All benefit from exercise therapy to target your foot and get it moving!
Do you have some form of foot drop as a result of a stroke? The condition is called foot drop or drop foot. It is estimated that 20% of stroke survivors have an ailment called drop foot. That means worldwide, approximately 16 million stroke warriors are dealing with a foot drop. That’s a lot of feet asleep!
The foot drop is when you have a weakness or paralysis of the muscles that lift up the foot when you walk. You know all this information, but I cover it because others are learning about the fallout of the effects of your stroke.
You compensate by altering your gait. You overcompensate and either lift your weak foot from dragging on the ground or you lift your weak foot around the outside or an arc. Neither makes a pretty picture!
Heellllooo! Remember I am leading a group training about the memory affected by a stroke. It’s on Monday, December 27th at 5 PM ET. Go to www.success4lifetime.org to sign up! Now I will return you to the meat of this meal!
How do you handle drop foot? Over the stroke treatment land, there are three main styles of coping with it. First, you can ignore it and deal with over-lifting your affected foot to avoid tripping yourself. Second, you can support the foot with light-weight leg braces and shoe inserts or it is called ankle-foot orthotics (AFO).
Finally, you can use one of the devices that electrically stimulate the peroneal nerve that weakens your foot. The nerve is asleep. Also, nerves feed your muscles. If your nerves fall asleep, muscles atrophy or get smaller. You probably have noticed that your muscles of the affected parts are smaller because your muscles are wasting. Your muscle and your foot will respond to the device and you walk more normally.
All three styles benefit from exercise therapy to target your muscle around the lower leg, ankle, and foot. The exercises strengthen your muscles, expand your joint motion, and it helps you to improve your gait.
If you are living with a drop foot like I am, hope for a breakthrough. I know, hope springs eternal, and there is research attempting to “cure” it. There are currently in the USA, 66 studies as we “speak” (December 2021). Some studies are using a robot to assist or “cure” your foot drop. Hold on and before you know it, you will be using your foot more normally!
Sources: https://www.ahajournals.org › doi › pdf › 10.1161 › strokeaha.111.000334?download=true & https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/All-Disorders/Foot-Drop-Information-Page
You can go to my website (see above) and subscribe to my blog. You can join The Stroke Recovery Circle Facebook group. Last, you can be a fan of my YouTube channel. It’s called thestrokerecoverycircle. My recent title is “Do you have areas which you can control after your stroke?” Take the right attitude, and you will be all right!
Thank you! To your success!
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#BDC
