[Christiners03]

I am the care giver of a c6, c7 Quad. and I was wondering if anyone had any tips or advice on stretching his feet. As of now I do it while he is still in bed, sitting next to the leg I am going to stretch, I bend his knee up and lock it under my arm then I use a transfer belt and wrap it around my hands and place the extra slack on the top of his foot. I pull back an hold for a few seconds and we do this ten times. There are a few problems with our method one is that it doesn't seem like it is doing to much; the other is that it really hurts my hands. While doing the stretch the belt tightens down on my hands squeezing the poop out of them. Are there any other options out there?? In my head I am picturing some kind of aid where i can stand at the foot of the bed and use my body weight to push up against his foot. Any advice is much appreciated.

[mcferguson]

The way my wife did it for me before I got my standing frame was to sit stand next to the bed and put my right calf on her shoulder. I pushed my knee to lock it and she pulled down on the ball of my foot (which was next to her head) for about 30 seconds. It wasn't really a strain on her because she could lean down with her body weight. For my left leg, it was very similar, but she had to kneel on the bed to put my left calf on her shoulder. I'm para, so it was easy for me to lock my knees by pushing with my hands.

[Texaswheelz]

The way I look at it, if they ever figure out a way to repair my spinal cord, they should have a way to fix foot drop. If they don't ever repair my spinal cord, then I'm not to worried about it.

[sweeper]

Scott always wears shoes when he is in his chair.

[doublelibra]

Right after my injury, the doctor said my feet should be kept from dropping at all times, and he prescribed that I wear Prafo boots when I am in bed.

http://prafo.com/catalog.htm

I always wear shoes when I'm up in my chair. After many years, I have almost no foot drop. The prafo boot also suspends the heel so it doesn't get pressure from resting on the bed. They are lined with sheepskin to alleviate pressure. Yes, they are ugly, but oh well. I also get range of motion daily, including the heel cord stretch as described above.

[gordonr]

I sit on the bed and lean down over my straight legs. With both hands, I pull one foot back as far as it goes, count to ten, and then do the other. Five reps.

Perhaps if you were sitting beside your mate, on the bed, you could do the same thing. In this scheme there is no holding of the leg. Gravity and the straight leg do it all.

Best,

Gordon

[WildKat]

doublelibra, on Feb 9 2010, 12:37 AM, said:

Right after my injury, the doctor said my feet should be kept from dropping at all times, and he prescribed that I wear Prafo boots when I am in bed.

http://prafo.com/catalog.htm

I always wear shoes when I'm up in my chair. After many years, I have almost no foot drop. The prafo boot also suspends the heel so it doesn't get pressure from resting on the bed. They are lined with sheepskin to alleviate pressure. Yes, they are ugly, but oh well. I also get range of motion daily, including the heel cord stretch as described above.

I despised those boots when I was in the hospital! They made my legs that much heavier and prevented me from rolling over onto my side and sometimes back. I could manage to get from one to the other by hooking my arm into the rail, but the lower half of my body would stay where it was. Oh and the ones I had had so much extra velcro that sometimes they would stick together! After a full three days of trying to convince the nurses to cut it to make it shorter my pt FINALLY cut the extra velcro on monday. I was oddly relieved when they found out that a lot of the problems I was having (strange rashes and breathing problems) was because I had developed a Latex allergy and promptly removed the boots (they had a rubber sole). They tried another kind after that that were much better, but I kept getting pressure sores on the front of my ankle and the side of my ankle because my muscles were already very tight from CP.

The boots are good for keeping your heals nice. I noticed almost right away that my heals would get very red at night from touching the bed. I wore these sheepskin half slipper type things for awhile after that and they did help with the redness issue and my pt had a great idea of getting a couple of afo's made. I had already been wearing one because of my Cerebral Palsy, so we had a couple made that could be lined with the same material that were a lot bigger than I needed. They also didn't bend to 90 degrees, but shaped to my ankles to allow enough to get a good stretch, but not enough to cause any pressure. It took awhile to figure out the straps, but they worked really well! I wore them for three or four hours a day and for several hours each night.

I've noticed the past couple of years that I'm getting pretty bad foot drop again. My left one is worse than my right and neither heal touches my footrest.

Sorry i've rambled on a bit lol I had almost forgotten about those boots until you mentioned them and got a bit carried away while eating a chocolate muffin.

[Scribbler]

I've always worn shoes during the day. After 50 years as C4/5 I developed foot drop on my right foot; it also tries to twist almost on its side. This is due to a spasm, so is impossible to correct.

My PA's bend my feet up while I'm in bed. They place their hand around the back of my ankle/calf, so the sole of my foot is resting on their bicep. they then lean forward, so their upper arm pushes my foot up. They also try to correct the twist that my right foot has developed, but I consider myself lucky to have had over 50 years with few problems. I'm sure my age is against me, as my joints are much stiffer, so just 1 slightly dropped foot isn't bad.

Mike

[Quad65]

Weird. I've never had problems with that in 44 years. I used to sleep on my stomach all night with my feet dangling off the end of the bed. After about 15 years I started sleeping on my right side, sort of in a running position. I don't wear regular shoes, never have. Being an old Hippie and a child of the 60s, I used to wear 'Beatle Boots' that zipped up the back or the inside. Made it handy to tuck in the bottom and support a leg-bag. For almost 30 years, I've worn western-style boots that zip up the inside. They offer good support for my feet, are comfortable and easy to put on and get off, plus the leg-bag benefit. Guess I'm just fortunate never to have contractures in my calves and things stay stretched out.

[SuzinNYC]

My BF is bedridden right now, so we are confronting the same problem. When I flex his feet, I put his heel in the crook of my arm and lay his foot along the length, that way I am using my forearm to flex....at first we had little range of motion, but it is slowly improving. Also we had a physical therapist come out for a consult and he got these funky "boots" you wear in bed, they are a plastic form with lambs wool/velcro straps that we use while he is in bed. He started out wearing them 2 hours a day, and we have been increasing it each day. They are light weight and they don't present a problem when we are turning him. Call his physiatrist or doctor and ask for a physical therapist to visit, which Medicare will cover if you are in the US. Good luck.

[carole338]

Texaswheelz, on Feb 8 2010, 03:31 PM, said:

The way I look at it, if they ever figure out a way to repair my spinal cord, they should have a way to fix foot drop. If they don't ever repair my spinal cord, then I'm not to worried about it.

DITTO

[edlee]

carole338, on Feb 26 2010, 02:11 PM, said:

Texaswheelz, on Feb 8 2010, 03:31 PM, said:

The way I look at it, if they ever figure out a way to repair my spinal cord, they should have a way to fix foot drop. If they don't ever repair my spinal cord, then I'm not to worried about it.

DITTO

Me too...
ed

[Oldsparkie]

edlee, on Feb 27 2010, 06:36 AM, said:

carole338, on Feb 26 2010, 02:11 PM, said:

Texaswheelz, on Feb 8 2010, 03:31 PM, said:

The way I look at it, if they ever figure out a way to repair my spinal cord, they should have a way to fix foot drop. If they don't ever repair my spinal cord, then I'm not to worried about it.

DITTO

Me too...
ed

Ditto too

[guardianangel]

Hi I am a PA and best mate to my c5/6 spinal injury friend, and what I have done to help with his foot drop is to get a large piece of foam (like the type you use to restuff sofa cushions. In it I traced the shape of his feet and I cut around it leaving a perfect puzzle piece for his feet to slot into. I used about 4-6 inch foam and doubled its height. I give his feet a good stretch and then slot them into the spaces where it holds his feet upright all night. We do still get a slight twist but nothing like before. The height of the foam comes up just above the height of his big toe so the duvet will rest nicely on top not putting any weight on his toes. This contraption cost me about £15 for the cost of the foam.

This post has been edited by guardianangel: 10 March 2010 - 10:12 PM