According to Google “Foot drop is when you have difficulty lifting the front part of your foot. This may cause you to drag your foot when you walk. Foot drop, also called drop foot, can be caused by a problem with the muscles, nerves, or anatomy of your foot or leg.” What it means is that you lift your foot to take a step only your toes don’t get the fucking memo, stay down and trip you the fuck up! Especially fun when you throw poor balance and/or vertigo into the mix – an absolute party!! Hence me and “the floor” are such well acquainted friends 😉

Mine was first identified around 2020 and I was advised to buy a walking stick to help reduce the number of falls I was having before I busted a hip or my neck or whatever. So at the ripe old age of 37 I bought my first walking stick. A lovely little purple and silver number, as modelled below by yours truly while testing out the Odstock Medical FES (Functional electronic Stimulation) device which very cleverly stimulates the muscle that lifts the front of your foot when you take a step triggered by a pressure pad in the heel of your shoe!

I don’t often wear shoes though so I opted to buy a Bioness L100 GO which is a wireless version that uses an internal gyroscope and accelerometer in place of a pressure pad. Super snazzy! I still use this today although I have foot drop in my other foot now too along with extremely weak hip flexors so walking is more shuffling now.

I also upgraded myself to two sticks with the help of my sister entering a competition with Cool Crutches to win a pair of bespoke sticks! They are infinitely more comfortable to use than any other stick I’ve tried. Walking is still total shit but I’m safer and haven’t fallen for a long time so that’s a win. They are also a fab conversation starter as they have pics of my fur babies on 🥰 only one of which remains sadly but they are still fab! I just have to invest in their Stick Safe accessory so they don’t constantly bloody fall over doing both mine and my husbands heads in 🙄

I have since invested in a wheelchair too, which affords me a huge amount of freedom to do things that require me to walk more than about 5m – like food shopping (hold me back people, the excitement is just too much!) but also I can go on holiday, days out with friends/family… you get the idea. It’s just freedom.

So yeah, these mobility “aids” do aid me in having some semblance of a life. Do I want them? Absolutely fucking not but I need them and at least my sticks are gorgeous!