What is Dropped Foot?

Foot drop is where you have difficulty lifting your foot up when sitting and or walking due to weakness in your front shin muscle called the Tibialis Anterior. 

Who may experience this?

Some of the main neurological conditions like an incomplete Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a Stroke (CVA),  Cerebral Palsy (CP), Motor Neurone Disease, Transverse Myelitis, Guilliane Barre Syndrome may have lifting your foot or leg when walking indoors and or outdoors. Some clients also present with foot drop post-surgery or post epidural. 

Why have you got a drop foot?

Your injury or impairment may result in weakness to the muscle (called Tibialis anterior) at the front of the shin is not strong enough to lift your foot at all or inconsistently during walking. You may struggle to clear a surface due to a drop foot which may cause a higher risk of tripping or falls and further injury. Having a foot drop can make walking more effortful and tiring due to the altered walking pattern.

How does foot drop affect your walking?

Foot drop influences your walking if you do not use an external support for your foot. This means that you may swing your leg out to the side in order to help clear the floor or you may lift up through your hip and knee more in order to clear the floor to prevent tripping or falling. 

These compensations can have longer term impact on your body if it is not addressed. One of the crucial tasks would be to re-gain and improve the walking pattern. Over the next few posts, I will be talking about how you can go about doing this. 

How can I improve it?

The first option is using a plastic splint AFO (Ankle foot orthotics). Your specialist neuro physiotherapist will be able to assess you and recommend one of many mobility providers. in the next post, I will talk through a few of the different AFOs available on the market and how they differ?

A comprehensive neuro physio assessment with your treating clinical specialist neuro physio in our clinic will help you determine which device would be most suitable and easiest for your use. 

If you find AFO's uncomfortable and would like to trial another option, arrange your FES assessment or review with us today.

We hope that you have found this information useful. Please feel free to share this post with your friends or someone you know who will benefit from reading this post. 

Remember:It's your time now to take action towards your next mobility goal!

Wishing you a wonderful week 

Natalie