Any AB's, how do you train yourself to not bare alot of weight on the crutches?

[bruce]

Jodie Lynn, it's helpful to learn more about your injury and how you walk. With respect to bracing, in my experience there are a number of things to think about. The first is protecting your joints, knees, for example, can take a beating from the neurological deficits we suffer from. Then there's an aopproach that tries to compensate for these deficits. This can be helpful, or it can impede recovery because the muscles that should be getting stronger can't because a brace is compensating for its weakness. However, if you can't lock your knee when you weight it, and you want to walk, a brace can help. You also must exercise without the brace to strengthen your quads or whatever other muscles are weak.

Regarding your brace, a custom fit is best. You should find a good orthotist who has a lot of experience working with people with neurological deficits who walk. The orthotist must understand that people with spinal cord injuries can recover function even long after their injuries. You might find an off-the-shelf brace that helps you, but it is unlikely to be the best solution for you. Your doctor talking about you walking better, even without crutches, is a good sign that he understands that you are likely to continue to experience significant recovery.

[bruce]

Originally Posted by mr_coffee

...
Ortho/Bruce
HEre is a video of me i took a week ago so you can get a feet for what i'm doing with my KAFO do you think that belt would help me Ortho?
Also Bruce, do you think i could use poles like you said with my gait at the moment?

Cory, your video is helpful. It's kinda dark so I can't see everything I might otherwise. Also some footage from the side would be nice too.

I see you vaulting and pushing your body up with your arms to get your leg to swing through. I can't tell exactly what is happening with your foot at that point, but I suspect you have to do this to compensate for both your lack of dorsiflexion and knee flexion. If you use poles, it will be harder to do that, which would be a good thing. I would hope your new brace will help you flex your knee and ankle so you don't have to vault.

You could try some ske poles. Use them on, say, a gravel driveway because the tips will slip easily on hard surfaces. You can get an idea of hom trekking poles might work.

You are also a good candidate for some intensive locomotor training .. I guess I recall you have been in an Autoambulator .. is that right? How has that worked for you?

[mr_coffee]

Bruce,

I'll get more videos with side views for you over break and my brace should be coming in over break as well. I'll see if i can find some poles, I would end up snapping the poles i think if I tired to walk with that same gait pattern as I do with the forearm crutches

Yes i was in the autoambulator and it wasn't a good expereince. The reason being is if I let the machine do everything for me it would work fine (most of the time). But as soon as I tried to walk with it the machine would shut off, saying left foot broke gait or right foot broke gait even with both ankles wrapped.

So I asked a normal person to get on the autoambulator and try it and see if it also does it. Every single time the person tried to walk with the machine it would also shut off.

So i was very dissapointed in how the machine worked at health south in pleasant gap. But the locomat seems like a better machine. Did you notice any types of those problems I noted abovec with the locomat?

[patd]

Thanks again for showing us your video. I'm trying to also learn about the afo/kafo and start doing the same! Pat

[graybeard]

Cory, your walking is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! Man, you have gotten quite good with your balance and speed. I am gonna be studying this video and your other one made earlier this year, and try to pick out some pointers for me to work on. Thank you for taking the time to make these videos......John

[mr_coffee]

No problem guys, i ended up breaking my digital cammera from a 2 foot fall hah, so it should be fixed once I get my new brace and my gait should improve without the foot dragging as much.