Assistive Devices

General General CMT Discussion
1

I was diagnosed with CMT about a year ago. My neurologist prescribed AFOs. I can't wear them, they are too painful.

I am controlling my foot droop by wearing boots. It works but I wish I could wear regular walking shoes instead of heavy boots sometimes. Especially when I'm sitting around the pool. I feel self conscious sitting there in swimming trunks and work boots. And, because of the time to take them off and put them back on, I usually don't get in the water.

I saw a solution at X-Strap. It is an ankle cuff with adjustable laces that connect to the 1st eyelets of your shoes and connect to the cuff with Velcro. It looks like it will do what I need and is almost invisible in use.

Is anyone familiar with this product? I'd like to try it but I'm on a fixed income. I still haven't recovered from paying around $350 for AFOs I can't freakin wear. At less than $100/pair, the X-Straps are much more inexpensive than AFOs but every penny counts.

2

My insurance covered some of the cost but around $250 was my co-pay and then I had to buy shoes that would fit over the AFOs, another $100.

The link in my post is for a product called Dorsi-Strap that provides support for foot droop and works with ordinary shoes. I'd prefer trying it over AFOs. I just wondered if anyone had tried the product. It looks like it will work.




3

Dear Steve :

I'm so glad that the shoe device will work out for you. But I know what you mean about having to buy special shoes for them. I remember getting specialy made A.F.O's., and then having to dole out almost two hundred dollars for special shoes, and then getting these silly braces home, only to find that the damn things were so tight and uncomfortable. You know where the brace ended up ? in the back of my closet, four hundred bucks worth of plastic GARBAGE.

Jayme