Sounds like you’re making great improvements with your foot drop. I shall look up those insoles & see if they might help my foot drop. I am having some nerve conduction tests done soon as they are seeing if it is something else causing my walking issues.
I changed my car to an automatic so i don’t have any issues with the peddles
Fingers crossed your foot drop has left the building for good.
I found the insoles reduced the foot roll enormously. And its a bit of a novelty find myself walking more normally now, though
I’m still having a tendency to slap the front half of my foot down as I walk. I guess it’ll just take a bit of getting used to after so long😄
I’ve certainly noticed the difference in strength & balance class today😁
Onwards and upwards😄
@Annie1 Here’s a few drop foot exercises I do which I’ve really found helped with mine. I’m posting it here as another marker of my progression with foot drop. And I’ve just realised I started the post a year ago, Jan 2024
Another variant to the above is to squat a little on that leg as you push your knee towards the wall - keeping the muscles flexed as you do it. This give a nice little stretch on the lower calf and into the Achilles (back ankle/heel).
An alternative to using the wall would be to go down on one knee with your good leg, just only about half way while keeping the stroke heel firmly on the ground as you push the knee forward.
The important thing in all these variations is to keep that heel firmly on the ground at all times. The minute you feel the heel wanting to lift, pull back a little.
And in all of them, you hold the position for as long as you can then release for few moments then go again. And do at least 5 repetitions each time, twice a day or more according to current ability.
When I first started to doing these some time ago; after a few weeks I felt an almighty click in my foot. Which in turn seemed to release/free up something in my foot that meant my big toe stopped wanting to stick up and the smaller toes don’t want to curl under.
I was doing these exercises along with wearing toe socks and the sloped insoles in my all my shoes (only for the stroke foot) and these are mentioned in the above post.
Hope this might help you too Annie Bear in mind, I am now 4yrs post stroke and progression has taken that long in steady increments. The latest being some months ago when I tested my running ability, which works, I can run.
But, I still have a tendency to foot drop when fatigued, on a daily basis, but a rest soon puts that right.
Thank you so much, this looks a good one to do, I find trying to passively pull my foot forward, dorsiflexion quite difficult as ankle appears to be solid.
I’m no expert, I only know what is good and has worked for me. We are all as individual in our abilities as we are in our stroke. So try out and cherrypick to tailor to our own specific needs. Gradually you will be able to fine tune your physical training needs far better than any physio
In all exercise, if it burns, thats good; if it causes pain, that’s not good; if it causes extreme pain, that’s bad, don’t do it agan.
So if you feel a slight stretch or burn, hold that position to a count of 5-10 if you can bear the burn
This foot drop is a slippery one to fix. Just when you think you’ve got it nailed you find its still not quite right. Its things like when I’m putting my foot into a shoe that I know it’s still not right; the whole action slows down/weakens and I have to kick the toe against the stair get to get fully on. So I can’t push the foot forward into the shoe but I can kick it forward
At this stage in my recovery, it fascinates more than it frustrates. That’s why I say my stroke is my hobby
I realised just 2 days ago that I do this! I suddenly became acutely aware of how my unaffected foot strikes the ground when I’m walking and that the stroke foot behaves differently. So I’ve been practicing walking slowly, concentrating on a heel strike with each step with the stroke foot. A while back I read something @pando had written that mentioned ‘ heel strike’ and I couldn’t get those 2 words out of my head so I guess something was triggered in my brain. Thank you, @pando
Heel strike was drummed into me by physio. I’m sure I used to do a mid-foot strike before stroke, but who knows… we take no notice of how to walk until we suddenly can’t do it !! ciao, R
Incidentally, this thread is still alive and relevant almost a year since the first post.
This demonstrates the value of much that is written here.
It also shows how recovery is a slow but sure process where gains which appear to be small sum up over time to eventually appear as very real progress.
In addition the encouragement we share with one another is a great help and motivator.
Also we can see that there is reason to hope from the evidence of those who have already been this way.
Excellent news Lorraine my left foot drop and weak ankle has not improved since the stroke 4 years ago but I do get the leg twitches after applying a pulse roller to my foot
It’s been 1yr 5mths since I first created this post and I think it’s safe to say that I now have a reasonably functional foot that can safely and comfortably get me from A to B, even run, without tripping me up or breaking my ankle. Ok, those risks are always there even with two perfectly functioning feet
It not perfect, but it is fully functional now.
The smaller toes no longer curl under. The foot no longer rolls over.
The big toe no longer curls up.
In fact all my toes can lay comfortably in their neutral position flat on the floor.
The foot drop, still makes its presence felt when fatigued or tired towards the end of the day. For example after a 2hr workout at the gym or a 3hr walk it will start to slap down or the ball of the foot might catch on the ground as it doesn’t quit clear the ground on pick up while walking. It usually recovers after a rest or a good nights sleep.
My stroke side is not perfect, but I’m at a comfortable stage in my physical recovery that none of it holds me back that much. My stroke side is definitely weaker than my left side, I certainly notice that difference in the gym.
I have full range of movement in my arm and a functioning hand that’s not as good with finer motor skills. But I’ve also got osteoarthritis setting in to both thumbs as well which doesn’t help, particularly with grasping
My speech is still improving, enough to fool most people
But it’s the fatigue that still holds me back from doing so much more. That still has to be planned for, managed
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t me complaining, I’m quite happy with my lott. Yes, much always wants more, but I will see any further improvements as a bonus
In the meantime, I will continue with my fitness regime and continue monitoring what’s going inside my head