Foot drop

[Janis]

Hello all. Has anybody tried the AFO,s by Flint or Saebo, the one that you can wear barefoot? I feel that my drop foot is the biggest hindrance to my being able to be slightly more independent around the house. Thanks all xx

[Mrs5K]

I haven’t tried those specific ones. I have a spry step one which hasn’t really helped my foot drop but I also have FND which I suspect is why it hasn’t helped.

[Bobbi]

@Janis @Mrs5K

My foot isn’t sorted, my walking isn’t great but I wonder if those sit to stand exercises recommended by @EmeraldEyes would be a help.

I promised before to try them but I’m not much of a one for circuit training. Maybe I’ll give it another go.

Here’s a link to Lorraine’s post, for any interested:

How to exercise when you’re struggling to walk

It was about a year after my stroke that I started doing sit to stands at strength & balance class. And after a couple weeks of doing them daily, the first thing I started noticing was the little spring in the backs of my knees when I stood up or climbed stairs. It was almost like being propelled to stand. Thats when I knew this was the exercise for me and spurred me on It made it so much easier to climb stairs when you’ve that muscle propulsion behind you…literally. Getting up from s…

[Mrs5K]

I have done many sit to stands. They are great for strength and balance but haven’t helped my foot drop. They may help for some though as my foot drop started about 6 months after my stroke and i suspect related to my FND which happened at around the same time.

[EmeraldEyes]

Hi Janis, the trouble I had around the house with my drop foot was the foot wear. None slips soles are all well and good for keeping your feet firmly planted on the floor. And I’ve broken my ankle on the stairs in the past from my heal slipping off the step.

So then I was between a rock and a hard place after my stroke because, with the none slip footwear, the front of my drop foot was constantly catching on the floor. And I nearly face planted myself a few times.

Naturally, I’ve had to make a few adjustments over the year and weigh up the risks for going with none slip footwear. In the end I settled for cheap leather ballet slippers around the house. The soles don’t stick to the floor but for things like coming down stairs, I feel my foot position on the stair and I just go slowly and carefully down. But at least I’m not constantly tripping myself up and running the risk of falling into anything. And that’s how I got around the issue you are currently having.

Yes, all leg/foot strengthening exercises and stretches will help a lot in the long run, by picking your foot up better. But it won’t cure it and it doesn’t help you in the short term, here and now.

I have heard of AFO,s by Flint or Saebo helping others but I’ve never used one myself for bare foot indoors. I did get one off Amazon, to wear with shoes, but I didn’t use it for long because there were always issues with what footwear it could go with. At the time, I think the only suitable footwear were my trainers, which I was avoiding like the plague because of the none slips soles

The AFO did work beautifully with the trainers for outdoors but they weren’t waterproof. Plus we were in lockdown at the time of my stroke, so we couldn’t just nip out the buy more suitable shoes. So yes, I do think one would help you, but you’d still need to keep up with the exercises daily

[Mrs5K]

@EmeraldEyes

In the end I settled for cheap leather ballet slippers around the house.

Oh i never thought of these. I might try some as my foot won’t lift off the floor at all & I can get around easier if I have slippy footwear. Thank you

[EmeraldEyes]

These are all I get for around £10 on Amazon, and the elastic keeps them firmly on your foot so no risk of the backs flopping off like flipflops when you walk…and they don’t make your feet sweat or smelly

[Mrs5K]

They look ideal. I shall do some shopping