Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Causes Foot Drop?PT AssessmentSample ExercisesOther Modalities
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What Causes Foot Drop?
PT Assessment
Sample Exercises
Other Modalities
With drop foot, or difficulty lifting the front of your foot, physical therapy exercises can focus on different muscle groups in the lower leg and back. Balance exercises are also used to treat the condition.
The main goal of physical therapy for foot drop is to improvefunctional mobilityrelated to walking. This can ensure that you are able to get around safely and may lower your risk of falling.
Drop foot occurs when an injury or illness impairs functioning of the muscle in the front of your shin, the anterior tibialis. Also known as foot drop or dropsy foot, its telltale sign is catching your toes on the ground as you walk.
This article discusses the causes of foot drop and how it’s diagnosed. It also details how exercises for foot drop can help to improve your gait and other treatment modalities that can help.
Verywell / Gary Ferster
Common causes of foot drop that may prompt your need for related exercises include, but are not limited to:
Physical Therapy Assessment for Foot Drop
During your initial physical therapy session, your therapist will ask you questions about the nature of your injury, how your foot drop affects your life, and how long it has been present.
Various tests and measures may be taken during your initial appointment, such as:
Proprioception: An Overview
Foot Drop Exercise Examples
There are many different exercises for foot drop. Depending on your unique case, a therapist could prescribe the following:
Some approaches that can help even though they’re not aimed at your lower leg inlcude:
Complementary Modalities
During your physical therapy sessions, your therapist may use simple devices to help improve your ability to lift your foot while walking.
These may include:
Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) may be used to help improve the way your muscle contracts and lifts your foot. Thistype of electrical stimulationartificially contracts your muscle to help re-educate it to contract properly.
Ankle exercises are typically performed during and after NMES treatments.
Your physical therapist can assess you during rehabilitation and evaluate your progress. Sometimes, improvement with foot drop is slow, so stick with it.
SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.National Institutes of Health. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.Foot Drop Information Page.Wiszomirska I, Błażkiewicz M, Kaczmarczyk K, Brzuszkiewicz-kuźmicka G, Wit A.Effect of Drop Foot on Spatiotemporal, Kinematic, and Kinetic Parameters during Gait.Appl Bionics Biomech. 2017;2017:3595461. doi:10.1155/2017/3595461
Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.National Institutes of Health. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.Foot Drop Information Page.Wiszomirska I, Błażkiewicz M, Kaczmarczyk K, Brzuszkiewicz-kuźmicka G, Wit A.Effect of Drop Foot on Spatiotemporal, Kinematic, and Kinetic Parameters during Gait.Appl Bionics Biomech. 2017;2017:3595461. doi:10.1155/2017/3595461
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
National Institutes of Health. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.Foot Drop Information Page.Wiszomirska I, Błażkiewicz M, Kaczmarczyk K, Brzuszkiewicz-kuźmicka G, Wit A.Effect of Drop Foot on Spatiotemporal, Kinematic, and Kinetic Parameters during Gait.Appl Bionics Biomech. 2017;2017:3595461. doi:10.1155/2017/3595461
National Institutes of Health. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.Foot Drop Information Page.
Wiszomirska I, Błażkiewicz M, Kaczmarczyk K, Brzuszkiewicz-kuźmicka G, Wit A.Effect of Drop Foot on Spatiotemporal, Kinematic, and Kinetic Parameters during Gait.Appl Bionics Biomech. 2017;2017:3595461. doi:10.1155/2017/3595461
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