Re: Dennis Brown Bar Problems-California

[Guest guest]

Hello, Faun, and welcome to our group!!!!!!

I don't know of any doctors at UC in Sacramento who are using

the Ponseti method. Perhaps some of the other California families

can verify to you if they have heard positive referrals for anyone

at that site. Most folks in your area are using the doctors at the

Shriners hospital who are listed on Dr. Ponseti's qualified

physicians list.

My gut instinct when I hear stories like yours is to suggest that

either her brace is set up incorrectly or her foot is not completely

corrected. If the foot is completely corrected and the brace is set

up right, you should have no problems keeping it on.

An AFO style brace is not recommended for preventing relapse using

the Ponseti method. There are some children who have AFO's mounted

on a bar instead of shoes, but as a standard rule of thumb, most of

the time AFOs are not used, and definitely not used without the bar

connecting them (for preventing relapse with no other issues). The

AFO does not address the dorsiflexion and outward abduction of the

foot (keeping it stretched), so regardless of the initial severity

of the clubfoot, using an AFO would be useless in preventing

relapse. I also have personal experience with AFOs as my daughter's

doctor (pre-Ponseti) prescribed one for her and it was a nightmare

with the sweaty feet inside the plastic and not being able to

determine if her foot was in it correctly (most of the time it

wasn't)....plus her foot wasn't 100% corrected at the time and

slipping upward, so it was not pleasant at all!

Would you be able to share pictures of your daughter's feet and her

brace with us via the CFPics group on yahoo groups? You'd have to

join the group and then send the pictures (it's a moderated group

for membership) and we can try to see if we can spot any obvious

problems.

Did you get a chance to review the tips and tricks document

regarding the FAB (DBB)? There is information on this site also

under the bracing section: http://members.tripod.com/ponseti_links-

ivil

I hope this helps!

Regards,

& (3-16-00, left clubfoot)

http://ponseticlubfoot.freeservers.com/