Foot Drop
Foot Drop Symptoms, Causes and Treatment
What is Foot Drop?
Foot drop is a type of gait abnormality. The patient’s foot “drops,” meaning they have difficulty lifting their toes while they walk. This causes them to drag or scuffle the foot.
Some patients raise the thigh higher than normal to avoid this type of shuffling. The latter is known as a steppage gait.
What Causes Foot Drop?
Foot drop is usually caused by a neurological disorder, although occasionally the cause may be muscular in nature. Diseases that may cause foot drop include:
- Muscular dystrophy
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease)
- Herniated disc
Other common causes of foot drop include stroke and trauma due to injury or as the result of surgery to the knee or hip.
Diagnosing and Treating Foot Drop
To diagnose foot drop, your podiatrist performs a physical exam. Often, the only test needed is to have the patient dorsiflex their foot. Dorsiflexion is simply the act of bending the foot up. Your doctor rates mobility on a score from 0 to 5, with 0 indicating complete paralysis and 5 showing healthy mobility.
Treatment requires determining the underlying cause. Options include:
- Braces
- Electrical nerve stimulation
- Physical therapy
Surgery may be required for some patients.
If you are suffering from foot drop, call (480) 497-3946 today. You may also schedule an appointment via our Zocdoc page.
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