Weak ankles

[Danijela]

Has anyone started with this and is it related to foot drop? Anything you used to stabilise the leg/foot?

L has some weakness in both ankles, but is not tripping over yet not dragging his feet.

 

[abbas child]

Oh, Dani, that is exactly how my foot drop presented early on. Leg splints can be used for all of this time, including when feet do drag. It's (in my case) just a plastic piece inside the shoe, under the foot, then plastic up the back to mid-calf, with a velcro band to hold it in place. Mine were not made for me personally, but were the "women's model". Others have had much higher quality splints, made to order. They do a good job of stabilizing but if falling occurs with them on, it can make getting up harder. So for quite a while, they can be very helpful.

 

[BarryG]

Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) are very useful for foot drop. I have one for my left leg and a prescription for another for the right. Mine is like Ann's, a simple plastic gizmo which keeps the toes up so that I dont trip over them. Simple but still $1000 each, and those are just for the out of the box ones.

 

[olly]

i too suffer from weak ankles but i also have alot of stiffness and spasms in them which i think contribute to it.
i do have clinical weakness in my left lower leg which can drag with my foot when tired.
at my next appointment i am going to mention it,though at least a year ago i was supposed to make an appointment for the orthostosis(sp) department but never did.
your neuro or mnd clinic can arrange an appointment.

 

[abbas child]

Barry, so glad you knew the proper name (AFO). Mine were $65 each without a prescription. And I thought that was way overpriced. I had a sprained ankle during that time, before footdrop was apparent.

 

[lydia]

What does a weak ankle feel like? Is it the sensation that it will turn or roll if you are not very very careful while walking? Or does it feel like your foot is only loosely hinged to your leg, kind of floppy? Or is it so stiff that to rotate it takes a whole lot of effort? All of the above? None of the above? My ankle is annoying the crap out of me with its schizo personality.

 

[joelc]

Floppy. There is no strength to move it or hold it horizontal.

 

[Danijela]

Thanks all. For L right ankle felt stiff around jan 2010. Weakness was found to be there on examination by his neuro. It is mainly in muscles that allow foot to move left and right, rather than up and down, hence my question.

For those who started this way- how long before you could not walk at all? Thanks, D

 

[olly]

he sounds like me danijela,my weakness is due to stiffness and spasms.
i find it hard to rotate my ankles.
i would say the weakness feels like sprained ankles and i can not put any pressure down on my feet.

 

[Mick n Ang]

Hi Dani

Mick started with drop foot and its only now he can't walk, he had orthosis for both legs, If you have an occupational therepist we have one at Bolton and theres the one at the clinic who will also get you something, Mick start off with a elastic helper called Foot up which attached to his trainer and lifted his foot to stop him tripping over and then after that he was measured at Bolton for his Plastic rigid orthosis,Whick although not attractive Mick was able to continue working using these, but now they are no longer any use. We also had trouble with Micks leg giving way so tried a lockable splint but that all seems so long ago now, maybe the foot up would helpfor nowand I know they have them at Hope so ask to see the physio there on your next visit its soon isn't it. hugs xx

 

[abbas child]

Dani, I had no spasticity and was slow in prgression. It was over two years before I needed a wheelchair. I did need a rollator walker well before I got it, perhaps a year and a half after the ankle weakness showed.

 

[rose]

Re: feeling like a sprain... not specific to just my ankle, but wrists too. If I push down with my arms, weight onto the hands with fingers extended, it feels akin to what one would remember if one took a belly flop on the ground, and put their hands out to stop the fall. Its not pain so much as feeling like the joint is over extending, and how the wrist would feel after that.

I'm not very spastic, it seems to ebb and flow, and (even then not that much) as do the muscle aches.

 

[abbas child]

What Rose has said reminds me of something that may be important to share: I overextended both knees by walking in the "hobbleflopping" way far too long. In other words, I'd slide my feet sideways to go forward (otherwise, my toes curled under and then I fell), while my knees pointed forward. I assume that's why the knees, which incidentally also had lost most of the surrounding muscle, kept hurting badly, and eventually were "behind" the rest of my legs, forming a slight "C" shape.

The eventual outcome, after switching totally to a wheelchair, was no more knee pain--unless I'm laid flat. I have to have a pillow under my knees or it's torture. Rose, I also have no noticeable spasticity, but do have weakness and muscle aches.

 

[Tokahfang]

I did terrible damage to my hips in a similar fashion! My leg muscles were between 0 and 3, none of them individually capable of walking, and when I managed to push that mess into waddle walking, my hip joints were warping under the pressure. My x-rays now look like I had a congenital deformity. I wish I had accepted walking aids a lot earlier.

 

[olly]

tokahfang,i have done the exact same thing.
i too tend to waddle alot to compensate and help with walking.
my pt i had noted i had weakness in my hips,especially my right one.