Hi Illa, my PN has caused weakness in my right ankle- I have foot drop- when walking, my ankle doesn’t “automatically” bend up enough to clear my toes during the step-through, so I’m prone to catch them and lose my balance. My soleus muscle now has poor innervation, so I also don’t get much “push-off” for the next step.
The PT made arrangements for a metal rocker plate to be embedded in my shoe, which gives me a mechanical push-off assist. He also sent me to an orthotist, who made the ankle foot orthosis (AFO). It was pretty cool- wrapped my leg in a wet wrap that hardened quickly, cut it off with a special angled hand saw, sent the “mold” out, and 4 weeks later came a lightweight but sturdy plastic brace with a dynamic ankle bending piece and a Velcro strap near my knee. I bought light compression Dr Scholl knee socks at Walmart and off I go! I can’t drive wearing it as I can’t feel the pedals, but I take it in a bag and put it on in the car before I head out for my walk. Medicare paid for the brace.
My best advice is to ask your PCP for a PT referral, they’ll tell you if a brace would be helpful (and lots of other things too). PTs usually have favorite orthotists to send you too. I called there and got the instructions for how to do this, called the PCP to FAX the order to them, and they called once they got it to set an appointment. After I got the brace, I went back to the PT for a few visits to make sure I was using it correctly, didn’t want to develop any bad habits.