Leg brace

[Tich1]

Hello , the physio came to see me this morning and said she is referring me to Orthotics for a leg brace for my right leg . It doesn't do anything I tell it to , and I drag it if I walk with my stick , and when I'm tired , which as you know is often , it turns inwards .
Do any of you have a leg brace or know about them please . xxxx

[Sara Ann]

I have had leg brace for over a year, and two months ago I got a new one for my right leg and one for my left leg. My neoroligist explained when I don't wear them muscles in thigh have to work harder to lift the feet thus making not last as long as if you wear them.

[Tich1]

Hello Sar Ann , thank you for your helpful reply , hope you find them ok to wear , are they fairly light weight ?

[pvale]

Mine are just plastic things that are strapped on the leg, and go under the foot. Pretty light to wear, and keep the foot from dropping when I lift that foot. Currently only wearing one on the left leg, but PT home health thinks I need one on the right leg too.

[BethU]

Tich ... I have one on my left leg, and had a bad fall last week from foot drop on my right leg, so will be getting another for that leg soon.

They are pretty light weight. Mine starts below the knee and goes down under the foot. They are ugly as sin, with a black plastic support thingy and velcro straps around the leg. However, they help prevent falls, which is all that matters. ALS will cure you of vanity quicker than anything!!

[Tich1]

Hi pvale and BethU , thank you for your replies , as long as it doesn't weigh more than my leg , or me come to that ...lol
I won't worry about what it looks like really , you tend to looked at anyway don't you . ;-) x

[GlenBrittle]

Hey Tich1,

I have one for my left leg. It was custom fitted for my leg. I have had this for almost a year now. When you first put it on , you will be amazed at the mobility you have gotten back. I have fallen a couple of times with it , and it has saved my left ankle from being broken.

Unfortunately , the atrophy is no longer just localized to my calve and ankle, and using a walker to walk anywhere. In the house I prefer to not use it with the walker.

It weighs less than a sneaker.

Points to ponder. Pants / slacks need to have a wide bottom of the leg to slide over the brace if you still have a calve muscle left. You will need a new pair of shoes to wear with the brace . I went from 10.5 EEE to 12 EEEEEE . Yup , I have natural born snow-shoes.

Feel free to ask any questions.

Glen

[Tich1]

Hi Glen , lol at the snow shoes ! I'm only size 3 feet so I may have fun with it . I'll let you know if I manage to stay upright :-)

[GlenBrittle]

Size 3 ???? Holy crap , thats too small for my CAT to crap in ...

Now , doesnt it just piss ya off that your size 3 shoes cost as much as my size 12 shoes ?

[thelma313]

Tich are you a British size 3? If so, that is a size 5 1/2 in North America... you have small dainty feet. It would be funny to see a picture of your wearing Glen's shoes! :D

[Tich1]

Hee Glen , yes they don't cost according to size do they , same with clothes , it's difficult finding womens shoe in a 3 , they often suggest I go to the childrens department . Yes Thelma , that's a British size 3 hun , I would look funny in Glens shoes , I'd just need a red nose and a whistle to complete the look :-)

[Tfisher]

My mom has had a leg brace for about a year and has yet to wear it. She is accustomed to wearing pretty shoes with heels so the transition to ugly shoes has been a tough one for her. Finally found a pair of shoes she will wear and bought a bigger one for the brace, she is about a size 6 and the one for the brace was an 8, had it modified to lengthen the strap and.........they are still in the bag from last month.

[rose]

Tich,

I was lucky to be able to use the carbon style, so I can still wear the same size shoe, its just finding the right shoe is all. However, the carbon (mine are Walk On brand) don't offer as much ankle support. They were good for me because they did not place as much stress on other leg muscles (calf and hip girdle). My foot drop is only minimal, and so these are better for me. At first they helped a lot in propelling me forward, I loved it, it was almost like they had a little power pack and sped up my walk, but not anymore, in fact I think it takes more effort to walk, but I'm more stable. If I use a cane for balance I'm as good, but with the new puppy, and having to keep him on a leash, the cane is just too much.

I too loved shoes, and wearing heels. and FLIP FLOPS!!! It is an adjustment.

Shoes that have removable insoles make it more comfortable to wear the braces, or adding gel insoles on top of the AFO foot plate. There are some gel insoles (I got mine at DSW, but that won't help you in the UK I think) that taper off to being paper thin, so they don't add a lot of added bulk to the inside of your shoe. It just helps to have some padding between the foot and the brace.

Also, sandals that have an enclosed heel can sometimes work.


Shoes that have an ankle strap which can be tightened to be snug (mary janes) work, but the strap has to be at the instep, not down toward the toes.... and of course lace up athletic styles.

If you need to have the molded bulkier brace, you will have less options, but you will really like feeling more stable when you walk. Its a trade off, but what are you going to do?

At first I was determined to dress so that the AFOs didn't show, and still sometimes do. A big thing is to have the pant leg wide enough (as others have mentioned) because of the bulk around the calf, it will hitch the pant leg up and you'll end up looking like you're wearing floods.

As the summer has progressively gotten hotter, I've cared less and less about disguising them, its pretty much WTF, and am back to wearing short sundresses with them.

Back at the beginning of spring, I was on a mission to find some non-dorky sandals I could use with the braces, and I made a little album (link to follow).

These should be clickable thumbnails, and you should be able to view the entire album of shoes just by clicking on any of them. If only the one picture comes up for you, let me know, and I'll try to fix it. When I go in to check if it works, Photobucket knows its me, so of course I can see the whole album..

http://s421.photobucket.com/albums/pp299/dstormewr/?action=view&current=afo2.jpg

http://s421.photobucket.com/albums/pp299/dstormewr/?action=view&current=shoe_661x768.jpg


http://s421.photobucket.com/albums/pp299/dstormewr/?action=view&current=IMG_5720_1024x768.jpg

[rose]

Oh yeah (meant to add)

If any of the brace is uncomfortable against your leg, there is a product called Molefoam (by Dr Scholls), it has adhesive on one side, and just cut to fit. You can see in the one photo where I've used it where brace will rub on inside of foot below my ankle bone.

Also, the lighter in weight the shoe is, the better. I had a pair of winter boots that the braces worked so well in, but the boot itself was too heavy.

[Jeffrey Paulus]

I, too, have Walk-On AFOs for both feet. One since 6 months. I like them very much..good support.

[Tich1]

Hello Tfisher , what a shame your mother isn't getting the benefit of her brace , but she must have her reasons not to wear it and that has to be respected . All the best to you and your mum honey :-)
Rose hun , thank you so much , what a pleasure it was to read your post . So it seems Walk-Ons are the best , I don't know what we do over in Britain Jeffrey , I'll let you know :-)
xx

[rose]

Tich,

Glad you enjoyed Non Medical Perspective of AFO Wearing 101 :)The Walk-Ons are great, but won't work if there is too much ankle weakness. I've read that the carbon can induce a reaction for those with clonus, but no one here who has them has commented about it. There is more than one manufacturer of this style of AFO I think