For a while now I’ve been having trouble with my left foot. My right foot is fine, but my left foot comes down heavily as I walk. I don’t seem to have the symptoms of drop foot, although sometimes I have problems with catching my feet on th floor.
Has anyone else had similar issues?
I have trouble with my left foot too in similar ways. Lifting up my toes on the left foot definitely is worse than the right. The left also comes down clumsily (searching aroundI’ve heard of “slap foot” another exacerbating problems is that my left knee also doesn’t lift properly. I guess all these problems of mine are sub-clinical but certainly a bother.
I hadn’t heard of slap foot before. I just looked it up and it sounds like slap foot can be a symptom of drop foot. I don’t seem to have any problems with raising my left foot, so I guess it’s early stages or very mild. How do they judge whether you’re having problems raising the front of your foot?
Walking is something most people take for granted. I’ll be filling in my PIP application form later today. I’ll probably spend the rest of the day obsessed with my gait and whether it affects my mobility.
After optic neuritis, the second sign I got was when I was taking two Full English Breakfasts from the kitchen to the guest’s dining room. I missed the second of three steps, broke the fall wth my nose, smashed my specs and Gill had to cook some more eggs.
She laughed solidly for ten minutes, until I persuaded her that it wasn’t that funny.
Anthony
Tbh, it does sound like the beginnings of foot drop. Although in the main the problem of foot drop is raising your foot, part of the problem is the speed at which the front of the foot comes down. So for example, the FES unit has a timed descent of the uplift, meaning that it also slows the rate of the foot hitting the floor. It’s kind of the natural result of having foot drop. So when I last went to Odstock, I got them to decrease the length of time the unit was raising the foot as the ‘slap’ down was too slow.
So maybe you could get some physio guidance as to how to slow down the rate at which your foot comes down to the floor. If that’s possible.
Sue
I second Ssssue. this sounds just like one of the precursors to drop foot.
You start to lose the various ankle movements, then the ability to bend the knee.
If you do not already drive an automatic car, better change now, before you have to.
Best thing you can do now is what a physio would probably suggest:
Sit on a chair, heels on the floor, now tap the toes on each foot five times (and repeat).
Now, lift up each lower leg until the leg is straight (and repeat).
The idea is to keep each joint as free as possible, while the brain can no longer command the muscles properly.
Geoff
I can certainly relate to the slap foot comments above as a few years ago, this was happening to me. For me, this was the first sign of foot drop and fully fledged foot drop followed soon thereafter and the foot drop has been with me ever since.
derek
Thanks for those comments. I’ll be seeing my GP next week and I’ll ask him to refer me to a physiotherapist.