What to wear at night for drop foot?
 

I have a partial foot drop in both feet from Neuropathy, sometimes I wear my AFOs to bed if my legs are especially fatigued but they are cumbersome. I am wondering what others wear at night. I ask because although I stretch daily, I can definitely feel the muscles and such in the back of my legs tightening and my toes pointing more especially if a blanket is on top of them, this really makes the muscles in the front of my legs sore. I am looking for something that is comfortable to wear at night, and cheap, and easy to slip on and off to keep my feet from pointing and stretch my the muscles in the back of my legs gently.

I have these boot like things....and they really work, but, I can only wear one at a time, lest I trip on my bathroom trips. Yes, they have all kinds of things.

Some of the new flexible ajustable ankle braces may be enough to hold your feet at the angle you want. There is a new one I saw at the drugstore that wraps around the ankle and you can control the tightness well. I bought it before vacation when my left ankle was giving me so much grief. It was less than $10.

This was the one I purchased:
http://www.riteaidonlinestore.com/pr...BUY-PLST-0-CAT

There are many other types as well.

Even though we have a house full of beautiful hand-made quilts my mother made, we have had to take all heavy covers off the bed and replace them with a light-weight down comforter. That has been very helpful for me so far in dealing with feet that can not stand the pressure of heavy covers. While I don't suffer foot drop or severe contraction of my foot and leg muscles, it is bad enough to wonder what my next step is . . . because I am up and down all night due to Crohn's, and the hobbling is getting worse.

I hope you find a lightweight and cool solution . . . 'cuz I am right behind you looking for solutions. :hug:

Yes the bedding can help.

I have one of those big body buddy pillows. I don't use top sheets or blankets at all (this was a female menopausal thing at first to avoid sweating).
But I learned quickly that a comforter, --a thin one for spring/fall, and a thicker one--synthetic since I am allergic to feathers...works very well. It traps air around your body and feet so there is virtually little weight on your feet. (no sweating on the body either and you stay pretty warm.) I put the body buddy pillow along one side of my body toward the middle and sometimes under my knees. Over the night it gets kicked around, but it keeps whatever comforter is there off my toes. If you take a shower often you don't need to clean everything that often I have found , and if you wear PJs or the equiv to bed , ditto the same. Buying one that is easily washable is best.

In cold weather I wear leg warmers but not socks. I can't stand socks anymore. The leg warmers warm the blood so your feet don't get cold if you stick them out over the night. It has taken me years to get it down the way I have it now. But it works for me.

AFO question.... I saw that you said you wear your AFOs sometimes at night. I have had bilateral AFOs for a few months now. I wore one on my right foot for several years. I have RSD in both feet, have had multiple stress fractures, and have severe pain in my feet. Now have neuropathy also. But had the AFOs for both feet for almost a year. They go from the base of my toes up to my knees.

Do you find the AFOs difficult to walk in? I am always loosing my balance. Because of the RSD in my upper body, shoulders and arms, I cannot push down, so cannot use a cane, or walker or crutch. I use a service dog, and hold her harness handle. But, now with the neuropathy, holding her harness handle is not as easy as it used to be.

Just wondering if it is me, or if anyone else also has a problem walking in AFOs. I like to wear mine to bed, but when I have to get up in the night they are so slippery, I am afraid of falling.

My AFOs also go almost up to my knees, they can make walking difficult if I dont have something to hold onto such as a walker or cane or crutches because they keey my ankles immobile and if I get knocked back they pick up my feet and make it easy to fall backwards. You might try slipping a sock over the AFO, the bottoms of mine have a lace up bottom made of leather that wraps around the foot so they are not really slippery.

Thanks... I wondered if it was me or the "nature of the beast." Mine are hard plastic. They look sort of like this one but without the movable ankle.
http://www.gillettechildrens.org/def...PID=1.17.2.1.1
They do help with pain, but they are not easy to use.

Thanks... what you said helps a lot. I have not talked with anyone else who has used them. I tried one type that was leather, called an Arizona brace that laced up, went mid calf, but didn't give enough support to take away pain.

I think I need to find a better pair of slippers that I can wear with these so I can slip them on over them when I need to get out of bed. I have been using "scuff" type slippers, but the braces come out of them to easily, causing a tripping issue.

Mine are the Arizona type but the extended version that comes up quite high, a pain to put on in the morning.

I tried putting a pillow at the end of my bed for my feet to rest against and keep them from tipping. Didnt work very well, but Ill experiment. My Ankles and feet are starting to look really gaunt and bony. Hopefully continuing swimming through the year will help with this, but who knows.