Hi Frances, My neurophysio keeps mentioning an orthotic device for my foot drop and I keep resisting as it looks so hard and awkward. I looked up the SAFO which looks much nicer. Can you tell me how much they cost please? Teresa xx
Teresa, Like anything needed by disabled people - they are expensive. Mine cost me £600 - but there is no further expense as they do not need replacement parts like a FES. They are very durable - no sign of wear and tear on mine. lts worth asking if your local orthotic dept would be able to get funding for you. l know at the QE in B’ham they supply them for disabled children with mobility problems.
F
Thanks very much Frances - oh boy they are expensive aren’t they? I’ll have to look into trying to get funding for one! Teresa xx
My SAFO cost me approximately £600. That was five years ago and as I paid for it myself it seemed like a lot of money. at the time. However, I still reckon it was money well spent. No further expense since then. Although my legs are much, much worse than they were 5 years ago, I rarely stumble these days. Stumbling was a regular and potentially danerous. occurrence pre-SAFO.
Hello,
SAFO seems to be a common solution to drop foot. Yes I do have that but in addition I am unable to lift me leg while sitting down or standing up. The muscle in my thigh is also affected.
That is why I like the MuSmate. It picks up the entire leg as well as keeping the toe off the ground.
There are so many subtle variations of this disease
I’m not sure if I have foot-drop but I scuff my right foot, quite badly at times and it has caused me to fall (that set me on the road to discovering MS, osteopath I visited wrote to my GP)
I have a fairly large collection of high heels so I’m planning to have a bit of an ebay sale, as I haven’t worn a pair of heels since… about October last year, gutted but I’m going to have to have a serious look fr some nice flat shoes (I’m generally wearing about 2 pairs of books in rotation right now)
Sonia x
Hello Sonia,
In some ways drop foot is worse for women, they do have to give up the high heel!
For us blokes its just another inconvenience but no change of life style. My drop foot has got progressively wre and worse over about 10 years, very slowly progressed - now never too sure what position my foot will be in when it touches the ground - caused a dislocated shoulder - ouch!
Sonia, l have a severe foot drop. So l do wear a SAFO most of the time. l found l could not walk/balance in flat shoes - l am better with a shoe with a wedge type heel. Clarks do some good shoes called ‘Wave’ - they are similar to the MBT’s [masai barefoot technology] - With these [ l have two pair of trainer type - black and bright pink] l do not need to wear the safo brace.
Hotter shoes are also very comfortable - l have a pair with a pretty velcro strap. l find l need shoes with a strap across as l can not keep them on my feet otherwise.
Clarks do a brilliant online service - free p&p and returns. So good to be able to try them on and walk about indoors to test them.
F.
Thanks guys, I think I’ll ebay some much loved heels then I can shop!
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What a poorly disguised blatant advert! Your link will be removed same as in your previous posts.
Orliman Boxia.
Quick and simple to use.
No plastic brace inside the shoe.
Enquire at your MS physio dept, mine was given free, £50 on Amazon !!
All interesting stuff and a few things that I’m going to have a look at.
I have a toe off splint and a fes.
Before I needed a splint I had all ready invested in a collection of FIT FLOP boots because I liked them and because the " unique wobble board" really does help with walking. The splint fits very well into the boots.
For wandering about the house I wear those suede booties with a proper sole, a side opening and sheepskin lining, to help keep foot from freezing.
The fes looks much better…you can’t see it, but it takes me ages to wire up, so I only wear it when going out. I can wear anything but heels (I said a sad fair well to them on eBay). I was delighted to be able to get long boots on.
The splint is so much easier to fling on but I haven’t found much in the way of sandal type things for summer.
I used to live in flipflops, now having to have confined feet takes a bit of getting used to…poop!
I was sent for FES last week, it didnt really help as my foot was coming up but turning outwards at the same time. The pads have to be in the exact spots on your legs each and every time, even a few mm out and you’ll get a different result, at least thats what I found anyway ! I actually felt as though my legs were working against the FES signals to my foot, walking felt harder, more strenuous.
Capmion…please tell, what is a SAFO?
Old post from five years ago. Probably not on the forum now.
It’s a silicone splint made from a plaster cast of your foot. I wouldn’t like to guess at the price today, but they were over £600 ten years ago. http://www.dorset-ortho.com/patient-services/orthotics/safo/
I’ve got all manner of foot-drop aids.
A SAFO is very good (yes, pricey), it’s moulded to the exact shape of your foot, they make a plaster cast then use that as the mould for the hard silicone. The problem with a SAFO is that it’s not that easy getting shoes that fit one foot without the SAFO and the other foot with it. I know some people manage, but I never have. Having said that, because they are waterproof, they’re very useful in a hydro pool.
FES works wonders for most people who try it (I use one for the tiny bit of walking I’m capable of). Yes, they do turn your foot out a bit, but it sounds like it wasn’t quite set up right for you jactac. Did you have an assessment at an FES centre or was it a physiotherapist who tried it out on you? The reason I ask is that the physio who I saw about FES was a bit useless. Actually putting the electrodes in the right place is dead easy when you’re used to it. And of course, subject to a postcode lottery. Most CCGs will fund FES, just not mine.
I’ve tried other things, the orthotist at my hospital gave me a Neurodyn orthotic. Useless. Made of nylon and almost impossible to put on.
A Foot-up is a low tech solution, every now and then I’ll still use one on my ‘good’ foot, that doesn’t actually have foot drop, but it sometimes just won’t work. They have a band that is wrapped around your ankle and gets attached to a piece of plastic held in place in a shoe. A bit like a Boxia.
I’ve tried on traditional orthoses, but most just don’t work for me. Sometimes it’s about the shape of your foot.
Sue
Sue, I had my FES assessment at the FES center, arranged by the spasticity specialist, I was there over an hour but in the end we decided between the both of us that I’m not quite at the stage where I need FES to lift my foot. Having said that, I think I was having a pretty good day in regards to my MS on that particular day. Personally I feel my issue is not so much a dropped foot, but more to do with not having the power in my legs to give “leg left”, hence after a short distance my legs just get lower and lower to the ground, which in turn causes my foot/feet to catch on the ground. As my left leg is my weakest, it tends to be my left foot that starts to drag/trip first. The FES guy tended to think along the same lines as well, he has now arranged hydrotherapy to try and strengthen the hip flexor muscles, which are the muscles used mostly to raise the legs. I’ve noticed this last two or three weeks since being on Tizanidine and Clonazepam that my legs are without doubt heavier and weaker, my distance and walking is worse, so this adds to my theory that the already weakened hip flexor muscles caused by the MS have gone even weaker due to the meds, yet the drop in my foot is no worse than it was before the meds. If that makes sense ??