Feet

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Rhonda

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PALS
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Mableton
When your feet are affected by ALS does the arch change and do you have severe pain that feels like the bones are hurting. I had my foot x-raied and nothing showed up. My foot hurts bad. I go to clinic Friday, I just thought I could get some insight before then. Thanks for any help.
Rhonda
 
As the muscles weaken your foot flattens. I went from size 9 1/2 to 11 in a year or so. Arches could ache.
AL.
 
My husband has some atrophy developing in his foot, as a result or this the shape of his foot is changing. But he has no pain. Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease has some arch abnormalities. Maybe check that out. We do not have an ALS diagnosed, so what do we know.
 
My arch fell and my toes curl downward, more so on the right where foot drop began first. No pain, though.

Good luck at your appointment.
 
does any one have problems with puffiness in the feet? my feet and shins are always
cold, they turn blue! i am wondering if it is from wearing afo's all day... i went to the foot
dr and she said i had good blood flow in my feet and my circulation is good...
 
No pain, swelling, or arch dropping for me. However the toes of my feet seem to always aim downward.
 
I have one flat foot and one normal foot. My left flat foot slowly began to have an arch on the inside part. My two little toes point down but my other three dont bend very well at all. The inside of my foot will twitch. The tendon on top of my foot sticks out a lot, the first thing i noticed was that when i walked it felt like a vein was popping the top of my shoe, i learned it was a tendon. My ankles have weakened and i have left foot drop but i still can walk. My foot hangs and turned inwards like it is bent towards the other. My right foot has no noticable symptoms, but the ankle is getting weak. When i walk on my foot all the pressure goes on the heel and the area right below my big toe and i tend lean on the outerside of my foot when i need to catch my balance. Being a shorty i relied on standing on my tip toes a lot, i did not realize how much until i could no longer do that with my left foot. So now i will have my left hand on the counter my left foot on the floor and stand on my right tiptoes and reach! My feet will get tingly and numb if their is too much pressure on them and they are freezing cold, even with socks and shoes. My feet up to my knees get so cold, especially in a car. If there is no heat down below it does not matter if it is 100 degrees the coldness just penetrates, i hate the cold. My hands are always cold, and my nose too! I am a sun goddess now, and i am so grateful it will be Spring soon! The daffodils have come up where i live it is beautiful. Sam
 
My mom's feet curled inward, especially after she could no longer walk. Fairly late in the game she started seeing a physical therapist to help with her frozen shoulder and her feet. He taught my sister how to do the foot exercises to keep her feet as straight as possible. That was important because she needed to be able to stand on her feet for transfers, before we started using the Hoyer. We also got her big sneakers, 2.5 sizes bigger than she used to wear, that had flat soles and helped with transfers also. It was really hard to get shoes on because her feet curled so much. And the toes curl upward---they said that was an ALS symptom.
 
Hi MamaSara, sorry to hear about your mom... Physical therapy is sooooo important. My left hand used to look like a claw, and now i do stretching activities with it so it does not curl up that bad. Its so much a guessing game, you have to know your body.. Too much excersize causes cramping and fatigue but not enough causes stiffness and pain. I hope your mom has a lot of support it sounds like you are there for her alot. Best wishes Sam
 
Sam,
My hands look like claws also, what stretching exercises are you doing with your hands?
 
Finger extensions

They are like finger plays, you know where is thumbkin? Also i bend them back and massage them. My PT had me use this putty material to knead and squeeze and push into with my wrist but be careful because too much can cause pain and stiffness. I would recommend only ten minutes maybe three times a day with the putty. But try to extend each finger alone, i know some you cant move or dont move well but try your hardest.. Also i noticed the less writing i do the less my hands crampin or stiffin. Good luch and i hope it helps!
 
Sam, you're very sweet. My mom passed last August. I am several states away from my sister's home in MO, so I only visited every 6 weeks or so, but I went to a couple of PT sessions with her. It was hard on her, and maybe too late, but it made her feel like she was doing something positive instead of just letting the disease take over. I would always massage her hands and feet when I came, but each time her fingers were more and more curled until it hurt her too much to try to straighten them. She still loved the massages, though! I just had to be careful not to hurt.

I'm glad you are taking care of your hands; she was not happy to have them curled in her lap, but it was too hard for my sister, who was doing absolutely everything else for her, to keep up with PT at home.
 
sammantha
do you have AFO's? they really help. i also wear timberlands, with the high top shoes
it gives my ankles more support.
my feet and legs are always cold, and my feet get so cold they turn purple, the foot
doc says my circulation is real good, and can't understand why they act up that way.
they are also puffy all the time too.
 
I find heavy boots difficult as my legs get very tired trying when wearing them. My feet slop around in my shoes, so rather than buy new, skinnier shoes, I just wear 2 heavy pairs of socks. Some days that makes undressing harder, so, to while away long hours sitting around, I took up knitting and have knit myself some heavy socks that are easier to pull on/off and take up the extra room in my shoes. I knit most nights, except when I am very tired and knitting becomes an olympic activity.

One more thing about my feet: my toes have lost msucle so they are now like rubber. I can manipulate them upwards, towards my face! Same for my fingers. I can press the tip of my finger and they bend up at the joints! I find this amusing, for some reason. It entertains the grandkids, too!
 
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