Author Topic: Drop foot  (Read 2017 times)

bikemental

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Drop foot
« on: March 25, 2019, 12:19:46 pm »
Has anyone, other than me,  ever attempted to learn ice skating with drop foot?
I lost muscle in my right lower leg in a motorcycle accident which means I can't flex my right foot upwards.
The effect is that I tend to hit the ice with my toe pick on right boot which makes skating rather tricky :-)

Just wondering if anyone else has faced similar problems and if so did you find a solution?
At the moment I'm thinking I should try hockey skates or remove the large toe pick on my right boot.

CurvyIceSlider

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Re: Drop foot
« Reply #1 on: April 19, 2019, 12:48:31 pm »
Hi Bikermetal, I just found your post! It is possible to skate with drop foot. A friend at my rink faced a similar problem and used some form of bungee to hold the foot up. I'll point out your post to him in the hope he can give more details.

Interestingly, he recovered nerve connection and muscle function against Doc's expectation. I don't know if the cause of his drop foot is the same as yours but he credits skating with having done that.  I hope it works out for you too. :)


physichull

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Re: Drop foot
« Reply #2 on: April 20, 2019, 05:09:20 pm »
I had a bad cycling accident last year (broke my jaw amongst other things) and in doing so sustained nerve damage to my right foot that resulted in drop foot and I couldn't turn my right foot toes upwards or walk on my heels.

I don't know how permanent your drop foot is, and can't comment on how it affects skating, but my movement and control came back after some physio. In particular stretching and flossing sort of exercises to get the nerves moving and flexing and over 6 months or so. It took ages but improved in the end and I lost aome muscle mass in my lower right leg. I might be teaching you to suck eggs here, if so I apologise, but physio may help?
« Last Edit: April 20, 2019, 05:11:02 pm by physichull »

WednesdayMarch

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Re: Drop foot
« Reply #3 on: April 20, 2019, 10:00:40 pm »
I don't know whether it compares, but I had an accident in 1999 that resulted in an operation to remove and realign my kneecap.  It involved severing the thigh muscle just above the knee, which rendered that leg absolutely useless.  No muscle or nerve connections.  I literally had to move the leg using either my hands or by hooking my other foot underneath the ankle and moving it that way.  And then I had to relearn to walk.  I'm now relearning to skate.  Admittedly, I do have to still be careful as the connection between brain and leg isn't perfect and the leg has no muscle memory, so if I stand up without thinking it through after sitting down for a while, I'll just fall over when I try to walk!  Apparently it's quite entertaining, especially on a slope...

But I can skate and get the leg to do most things now, despite the nerve damage.  I didn't lose muscle, though.  It was still there, just not attached.  Very strange at the time!

Good luck!
Returned to the ice in Sept 2017 after a major leg injury in 1999. Skating in Jackson Elite Pro & MK Vision Syncro. Still scary after all these years.

bikemental

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Re: Drop foot
« Reply #4 on: April 25, 2019, 11:26:17 am »
Thanks everyone for your replies.
I have finally worked out what is going on and why I'm having difficulty.
Basically, when I push off with my left leg and glide on my right, the right foot feels like it's sliding away from me because I dont have the muscle to maintain the tension between lower leg and foot.
I think the bungee idea CurvyIceSLider could be very helpful and I've ordered a piece of apparatus called a FootFlexor from USA. Fundamentally, it's a bungee which pulls foot upwards towards shin.
Fingers crossed it does the trick.



 

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