The 5 Top Foot Drop Treatment Features

Drop foot affects countless people across the world, causing diminished mobility, lower overall quality of life, falls, and injuries. Anyone wrestling with foot drop can benefit from a well-engineered, lightweight AFO. Below, you’ll find the top six highest-rated features, which make this soft brace an irreplaceable assistant in fighting drop foot effectively:

1. Wear With Any Laced Shoe

   Doesn’t matter the style, or brand, any lace shoe of yours can be worn with this daily brace. It fits both your left and right foot, with or without a sock. The flexibility of the helps it stand out from other braces for foot drop. Our dorsi strap is comfortable and hardly noticeable while in use. It promotes muscle development and helps improve balance. The best part is nothing is placed in your shoe or under your foot.

2. Made of Soft & Breathable, Medical-Grade Materials

   Unlike many other AFO braces for dropfoot, this product is made of a soft and thin, flexible material that is breathable and works easily with shoes.

3. Convenient, Wrap-Around Style for Quick & Easy Adjustment

   Easily apply or remove this brace, thanks to its convenient wrap-around design. Each fastener is medical-grade, making it ten times stronger than standard, retail-grade fastener for a secure fit throughout the day.

4. Helps with Plantar Fasciitis & Achilles Tendonitis

   This soft AFO for foot drop is also helpful for plantar fasciitis and achilles tendonitis, holding your foot dorsiflexed close to a 90-degree angle. It provides a consistent stretch to your plantar fascia, achilles tendon, and calf muscle, while also promoting a more natural gait. Many braces for plantar fasciitis only provide nighttime support, but this dorsiflexion assist was specifically designed for day time use to keep you moving. Only looking for nighttime support? Check out our soft dorsal night splint, sleeping stretch boot or soft sleeping brace for drop foot. 
   

   

5. Adjustable Bungee Straps for Custom Dorsiflexion Control

   Easily adjust the tension by simply pulling the bungee cord further down your laces for increased dorsiflexion, or loosen for less support throughout the day if your comfort needs change.
   
   
   

Why You Need This AFO Brace For Foot Drop

Whether you had a stroke, have diabetic nerve damage, live with multiple sclerosis, or are experiencing another neurological disorder, suffering from foot drop can be quite a struggle.

Foot drop, or dropped foot, is a symptom of some underlying condition caused by weakness in your ankle or disruption in the nerve pathway between your legs and brain. This makes it difficult to lift the front of your foot to the correct angle while walking, jogging, and running. As a result, your foot hangs down and may catch or drag along the ground, often causing trips and falls.

There are a number of reasons why you might have trouble maintaining proper dorsiflexion, such as:

• Stroke
• Multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Cerebral palsy
• Peroneal nerve injuries
• Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT)

• Muscular dystrophy or myositis
• Diabetic neuropathy
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (AKA Lou Gehrig’s disease or ALS)
• Polio
• Some forms of spinal muscular atrophy

Not sure if you have foot drop? No problem! Take the Foot Drop Test and talk with your doctor. Visit our resource library to learn about other common foot injuries and conditions.

How Can I Treat Charcot Foot and Drop Foot During the Day?

• Shoe Attachment AFO Brace

  Luckily, modern medicine is very progressive and wearing an AFO (ankle foot orthosis) is one of the simplest ways to handle the unpleasant signs of drop foot, including:

• Dragging your toes and foot across the ground as you walk
• A high steppage gait, or raising your thigh as you walk, to prevent your toes from catching the ground
• An inability to raise your foot at the ankle
• Numbness along the top of your foot or toes

Nevertheless, finding the right support to maintain foot clearance when walking can be challenging. This soft AFO brace helps address those cumbersome signs by comfortably supporting the upper portion of your foot, allowing you to move about and walk more naturally.

• Physical Therapy

  Along with braces or ankle-foot orthosis (AFO), exercise therapy to strengthen your foot, ankle, and lower leg muscles is one of the primary treatments for dropped foot. Stretching and range of motion exercises will help you maintain joint mobility to prevent stiffness from developing in your heel.

• Nerve Stimulation

  If peroneal nerve damage is the cause of your foot drop, functional electrical stimulation may be a good alternative to complex surgery. A small device that electrically stimulates normal function of the peroneal nerve can be worn or surgically implanted just below your knee, causing the muscle to contract and your foot to lift while walking.

• Foot Drop Surgery

  In severe cases with permanent loss of movement, you may need surgery that fuses your foot and ankle joints. Surgery may also be required to transfer tendons, if they were damaged and causing foot drop, from stronger muscles to help improve gait and stability.

Frequently Asked Questions About This Soft Ankle-Foot Orthosis (AFO)

• What conditions/injuries does this foot and ankle stabilizer treat? This dorsiflexion assist orthosis helps manage discomfort due to foot drop, post CVA (stroke), Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, diabetic nerve damage, mild muscular dystrophy, and post-spinal cord surgery.
• Who can wear this brace? Great for any adult men or women, as well as some kids, who need dorsiflexion assistance. Can greatly improve your quality of life, allowing you to move with ease.
• What size should I buy? Using a soft/flexible tape measure, measure the circumference around your ankle, two inches above the ankle bone. Size S/M fits ankle circumferences ranging from 7 1/2 - 9 1/2 inches and L/XL fits 9 1/2 - 12 inches.
• What is it made of? Nylon and spandex-blended AirFlex neoprene alternative with medical-grade, hook and loop fastener. All components are latex free.
• When should I wear it? Wear throughout the day with any lace shoes.
• How do I put it on? Undo fasteners on brace. With metal-O-rings on top, position brace above ankle. Wrap brace around ankle and attach. Wrap ankle strap around leg, through D-ring buckle, and reattach onto itself. Apply laced shoe. Pull each side of bungee cord toward shoe and attach to laces at desired tension level.
• How does it work? Offers convenience and comfort, holding your foot near a 90-degree angle for optimum foot clearance support while walking.
• How tall is this brace? About nine inches tall
• Washing Instructions: Close all fasteners and hand wash in warm water with mild soap. Allow brace to air dry completely before reapplying. Do not use high temperatures to wash or dry.
• Other features:
• Natural foot drop treatment
• Can be worn with or without socks
• Highly adjustable strapping system for optimal support
• Color: Black.