Re: wearing plastic braces

[Guest guest]

i hear you, robert. i, too, have the same blisters and bruising from extended

time on my feet with the brace.

what gets me is that they make a mold of the foot and reproduce this brace that

has no correction. so we walk around with all this pressure on one area. its

like stacking up the wooden blocks as a child. when they lean too far due to

being out of line (straight)they kick out and fall down. if they could just

build in some correction more of the weight would reach the

foot bottom rather than the ankle. they told me it would cause sores to

develope. hmmm.

hello?

good luck - its slow healing.

dave

[Guest guest]

Dave,

I don't care what they told you; if your braces are rubbing so hard they're

causing sores to occur they need to be adjusted properly to prevent that. I've

worn AFOs for almost 30 years now and the only time they would rub and cause a

blister is when they were new and not fitted properly yet, in which case a quick

trip to the 'brace place' solvd the problem. I can't even tell you how many

pair of AFOs I've gone through, and how many different clinics I've had them

made in, but they would all say that if they rub in certain areas they

need to be heated and bent to prevent this and whoever is fitting you should be

aware of this. If you aren't already doing this, you could also try a

lightweight pair of socks inside your brace to prevent blisters from starting.

Keeping your feet dry is so important. For bad pressure points though your only

option is to have the braces heated and flexed out a bit in those places.

~

[Guest guest]

My ex-husband wore plastic braces during the years we were married. He

would wear tube socks inside the braces and then dress socks or tube

socks on the outside (depending on how he was dressed). As the braces

got older and his feet deteriorated he would have to fold two or three

pieces of toilet paper and put between his brace and his tube sock on

the areas that rubbed until he could get new braces. They always DID

put a correction in his braces AND also made room for his tube socks.

In fact I believe that the place he got his first braces were the ones

that told him to wear tube socks. Give it a try. It might help.

Jerlyn

New Poll! Please give us your thoughts on what you'd like at the next

major CMT Conference. /polls

[Guest guest]

,

Thanks for the input. it started as a plastic brace, which was adjusted and

padded. this was the " model " for what was to come. it is a carbon graphite

brace, tan in color and quite strong and about the same weight as the

plastic one (i still have the plastic one as well). my right ankle is literally

as big as a baseball and the brace stops about the middle of the " baseball " . as

you can imagine, this cuts into my ankle at that location. i went in for an

adjustment. he cut it back and gave a little more room, but it still stops at

the same place. just more slack to slam against the edge - i think. and the

patch he applied looks like someone played in clay. not pretty.

why do they make the cast of the foot and turn out a brace with the

round heel? seems like a flat heel with a roller-type bottom would

help with pressure going thru the gait.thanks again,

Dave

[Guest guest]

Dave,

I'm not sure why your braces were made with a round bottom. All the AFOs that I

have ever had were flattened on the bottom and the last pair were flat one the

bottom with a rubber padded cap over the heel as well. How can they expect

anyone to walk on a rounded heel??

That's anther reason why I'm suggesting maybe a second opinon from another

orthotic specialist might be in order for you.

~