drop feet

hi gabriel & welcome,

try & make your feet walk correctly regardless how poorly the result is. concentrate on trying to make it happen correctly. make this an exercise that is done often, every step as you walk. take your hands & force your feet all the way up & all the way down. you do not want to lose your range of motion. take care. be well.

gene gbs 8-99
in numbers there is strength

Gene do you know anything about the AFOs I see mentioned?

hi kit,

i never needed afos. others who need them may post here. as i recall, if you can go w/o them, do so. take care. be well.

gene gbs 8-99
in numbers there is strength

Gabriel,

Did you, or are you doing physical therapy? I know this helped me a gread deel with drop feet.

Try exercising your feet with a theraband. That is that stretchy thing the PT people use on you at first. If you are two years out from GBS & have major foot drop, then I would look at trying AFOs for safety reasons. Like if you are tripping over your toes & falling a lot. I am 4 1/2 years post & find I can walk much better with them, actually I won’t walk at all anymore without them after a fall in September broke two of my toes.

Hi,

Foot drop is something that is there from the start. You don’t aquire foot drop after 2 years. It would have been a concern with PT all along the way, which is why AfO’s are being brought up. Sounds like you’ve gotten this far without needing something done.

Drop foot?

Sean,

[QUOTE]
Footdrop is due to weakness or paralysis of the muscles involved in lifting the front part of your foot. This can cause you to drag the toe of your shoe on the ground and significantly impair your walking. Footdrop isn’t a disease but a sign of an underlying problem.
[/QUOTE]
The rest of the article wouldnt paste properly, so here is another definition ….

[QUOTE]
Foot drop
[B]Definition[/B]
Foot drop is a weakness of muscles that are involved in flexing the ankle and toes. As a result, the toes droop downward and impede the normal walking motion.
[/QUOTE]

When you lay down, your foot automatically points downwards. After a few days like this, it seems that the muscles tend to shrink in a sense, so when you eventually try and walk again, your foot cant really go into the position that is needed to walk. This is EXTREMELY painful!!!!! PT should be done constantly to ‘loosen’ the muscles and keep them flexible, and patients should wear braces or something similar so that the foot doesnt drop.

My son Nate has a really bad problem with only his right ankle.
His ankle started turning under inward about 2 mos after his onset.
That was Dec, 05.
They put a night boot on but it didn’t stop it.
When he walks, his ankle automatically wants to roll to the side, making it very dangerous.
It totally screws up his walking, no matter what brace or shoes he wears. It makes him want to lean to the left and place all his weight on the left leg, causing him to be off balance all the time.
His PT guy said that ankle will take a long time to get better.
He has found one way to help though when he is walking barefoot with his walker to the bathroom or shower.
He puts his ankle up against the tennis ball that is on his walker legs.
It helps support it enough that it won’t roll so far that is would cause him to fall.
In the meantime I got him high top canvas shoes for support and an aircast for his lower cut shoes.

Gabriel,

It depends on the severity of your drop-foot. In the beginning I used AFO’s. After some months, the AFO’s were relegated to playing football, bowling and other odd things. Now, the AFO’s are in the closet for ‘just in case’. I have switched to over-the-counter lace-up ankle supports for bowling and such. For everyday stuff, I just take care in selecting my shoes [I HATE shoe shopping]. I look for wide soles, slightly turned-up in front. This protects me from most carpet and slightly uneven ground. The rest of my protection comes from having learned over the years to pay close attention to where I’m walking and, when my attention wanders, how to fall properly 😉 .

Tom,

I am 20 years post and still deal with drop foot in both feet. I stopped using AFO’s many years ago because they were so cumbersome to wear and like you, I hate shoe shopping. I now use 8” high top leather work boots for everyday use and support. However, I would love to wear low top shoes again and feel I have kind some ankle support when I do. You mentioned lace up ankle supports. Can they be bought in a sporting goods store? I would appreciate knowing where a person might buy them “over the counter”….

GB

I have seen them in some of the better drug stores and also at medical supply places. The kind that have wheelchairs and knee and ankle stuff.
Out here, I found them at Long’s Drugs and our local Medical Supply.
Back where you are, it might take some phone calls to find them.

Natesmom,

Thanks for the info. I have avoided using any aids since I stopped wearing AFO’s for fear of becoming dependant on them and allowing my ankles to stay weak. After all the years of trying to get my ankles stronger I now think it will not make much difference. Ankle support is what I am looking for now. Thanks again…

GB

GB,

I bought my first pair in a sporting goods store. Since then I have seen them in several other sporting goods stores and several chain drug stores.

Nate is using an aircast right now with his shoes. He doesn’t have the forward foot drop but rather a really bad inversion with his right foot.
When he stands, the bottom of his foot cannot sit flat but automatically rolls under him.
The tendons tightened up on the inside of his ankle while he was paralyzed, forcing his ankle to turn under.
If not for the paralysis, I believe it would have been painful during the process. At least it doesn’t hurt now but the damage is done.
We are in the process of redoing his insurance and we will be going to a new PT facility close by.
I will see what they recommend for his ankle problem.

Ben still has drop foot in his left foot after almost two years as well. He has an AFO (ankle foot brace) that he can wear with shoes. Without the AFO, his foot hits against the pavement when he walks, and it’s almost caused him to fall every time it’s happened. According to the neuro, if he falls and breaks his ankle, he won’t know it since he can’t feel it, and it could cause him to have a set back in his recovery.

Shannon

Tom,

Thanks for the information. I will be checking it out soon…

Natesmom,

Did Nate get any physical therapy while he was paralyzed? I know that I did. Even though I did not get all control back to my ankles and my feet I still remained flexible due to proper therapy. I believe it was called “passive” physical therapy.

GB

Nate was recieving pt for 4 mos, then his Cobra insurance was cancelled in error by Blue Shield. We never missed a payment and it took me 5 mos before someone would listen and reinstate his insurance we had been paying for all that time.
During that time, Nate was only recieving in bed stretching from Nurses Assistants.
The Medicaid Insurance he had for Long Term Care would not pay for any pt except that.
So, Nate went without pt for 5 mos.
Now his Medicaid insurance has been closed by Orange county and I am still waiting to get him on it in San Diego County.
If its not one insurance screwing up, its another.
In the meantime, he is not getting pt except what he can do at home.
As soon as I get him back on Medicaid, we will be going to a new place for pt.
I am very anxious.
I believe he is very behind in his recovery due to all the insurance problems.
Its very frustrating for us all.