Foot Drop

  Staff        July 7, 2013

A foot drop occurs when the muscles on the front of the leg are paralyzed or extremely weak. This means that they can not lift up (or dorsiflex) the foot and it wants to drag on the ground. The most common cause of this condition is a neurological problem in which the nerve supply to the muscle is damaged. To walk, those with this condition need what is called a steppage gait with a very high knee lift. There is no cure for this, but advances in nerve surgery and stem cell therapy is promising for the future. Almost all those with this a drop foot, need some sort of orthotic support to prevent the foot from plantarflexing.