Need to Know: What Is Foot Drop and What Can I Do About It?

Tamara Sellman avatar

by Tamara Sellman |

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Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “Do you suffer from the MS symptom of ‘drop foot?’” from Sept. 20, 2018.

Maybe you’re at the grocery store, your kid’s baseball game, or walking the dog when it happens. Suddenly, you struggle to lift your foot high enough to take a full step. Your toes catch or drag on the ground, and then you’re stumbling or even falling without an obvious obstacle to blame.

This describes a common symptom among people with multiple sclerosis: foot drop.

What causes foot drop?

People can experience this risky symptom for any number of reasons, including but not limited to spinal injury, stroke, and MS.

For those with MS, foot drop is caused by weakness in ankle muscles (a product of muscle weakness or spasticity related to MS) or poor nerve conduction between the brain and the legs. The latter is an outcome of demyelination, when disease activity leads to the development of lesions on brain tissue.

Why is foot drop a problem?

A foot drop problem is actually a fall-risk problem.

Research shows that more than half of people with MS experience falls over a three-month period. These falls can result in injuries such as sprains, fractures, and head trauma. They also can lead to an unwillingness to participate in physical activities for fear of falling, as well as lost time from work or school.

Falls don’t only happen to people who are otherwise upright and walking. According to research in 2017 cited by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS), as many as 75 percent of people who use wheelchairs or scooters have reported one or more falls within a six-month period. These people may be using an assistive device to avoid falling, yet fight with gravity as the result of foot drop when transferring, if they are able to walk.

Reducing your fall risks

The following solutions may help you avoid the unexpected and nasty turns that foot drop can cause — as well as other balance and coordination symptoms of MS that increase your fall risk.

  • Free From Falls programs, via the NMSS. In-person, group-based programs that promote sustained improvements in mobility and balance have shown success in fall reduction in people with MS. A new online version of the program, called FFFO, may be an option in the future.
  • Learn to “fall the right way.” If you’ve ever learned to ski, you’ve also learned there’s a right way to fall. Multiple Sclerosis News Today columnist Ed Tobias gives great tips, references, and resources on safer falling.
  • Wearable devices to correct foot drop. A soft-ankle “exosuit” is currently in development to help correct problematic heel strike positioning. The device uses resistors and sensors in tandem with a servo motor and cable to control the way the foot moves while walking, standing, or taking on stairs.
  • Braces or splints. A simple repositioning aid that fits inside your shoe might be all you need to keep your foot in the proper walking position.
  • Physical therapy. Strengthening the muscles in the calves, ankles, and feet can help protect against foot drop. PT can also aid you in correcting MS-affected gait, which can result in joint misalignment and muscle pain from overcompensating for foot drop.
  • Functional electrical stimulation. This involves applying “smart” electrical stimulation to the nerves serving the lower legs to improve mobility and walking speed while reducing fall risk and the overall effort spent on walking.
  • Surgical procedures. The Mayo Clinic suggests that for enduring problems with foot drop, a bone-fusing or tendon transfer surgery might be effective. Neurological procedures might be useful in people with new but severe symptoms.
  • Manage your foot drop. Just like managing MS itself, you can manage with proper footwear, practicing fall risk awareness, and removing obstacles that might cause you to trip, according to advice from the MS Trust website.

Do you experience foot drop? Was it an initial MS symptom or did you develop it post-diagnosis? Do you experience foot drop as something unrelated to MS? How do you deal with it? Post your replies in the comments below or at the original “Do you suffer from the MS symptom of ‘drop foot?’” forum entry.

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Note: Multiple Sclerosis News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Multiple Sclerosis News Today or its parent company, BioNews Services, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to multiple sclerosis.

Comments

Pik avatar

Pik

Have plastic orthotic,light weight only half foot length,lift not so good,purchased X-STRAP,ties to shoe with the brace to keep lift from dropping.Very helpful. Have second brace from ULTRAFLEX,full foot length plastic&metal,works GREAT,but so heavy at 2lbs. Switch them up often.Tried electronic unit around knee,worked but too painful in nerves.Get BOTOX to help muscle trajectory. It's ok. Didn't know about surgery. If i can control the drop better,i wouldn't too bad.

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Tamara Sellman avatar

Tamara Sellman

Thanks for sharing your experiences, Pik, these might inspire others to try new approaches as well.
Tamara

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Melissa Cash-Tenorio avatar

Melissa Cash-Tenorio

What I do to help COMBAT my right foot drop is while I am sitting in my wheelchair I tend to force myself to raise my right foot over and over in repetitions of how ever many you are able to do and make sure you rest between repetitions. I do this several times a day. Also I have found it extremely helpful to do it while listening to music or have a friend or caregiver to do them with you. Pretend its a competition is also very helpful. DON'T GET DISCOURAGED KEEP UP THE FIGHT FOR YOUR INDEPENDENCE. BE DILIGENT.BE STRONG AND BOLD!!

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Tamara Sellman avatar

Tamara Sellman

Great idea, Melissa, a mini PT session!
Tamara

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Joe Ryan avatar

Joe Ryan

Bioness L300 Go has changed my life. Highly recommend to anyone faced with foot drop

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Jackie avatar

Jackie

Joe I'm using a Walk aide device. It's similar to the Bioness. I really like mine. Does your device work for you if your affected by humidity rain or cold? I'm still getting used to it but when my legs get stiff I am afraid to use it.

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Marge Meurn avatar

Marge Meurn

They won’t give all of us the Bioness due to positioning of ankle.

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Charles Dick avatar

Charles Dick

if I had foot drop, I think the first thing that I would do is put on some ankle weights and do something therapeutic.

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Jeff Gullang avatar

Jeff Gullang

Charles...it isn't that easy to solve. I wish I could strengthen the ankle to fix my problem, but strength isn't the problem. It is the brain trying to communicate with the foot to lift the toes. And it happens way to frequently for some with MS. Just yesterday I got mail from the mailbox and turned to go into the house and the 3 inch threshold caused me to fall into the house.

I have the strength but my brain is telling my foot to lift, but the 2 second delay is too slow as it took me one second to get the other foot over the threshold.

My therapy is pointing out to others that an individual's MS is not always the same as the next person who has MS.

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Tamara Sellman avatar

Tamara Sellman

Hi Jeff, you make a great point. So much of our weakness is not due to poor muscle tone, but incoordination or spasms or weakness caused by mixed up neurological signals. I have fairly dense muscles with good tone, but when I'm tired they just lose their tone without appropriate messages from the brain to keep them functioning appropriately.
Tamara

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Pik avatar

Pik

Yeah right, i have to put my arm under my knee&lift it to put my shoe on & get in car.??

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Frank DiPasquale avatar

Frank DiPasquale

My foot drop happened after the ms diagnosis. I use an orthotic but would rather fix the problem.

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Dorothy Kane avatar

Dorothy Kane

I have an FES from WalkAid. It's not covered by insurance for people with MS, but for me it is worth every penny of the $5K I spent. I'm less tired than I used to be, and my bone density has improved since I can walk more now without a problem.

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Nigel Watts avatar

Nigel Watts

I suffer from foot drop as a by-product of my MS and I use Functional electrical stimulation on my lower calf twice a week. In addition to the FES I have Reflexology on my right foot once a week and the combination has improved my walking greatly.

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Tamara Sellman avatar

Tamara Sellman

Great to hear, Nigel! I hope this keeps working for you!
Tamara

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Beth avatar

Beth

I have had foot drop
For 30+ yrs and recently had some PT. My therapist suggested that I begin with my foot drop leg when I start moving from place to place so I don’t drag my foot. It helps me a lot. I walk with a walker also.

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SimplySuz avatar

SimplySuz

Thank you for saying it's not always something we can control with exercise!

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SimplySuz avatar

SimplySuz

Me too.

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Paula mason avatar

Paula mason

You can get the bioness if you have a stroke why not for MS both neurological.
Insurance would rather pay for my broken bones to be fixed

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Ann on MS avatar

Ann on MS

While I am happy that there are people that have had success with FES, I have not. The first time ~8 years ago the bluetooth stopped working and I was stranded. Tried the L300 Go in 2021 and even though my PT only needed to program it 1 time it worked for multiple visits with no adjusting. When I purchased my own (no insurance) Bioness had to program and they were not able to get a program to work, which caused me to have 2 different Bioness employees to attempt the program - fail. While they do have a 30 day money back guarantee, they charge $600 restocking fee and it was a 2 month process of phone calls and emails before they would give me my money back. I will never use a programmable device again.

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