I Wear a Boot to Bed

Mornings are rough enough, cold winter mornings are even worse. Roll out of bed, flop my legs off the side of the bed and let the shaking begin! If I’m lucky a nice cramp will go ripping through my leg as soon as I try to touch my heel to the ground. When a leg cramp occurs my left leg spasms into a straight pole and will either vault me directly into the wall or shoot me back onto the bed, both are great ways to start the day. Either way I have to somehow try to get my heel on the ground and stretch it out.

It seems no matter how much stretching I do throughout the day my leg aches and never seems to settle down. So I brought this up to my PT and she recommended that I get a brace that would keep my foot at ninety degrees as I slept.  When you have foot drop your foot even drops as you sleep and the tendons and muscles in your foot have no weight on them to remain stretched out so when you wake up stretching is a must.

My appointment was made and I headed out to Ann Arbor to the University of Michigan Orthotics and Prosthetics building for a fitting. Really it was quite simple. It went by shoe size and weight so no measuring or molds to be made. I was surprised by the size of the thing...it’s pretty big and bulky to be sleeping in! The doctor showed me how to put it on at night and then showed me the kickstand…really it has a kickstand? It keeps your toes from pointing in or out, I’ve yet to extend the kickstand but it’s a nice feature to have.

For the past two weeks I’ve worn the sleeping boot all but one night and it really seems to make a difference for me. My leg has been less achy and I haven’t had a cramp in the morning since!

Be a warrior today,
Donn

http://www.rcai.com/products/02MP.html

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