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Foot drop treatment at home
My Dad was diagnosed with foot drop after his stroke. Finally, we understood what was causing his awkward walk. We searched for ways to administer food drop treatment at home. Dad didn’t want any additional doctor visits, if they could be avoided.
What is foot drop?
Have you ever seen someone unable to lift up the front part of their foot or both feet? Foot drop results from one of several reasons. Actually, doctors consider foot drop as a symptom. It results from another condition, such as muscular sclerosis or stroke. This condition can be troublesome for so many people. People eagerly search for choices for foot drop treatment at home.
To this end, I’ll help you understand the details about this ailment. Then you might try treating it at home, too.
If you are also one of those people who have been struggling with their foot drop issue, sit back and relax. The best treatment for foot drop remains exercise. With this information, you may perform to get rid of this foot drop issue. With no further delay, let’s get into it and explore all the tips and tricks through which you can treat foot drop at home.
Causes of foot drop:
Before treating this ailment, it is crucial that you know about the causes and reasons behind this ailment. Knowing the reasons allows you to avoid the conditions and practices that lead to foot drop. Experts list these reasons that may lead to foot drop.
1. Nerve injury:
The biggest reason behind any person suffering from foot drop could be any nerve injury. Due to some severe accidents in which a person gets nerve injuries can lead to foot drop. The nerve that is responsible for the communication with the foot muscles is known as the peroneal nerve. If any accident hurts or damages this nerve, it results in the foot drop issue. If the nerve heals, it cures the foot drop.
Possible causes of nerve damage range from road accidents to sports injury or surgery such as hip replacement., Other causes include wearing a leg cast, childbirth, or even a pulled muscle from crossing your legs.
2. Muscles disorders:
The condition that causes muscle deterioration or weakness can also lead to foot drop. The most common muscles disorder that can lead to foot drop is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and polio, etc.
3. Brain disorder:
We all know that our brain controls the entire body, and a minor disorder in the brain can lead to the severe conditions of foot drop. Some common reasons for brain disorders that can be a cause of foot drop are cerebral palsy, stroke, multiple sclerosis, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
These are some of the root causes of foot drop that you have to keep in mind so, when you want to get some medical foot drop treatment, you should treat these ailments and injuries first and then treat foot drop so that you can treat it well.
Medical methods for foot drop treatment:
There are specific ways to medically treat foot drop, which include physical therapy, brace or anklet foot orthosis, functional electrical stimulation, and surgery.
But of course, not everyone can afford these treatments because they cost enough money. So, most people look forward to having some best at home exercises that can help them treat foot drop. We are here to provide you with enough home exercises that will help you treat foot drop with no medical assistance. If you also want to get rid of foot drop but through simple exercises at home.
Foot drop rehabilitation at home:
We know that most of the people reading it would be waiting for the most awaited portion of this article, which is the exercises that will make you get rid of the foot drop ailment. Without any further delay, let’s get into it and cover as many exercises as possible through which you can get rid of foot drop.
· Towel stretch:
The most common exercise for foot drop treatment at home is the towel stretch. It is the easiest exercise that you can do at home. To perform this exercise, you have to sit straight on the floor with your legs straight on the floor in front of you. Now, you have to take a towel in your hand and make a loop out of it. Put that loop in your affected foot and hold both of the ends of the towel in your hand.
Now, you have to pull the towel to yourself and hold on for like 30 seconds. Leave the stretch for 25 seconds and then stretch back again and hold on for 30 seconds. You have to continue this exercise for as long as you can. But it must be a minimum of 3 times in every sitting, and try to practice three times a day for better results. You can also use an exercise band for this exercise or any other cloth available in your house.
· Toe to heel rocks:
This exercise is a bit difficult from the previous one because you have to put all your weight on your foot for exercise. Keep one thing in mind that you have to be more than careful while doing this exercise because a little act of carelessness can lead to some severe issues.
So, to perform this exercise, you have to take the support of a chair or any other thing that you are comfortable with, for example, the back of the sofa in your bedroom or lounge, etc. Then you have to lift your unaffected leg in the air and put all your weight on the affected foot. Firstly, you have to lift your heel of the affected foot and lay all your weight on the toes. Keep it in that position for 30 seconds and then put all the weight on the heel of the affected foot and lift your toes up.
Hold on to this position again for 30 seconds, and then you can take a rest for 30 seconds before you re-perform this exercise. Be careful while doing it because you can get your anklets tangled if you take it easy more than enough!
· Marble pickup:
In the next exercise on the list, we have marble pickup. It sounds easy for normal people, but the people who are affected with foot drop would find it difficult to perform. Although this is not that easy as it sounds, you will have to be daring to get rid of foot drop.
For this foot drop treatment at home, you have to take a marble and hold it with your toes. The best way to do it is that you should sit on a chair and take at least 30 marbles in a bowl. Place that bowl on the floor in front of you and place your feet on the floor.
Now, you have to take all the marbles out of the bowl one by one through your feet. You have to lift your affected foot, put in the bowl, grab a marble from the bowl, and throw it on the floor. Then again, repeat the same procedure until all the marble gets out of the bowl, and the bowl is empty. We know that this is kind of tough for the people suffering from foot drop, so you can do it once a day, and that would be enough.
· Ankle dorsiflexion:
It is again a bit tough, but a lot of effective exercise fir foot drop treatment at home. It is quite easy to perform because you need no extra equipment to perform it. All you need is a resistance band, also known as an exercise band, and tie both ends with a wall so that it makes a sort of loop.
Now, you have to wrap that loop around your affected foot, and then you have to pull up your toes towards you and then return to the mean position. You have to practice it as many times as possible for you, or at least you should perform it ten times in a single sitting. This ankle dorsiflexion is an affected way for foot drop treatment at home, though a bit tough.
· Plantar flexion:
It is another flexion exercise that you can perform and not that difficult also. It is much likely as the towel stretch, but a bit different in performing. For this exercise, you need a resistance band, which is also called an exercise band. You have to wrap it around the bottom of the affected foot and pull towards your body.
After that, you have to point your toes opposite to your body position and then release the stretchiness. Repeat this exercise 10 times consecutively and then take a rest for like 30 seconds before repeating these steps. You can also need any other cloth available at home to perform this exercise, but make sure to perform it twice a day for better and faster results.
· Ball lift:
We know that you must be thinking that another lifting exercise, but yeah! These lifting exercises are what are going to take you out of the foot drop troubles. For this exercise, you have to sit firmly on a chair or a sofa. Then you have to put a ball on your feet and then lift up the feet. You have to keep lifting it for about 10 seconds and then lower your feet and take a rest for 10 seconds. Then repeat this exercise approximately 7 to 8 times every day to see better results.
These are some of the best home exercises that you have to try at home, and I can guarantee you that if you perform these exercises regularly at home, you will soon get rid of foot drop issues and troubles in a few months. Keep one thing in mind that foot drop happens due to the weakness of muscles, and you have to strengthen your muscles through exercise. You have to put extra effort to treat this issue and don’t take it for granted.
When you discover that you have foot drop, don’t delay any further in foot drop treatment. Don’t worry if you don’t have enough money to get medical treatments as you have effective exercises that you can perform at home and treat your foot drop troubles.
Precautions for foot drop patients:
Foot drop is an ailment, and you have to adopt some precautions to be safe at home even when you are combating this issue. The following is the list of precautions that you have to take care of so that you don’t get hurt while walking in the home because you can’t use your feet as other people can. So, carefully read these instructions and try to follow them strictly!
- First, keep your floor clean and clutter-free. Items on your floor make tripping and falling more likely.
- Avoid using throw rugs in your home. The people with foot drop might get injured by these rugs, so be careful about them. Rugs with a grip backing work well, though.
- The most important thing that you must not forget is to take away all the electrical cords from the walkways. Either in or out of the house, you should try your level best that the person suffering from foot drop must not get to pass any electrical cords or you will have to suffer a great loss that can be in the form of death of the person!
- If you live with a person who has foot drop, you have to light up the rooms, walkways, and stairs so that the person doesn’t have to face troubles due to the darkness in the way.
- The best practice to keep the affected person safe from any injury is to use fluorescent tape at the start of the stairs or podium. This fluorescent tape will lit up when in the dark and aware of the person about the stairs or the raised podium.
When to seek the doctors’ assistance?
Although we told you that these exercises that we mentioned above would help you get rid of the foot drop and it will prove to be an effective and cost-efficient foot drop treatment. However, of course, medical examination and guidance is still needed.
We all know that exercise is a slow recovery process, so you have to track the progress of your exercise through various tests that will show you your comparable results. For this examination, you have to reach your doctor and ask them to examine the condition. That’s why you have to keep seeing your doctor during the recovery process so that if due to some complications you don’t see any progress, you can seek your doctor’s advice.
Who are at a higher risk of getting foot drop?
It is probably the most frequently asked question that we receive. Keep one thing in mind that foot drop is mostly seen in the people who are not careful about their way of using their legs and feet. The following are some of the greater risks that you have to avoid if you want to stay safe from the foot drop.
· Crossing legs:
The first and mostly seen cause of foot drop is the cross legs sitting style. Most people like to cross their legs when they sit, and while crossing their legs, sometimes some muscles get pulled, and it leads to the foot drop.
· Prolonged kneeling:
We see so many professions around us in which the employee has to continue kneeling or squatting during his job. Some of the examples are the people working on farms, where they have to pick some vegetables or fruit from the ground. Such people are more prone to getting foot drop as they have to work hard by continuously changing their posture.
· People wearing leg cast:
Another most common risk factor is the people who wear leg cast. This leg cast put pressure on the peroneal nerve, which results in the occurrence of foot drop. That’s why you have to be more than conscious if you wear a leg cast due to some reason.
To Summarize
That was all about the foot drop issues and foot drop treatment at home that you must know about. If you or any of your loved one is suffering from this issue, you must not forget to give a try to all the home exercises that we mentioned above before you opt for any medical treatment.
These methods of foot drop treatment are going to be a lifesaver for the people who don’t have enough money to spend on costly medical treatment for foot drop. I’m not suggesting you not to seek medical assistance, but I am telling you not to waste your time until you get money for your treatment. Try these exercises at home, and I can bet that you will see the results. What are you waiting for then? Try them at home and don’t forget to share your experience with us!
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