fees, which were previously capitalized, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011. At September 30, 2011, the Company had outstanding $276,368,000 on its revolving line of credit compared to $184,932,000 as of December 31, 2010. The increase in revolving line of credit debt outstanding is attributable to the reduction in convertible debt noted above, the purchase of shares for Treasury as well the acquisition of DMS in the third quarter of 2011. During the first nine months of 2011, the Company entered into interest rate swap agreements to effectively convert a portion of floating rate revolving credit facility debt to fixed rate debt to avoid the risk of changes in market interest rates. Specifically, interest rate swap agreements for notional amounts of $18,000,000 and $22,000,000 through September 2013, $20,000,000 and $25,000,000 through May 2013 and $15,000,000 through February 2013 were entered into that fix the LIBOR component of the interest rate on that portion of the revolving credit facility debt at rates of 0.625%, 0.46%, 1.08%, 0.73% and 1.05%, respectively, for effective aggregate rates of 2.375%, 2.21%, 2.83%, 2.48% and 2.80%, respectively.

Long-Term Debt

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Long-Term Debt—On May 9, 2008, Staff Position APB 14-1, Accounting for Convertible Debt Instruments That May Be Settled in Cash upon Conversion (Including Partial Cash Settlement) (FSP APB 14-1) as codified in Debt with Conversion and Other Options, ASC 470-20, was issued to provide clarification of the accounting for convertible debt that can be settled in cash upon conversion. The FASB believed this clarification was needed because the accounting that was being applied for convertible debt prior to FSP APB 14-1 did not fully reflect the true economic impact on the issuer since the conversion option was not captured as a borrowing cost and its full dilutive effect was not included in earnings per share. ASC 470-20 required separate accounting for the liability and equity components of the convertible debt in a manner that would reflect Invacare's nonconvertible debt borrowing rate. Accordingly, the Company initially split the total debt amount of $135,000,000 attributable to its 4.125% Convertible Senior Subordinated Debentures due 2027 into a convertible debt amount of $75,988,000 and a stockholders' equity (debt discount) amount of $59,012,000 as of the retrospective adoption date of February 12, 2007 and is accreting the resulting debt discount as interest expense over a ten year life. The Consolidated Balance Sheet as of September 30, 2011 reflects a decrease in long-term debt of $4,132,000 and a deferred tax liability of $1,446,000 compared to comparable amounts of $25,137,000 and $8,798,000, respectively, as of December 31, 2010.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2011, the Company repurchased $63,259,000 ($42,254,000 reduction of debt and $21,005,000 reduction of equity) principal amount of its 4.125% Convertible Senior Subordinated Debentures due 2027. The Company retired the debt at a premium above par. In accordance with Convertible Debt, ASC 470-20, the Company utilized the inducement method of accounting to calculate the loss associated with the early retirement of the convertible debt. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011, the Company recorded pre-tax expense of $7,462,000 and $24,198,000, respectively, related to the loss on the debt extinguishment including the write-off of $424,000 and $1,552,000 of pre-tax of deferred financing fees, which were previously capitalized, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011.

At September 30, 2011, the Company had outstanding $276,368,000 on its revolving line of credit compared to $184,932,000 as of December 31, 2010. The increase in revolving line of credit debt outstanding is attributable to the reduction in convertible debt noted above, the purchase of shares for Treasury as well the acquisition of DMS in the third quarter of 2011. During the first nine months of 2011, the Company entered into interest rate swap agreements to effectively convert a portion of floating rate revolving credit facility debt to fixed rate debt to avoid the risk of changes in market interest rates. Specifically, interest rate swap agreements for notional amounts of $18,000,000 and $22,000,000 through September 2013, $20,000,000 and $25,000,000 through May 2013 and $15,000,000 through February 2013 were entered into that fix the LIBOR component of the interest rate on that portion of the revolving credit facility debt at rates of 0.625%, 0.46%, 1.08%, 0.73% and 1.05%, respectively, for effective aggregate rates of 2.375%, 2.21%, 2.83%, 2.48% and 2.80%, respectively.