Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system. MS affects about 2.5 million people worldwide. MS primarily affects the body's balance and coordination. It occurs when myelin sheaths that encase and protect the nerve cells of the brain and spinal cord, are attacked by the body's own immune system. This occurrence results in areas that become damaged and are then incapable of transmitting nerve impulses. As a result certain messages sent by the brain, like to lift the foot, do not get received and the foot does not lift, this is known as "foot drop".
Foot Drop
The lack of ability to lift up the front of the foot is known as foot drop. Foot drop results in a person dragging their toes across the ground as they walk, which can cause them to trip or even fall. Foot drop can affect just one foot or possibly even both feet. Foot drop becomes more noticeable when a person is hot and fatigued because it requires a lot of energy to swing the foot. There are exercises that can be done for the foot to help build up the muscles and also keep the joints flexible and if done regularly it has been proven effective in helping foot drop symptoms. Other options for foot drop are surgery, and orthotics such as shoe inserts or light weight ankle and foot braces.
Exercises
Physical therapy can be tremendously beneficial, and helpful in overcoming foot drop. A physical therapy exercise that can be done by people MS at home is to stand up shoulder width apart and take a hold of a back of a chair. Then, lift up on your toes and hold for 10 seconds, relax the toes back down to regular standing position. After that you will lift your toes up once again so that you are now balancing on the balls of your heels, and hold for ten seconds. Do ten repetitions of this exercise. Another exercise is to walk 20 steps on your toes you can rely on furniture to help balance you. Then, walk 20 steps on your heels. An additional exercise involves holding chair and then swaying backward and forward from heel to toes; do this at least 20 times. To see noticeable improvement for foot drop symptoms, these exercises should be done everyday ten times a day.
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