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Ankle-Foot Orthoses (AFOs): Your experience?
Neuropathy | Last Active: 4 hours ago | Replies (16)Comment receiving replies
@ray666 Ray - Mike did bring up a good point about the pair you can order on Amazon. As they say, you can run the idea up the flagpole and see if they help with balance. If so, you can try using those and my unprofessional opinion would be that if you experience better than a 50% improvement in balance, then perhaps down the road pursue a pair insurance might cover. I know you would run this past your medical team first but at least it would indicate that you are searching in the right direction to help with balance issues. By the way, the drop foot you had for a short period of time 10 or 15 years ago, were you having any lower back issues at that time?
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Hi, Ed (@njed) - I just got back from my appointment with my podiatrist. He was surprisingly anti- my trying APOs. (I intend to try them anyway.) One of the things I like about my podiatrist (besides my having trusted hin for years) is he's exceptionally knowledgeable when it comes to PN - that, plus he knows my history inside and out. That's why I was so surprised to have him comedown so fast and hard on my giving AFOs a try. In short, he said, with my particular balance issues, AFOs could be more hazardous than helpful. That's after he did a manual manipulation of both my feet and had me walk up and down the hallway several times while videoing my gait. That foot drop episode Ihad 10 or 15 years ago? No, no pain whatsoever. When I thought back, I did recall carrying a way-too-heavy sack of way-too-heavy things with one hand (off-centering myself), thereby injuring my peroneal nerve. At least, that was the best cause & effect I could think of. - Ray (@ray666)