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Drop Foot

Js_Mommy
0 Recommendations

Can anyone tell me about drop foot, especially how it presents in the beginning?

8 replies

SylviaG

I have that too and went to a great Podiatrist who sorted me out with a orthotic which does help greatly. She did a great bio mechanical investigation first, lots of measurements before deciding that this would help. Still in the breaking in stage but so far so good and it does help me walk much better, putting heal first then toe, it also means I can stop catching my toe because im not picking up my feet properley. Good luck hope you get some answers.
Sylvia

Js_Mommy

I'm not sure if I have it or not, but when I read about it I wondered because I've fallen, had my foot/ankle twist in and keeping catching my left toe a lot recently. I just wondered what it started out like because the only video of it I found online looks pretty severe.

jolocny

I'd have to say that it sounds like you may have the beginnings if you're "catching" a toe as you walk. Between that and some rolling of the foot, it doesn't have to be much worse to cause problems. What you're doing sounds exactly what happens with me and I try to do what Sylvia said ... walk heel first, then toe. I haven't opted for a brace yet. Instead, I go back to my PT days and think about what I'm doing (usually I practice at home and know that my brain will help with the movement as I use it) - as you're walking think about lifting your feet up, come down with your heel and roll to your toes with each step. This sounds nuts, but we do so much unconsciously that once we bring the brain into it then it can get better - at least it can keep the braces at bay for awhile longer!
It doesn't have to be severe (like the video) to cause problems for us!
All the best,
JoAnn

Js_Mommy

I will definitely bring it up with my podiatrist next time I see him. The toe issue has just been recent and I kept wondering why it was happening. I bought really good new sneakers with inserts last year, but I find my ankle twists more when I wear them, which seems ironic.

On another note, we finally got the order to have our son retested and spent several hours at one lab only to be told they couldn't guarantee it wouldn't be frozen by the other lab they send it to before it went to KKI, so we went to another lab (not in our PPO) who told us they can't do it today because of the holiday Monday. We're leaving town in the morning until Sunday eight days away. I hate having to wait that much longer to get this test done!!

Emcee70

Thank you all for sharing what you're doing to help yourselves. I catch my left big toe all the time. I got a cut on my right big toe that I didn't catch right away, and it still stings. I can't do anything about it now. I'm losing sensations in all sorts of places, and am unable to do things I once was able to do; it's getting hard to deal with sometimes. Why am I so affected? I trip and wonder if I should be using my cane around the house. What's to come? Will I get worse? How will I cope? Day by day, moment by moment, I guess. I'm getting Botox injections in my head for my headaches, and my neurologist said we can inject in my lower back to get some relief from the muscle tightness. I'm excited for it to start working! Anyway, just a few thoughts on this Friday morning.......

Js_Mommy

I might be getting the Botox in my neck and shoulder for muscle tightness. I've recently had several rounds of Lidocaine shots and also shots of a steriod into the vertebrae in my neck. Helps some, but the ones in the muscles do not last long, hence considering the Botox.

I'm not even sure we have this, but I sure do have a lot of the same symptoms you all have!

britt_carrier

JS_mommy

Are you having the vlcfa test done at the lab? If so, I have instructions where you go to have your blood drawn at a lab using a violet or purple vial then send it to KKI yourself via Fedex. It has to be overnighted.

Js_Mommy

Yes. We have to wait until after the holiday because it can not be frozen and it would take too long before they could get to it. So, we'll have to do it a week from Tuesday after they are back home from visiting my in-laws. The lab at the hospital knows to overnight it. The first lab we went to spent almost two hours figuring out the tests needed only to tell us to go to the one at the hospital (not on our insurance and who did the first one; we hate to see that bill) where they told us they could not do it that day.

What is the issue around using a purple or violet vial?

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