Do they make a brace to align your foot

[peternap]

I've found that if I don't pay attention to my left foot, it seem to land wherever it pleases. I still have control over it, just no feeling. It makes me unstable if It is twisted.

I knew it was doing it but didn't realize how badly until I looked at this picture from Friday.
Anyone know of a brace that will keep it aligned?

[Redoverfarm]

Couple 1X's and some duct tape should take care of it.


All jokes aside you need to go to a specialist who can determine exactly what is causing your misalignment. 

[peternap]

Couple 1X's and some duct tape should take care of it.


All jokes aside you need to go to a specialist who can determine exactly what is causing your misalignment. 

Went to the Doctor about it John (Not the alignment, I'm just noticing that, but the cause) Diabetes has killed the nerves in my left foot and is working on my leg (neuropathy). It's like walking while your foots asleep....except it hurts, ifd that makes any sense There's no cure for it and his only suggestion was to keep my sugar down as best a possible (which I do except for the spikes) and get exercise (which I do). According to him, the real danger is that it will become more prone to infection and my immune system isn't what it used to be.

Then he went on to the effect all this is having on my heart that I figured would give out before the rest of me, and how I should have more frequent checkups so he could charge me for telling me what I already knew.

[MountainDon]

All I can think of is "Google it", Peter. I'm so sorry to hear of how that is affecting you.

[firefox]

I lost a nerve  down my leg a while back and it made it difficult to raise the front part of my foot. As a result I kept tripping when the front part of my foot would catch on the pavement. Had a few scary falls. I eventually was able to get enough control back combined with
changing how I walked that I have the tripping mostly under control.

When I went to Kaiser(HMO in Calif.) they first had me go to a place that made a cast of my foot, and from that a brace of something like fiberglass or thermoplastic  that was like a rigid sock with straps in front like a boot.

In my case, I stubornly refused to use it since I didn't want to be dependent on a crutch. It paid off since I was able to make do without it, but in your case I think it would work wonders.

I suspect that a major hospital in your area would know what the procedure was all about and might give you some leads on how to do it.
Bruce

[considerations]

My neighbor has a foot/ankle brace, it goes under the arch and up the sides.  Hopefully the doctors can find a doable solution for you. 

[Sassy]

Sorry I missed this, Peter.  There are all sorts of braces that are available... an orthopedist can get you fitted for what you need.  They can also instruct you on strengthening exercises to help combat the problem.  All is expensive - but you can google to find out what types of exercises you can do to strengthen the muscles supporting your ankle & foot to help straighten it out. 

So sorry you are having these problems... diabetes, over the long haul, can be pretty damaging, especially if the blood sugar is consistently high.  Sounds like you've done a pretty good job with keeping it under control, though.  But if your sugars were high for a long time without you realizing it before you had that bad time a few months ago, it could have done its damage by damaging the capillaries that feed the nerves that leads to the neuropathy.  The patients I see all say it is pretty painful although their extremities feel numb.

One thing you want to do is check you feet at least once a day for sores, cuts, reddened areas so that it doesn't turn into a bad infection - I had a patient come in one time to ER really sick with a high fever with no real reason for it.  It just so happened that I had a nursing student with me.  I told her I always took the shoes off people with diabetes because sometimes there's an injury & infection on the foot that they aren't aware of.  We took the shoes off this guy & between his big toe & 2nd toe, a sewing needled was sticking out just enough so we could see it - he didn't even know he'd stepped on it - that turned out to be the source of infection!

Also don't walk around with bare feet - we had a man who was playing ball with his grandson out in the yard - the ball rolled across the street - he ran across it with his bare feet in 100+ weather - took months for the burns on his feet to heal - he didn't even know he'd burned his feet until the next day.

And one more thing which I know you are aware of...  don't get mad    smoking is terrible on your circulation, heart, lungs etc & so is diabetes - you have been strong enough to get your blood sugars under control    I'm sure you can kiss those cigarettes goodbye - they certainly haven't been your friend...  diabetes & smoking are a double whammy to your body, unfortunately 

Just some friendly nursing advice!   

[peternap]

Thanks Sassy and while I'm at it, thanks everyone for the emails and PM's. I'm a little slow replying, but will.

Sassy, I've thought about it a lot and honestly, I think I've had Diabetes for years. Not nearly as bad, but progressing. The reason I think so is that in the last few years I've had problems with asthma, every injury I ever received...knees, back hands, etc, came back to haunt me with a vengeance.  I developed infections that wouldn't go away and in two cases, turned into blood poisoning.

All this got worse after my appendix burst and from what I've read, a major injury or illness can kick diabetes into high gear.

Here's the kicker....after I got my blood sugar down, these all stopped. For the last year, I've felt better than I have for years. Until recently that is. Now a new group of complaints are starting, like my foot. Even now, it's light years better than a year ago.

It' a delicate balancing act though. Too much food or the wrong thing and the sugar goes up...a lot and too little or off the regular schedule and it goes down...a lot. Most of the food that's best at keeping it level and I LIKE (like is the key word) is high in cholesterol and I have to eat sparingly.

For what it's worth, if it weren't for you and the other member on this board, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I'd be dead now. I'm pretty sure I was only weeks or even days away from it last Christmas when I realized there was a real problem. So, thank you!

Back to the foot. I've been Googling for information and especially exercises and haven't found much (I'm also building a new rifle and that's taken up a lot of the day ) and loading shotgun shells with peppercorns for those dog hunters. I'm going to look a little more this morning and see what I find.
The pain I can live with, at least for now, but being unstable puts a crimp in things.

I never realized just how bad a disease Diabetes was or how many people have it. Half the folks I talk to come back with "Me Too".

[Sassy]

Sounds like you've probably had high blood sugars for years - that damage doesn't happen overnight.  Glad you are feeling better & your friends at CP could be of help 

I haven't searched for exercises - I know that just pointing & flexing your feet help to strengthen the ankle - moving your feet in circles is also another one, those can be done while you're sitting around in your recliner.  Raising up on your toes & back down would help, also.  An orthopedist would be able to tell you if it is reversible with strengthening exercises or if you need a brace & they could either fit you with a shoe that has the brace in it rising up onto your calf or a cast type of one that you can take off.  We have walking boots that support the ankle but lets a person walk & is easily taken off when you need to shower. 

The best thing is to strengthen the muscles, though.  That way you aren't reliant on an external gadget...  but you won't know that until you find out what is wrong or if strengthening exercises work.  The last thing you want to happen is to break a hip or arm or injure your back with a fall 

For safety, get yourself a cool cane or walking stick!  I often use a walking stick around our place (if I remember to take it with me  )  I'm not too proud to admit that I need it sometimes