Drop foot

[kayak karl]

Has anyone tried hiking any distance with foot drop? And if yes what kind of brace did you use?

TY KK

[naturlred]

Hi,

My husband recently suffered a back injury which has left him with drop foot disability. We are avid hikers and asked alot of questions and talked with alot of doctors in regards to what he could do to help him continue hiking.

He does do physical therapy daily(on his own) and we just recently finished a 10.6 mile hike in Michigan and four days of hiking in Utah. Both with different terrain and one with extreme elevation. He did pretty good considering he is still recovering from his back injury which may or may not include permanent nerve damage causing his drop foot.

His therapy has really helped him greatly and his neurologist advised him to hike as often and as far as he felt comfortable. Which we do.

I do blog about his recovery and our hikes on my personal bog website which may or may not help you keep hiking yourself. There have been many posts in regards to this subject so you could visit and in the search bar type in some key words to help find information. EX: therapy, Pictured Rocks, Zion Hiking etc.

FYI: He hurt himself in June 2015 so you will find no information regarding this topic before this time frame.

The site is: https://naturalred.wordpress.com/

Good luck and I hope you can continue hiking as we have.

[kayak karl]

Does he wear a brace or support of any kind? I'm having more trouble with ankle roll to the outside.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

[naturlred]

No at this time he does not wear any brace. Therapy seems to be really strengthening and keeping his foot/ankle strong enough at this point to not be braced.

[kayak karl]

do you have a link to the therapy that he does. i'd be very interested and grateful

[naturlred]

I dont have a link since he briefly saw a physical therapist for his exercise routine. Although, I know that a stationary bike was a huge help and recommended, as was swimming (kicking with that foot/feet) and standing on his toes for some time and then back on his heels for some time. He also hung onto to a counter and did toe and heel lifts. Resistance bands were also a big help.

Really anything that can strengthen his calf and ankle keeping the muscle stimulated daily. It was a slow process and results were sometimes discouraging but little by little he saw improvement.

Another item that was a great help was a TENS therapy machine. (About $50 here in WI) Great stimulation from this device.

Here is a link to the one post I wrote about his routine. Although not all pertains to just his drop foot, since his back was the main injury, but you can take a look at the TENS hooked up to his leg in one picture.

https://naturalred.wordpress.com/201...t-is-possible/


If you have any direct questions feel free to contact me at my email on the "About" page and I can have him answer you directly if you wish.

[kayak karl]

Thank YOU very much. There are a few thing there I am not doing. Im doing fine on flat surfaces, but want to take it up a notch TY KK

[perrypt2]

Naturalred is right about the exercises. Therabands are helpful for toe/ foot raise exercises. Remember that the muscles that prevent your footdrop--the anterior tibialis and toe flexors on the front of the lower leg have another purpose. They stop drop foot from slapping down. There are prefab foot drop braces that are made of heat moldable plastic and fit in your shoes. My experience as a physical therapist is it is better to get a custom made orthotic because it will fit much better and more importantly, not break. You can see the style of brace(prefab) at this link: http://www.pattersonmedical.com/app....y=IF_921018993.

Because you want to hike, the prefabs generally don't hold up. So go to an Orthotist to make a custom ankle foot orthosis. It's worth the money and can fit in most style shoes as well.