Yesterday Dorothy got her custom AFO hinged. Her doctor and her orthotist decided it was time. It seems that her impaired foot and leg had recovered enough to allow for the hinge to work. With the AFO now more flexible, Dorothy's foot and leg muscles will get more exercise from the flexing and that, in turn, should produce more recovery over time. Here's hoping.

Interestingly the first sign that her foot had recovered came from pain. All of a sudden the foot was trying to do things it had not previously been able to do and when it pressed against the rigid AFO it caused pain. She even got her first foot sore, which I promptly bandaged and had her doctor examine. It seems that when the foot wants to flex and the AFO wants to remain rigidly in place, the foot and its skin lose. Her AFO had been designed to allow for it to be hinged once her foot recovered sufficiently. When the orthotist installed the hinge--while we waited in his clinic--the improvement was instant. No more pain, better gait, the whole works. Of course, it's still early and she has a long way to go but this little step toward normalcy gave Dorothy a powerful morale boost. With luck, she'll continue to recover in weeks and months to come.

I thought some of you who use AFOs or whose loved ones do might want to know about this development and perhaps be encouraged by it. In case you are curious, we have been exercisng Dorothy's leg and foot each morning while she is still in bed and that may have helped with the recovery process. The exercise is simple but consistent. I rotate and flex her ankle and then hold my hand against her foot while she pushes against it from a bent-knee position. I also put an exercise ball behind both of her legs and help her roll it back and forth, bending both knees. At the end of our little routine, I hold my hand above her and she kicks it with her impaired leg. I try to hold it slightly higher with each passing day. The whole morning exercise routine only takes a few minutes but I am convinced that over time it makes a difference.