Ugly Boot

I now use this blue one:

The SoftPro AFO is a transition boot and gait trainer.
There is a bed only version without the foot pad.

From Google, a CONTRACTURE is "a condition of shortening and hardening of muscles, tendons, or other tissue, often leading to deformity and rigidity of joints.

AFO stands for Ankle-Foot Orthotic. They are braces and train positioning of the foot and ankle, just like braces for the teeth keep the teeth straight.

I "HAD" a contracture of my ankle. That's unusual, "had." It's gone. I thought that they don't go away. I asked a PT. It has happened, so it wasn't impossible that they should disappear. I had started wearing these big ugly boots cuz they are more comfortable than the plastic AFO. I wore it much longer.

I had a plastic AFO made here in town a few years ago. My goal was to keep it on 2 hours straight. I usually had it on an hour and a half. Then it started hurting and I'd take it off. I keep the ugly boot on all day.

I took one apart for washing. It's just a plastic AFO with tons of cushy covering on it. No wonder why I could keep it on so long. It's padded for comfort.

These things are made for non-weight bearing. I had a night splint, a big, ugly boot for sleeping. That means you can't stand on them. I could keep that night splint on all night and it didn't wake me. I was learning to stand and walk again, though, and had to stand on my foot. I made it my quest to find a boot that could take standing. I found the blue one pictured above. It is also called a trainer.

My foot still turns in, but half of what it was doing. That's major improvement. The contracture was because my ankle fully turned in and then turned up. It froze. It formed a bump. The bump is gone and my foot isn't frozen anymore.

I can now work on walking. I don't think it could be done without the foot.

I have a white boot here in the picture below. I don't wear this anymore because it was two pieces.