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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffTreatment for foot drop depends on the underlying cause. If the underlying cause is successfully treated, foot drop may improve or even disappear. If the underlying cause can't be treated, foot drop may be permanent.
Specific treatment for foot drop may include:
- Braces or splints. A brace on your ankle and foot or splint that fits into your shoe can help hold your foot in a normal position.
- Physical therapy. Exercises that strengthen your leg muscles and help you maintain the range of motion in your knee and ankle may improve gait problems associated with drop foot.
- Nerve stimulation. Sometimes stimulating the nerve that lifts the foot when you step (peroneal nerve) improves foot drop, especially in the case of foot drop caused by a stroke. In some cases, a small, battery-operated electrical stimulator is strapped to the leg just below the knee. In other cases, the stimulator is implanted in the leg.
- Surgery. In cases where foot drop is permanent, surgery that fuses ankle or foot bones or that transfers tendons to stronger leg muscles may be helpful to improve walking difficulties.
The goal of any type of treatment for foot drop is to help you maximize your mobility and independence.
- Stewart JD. Foot drop: Where, why and what to do? Practical Neurology. 2008;8:158.
- Tural S, et al. Foot drop: The first sign of an intracranial tumor? Journal of Clinical Neuroscience. 2007;14:490.
- Ropper AH, et al. Disorders of stance and gait. In: Ropper AH, et al. Adams & Victor's Principles of Neurology. 9th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Medical; 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aid=3630849. Accessed Sept. 21, 2009.
- NINDS foot drop information page. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/foot_drop/foot_drop.htm. Accessed Sept. 21, 2009.
- Sackley C, et al. Rehabilitation interventions for foot drop in neuromuscular disease (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2009:CD003908.
