Frog Update

Right now it is Frog that is going through quite a bit of change.  It seems cyclical where for a while it will be Frog, then Ladybug, then Monkey. 

  Today is going to be a bit of a science lesson.  When you walk, your ankle flexes in many different directions.  Standing straight you ankle to foot to calf ration should be about a 90 degree angle.

When you step forward your front foot bends up so your foot is about a -15 degree while your back foot flexes out allowing your toes to push you forward. 



 

The stages of taking a step

When you don't walk correctly for an extended period of time, you body will adapt to the new way of walking creating muscle memory.   The muscle we are concerned about right now is the achilles tendon. 

 

 

  When you dont walks the way your body is made to walk mechanically, you can cause many issues.  Back pain, knee injury, and poor balance can all be caused by your body not walking in the way it was designed to. 
 
  Frog has been a toe walker since he started walking.  That is 10 plus years of walking on his toes.  When he was 5 we did a series of braces, casting, and surgery called Heel Release in an attempt to allow him the ability to walk on his heels.  We got the results we were hoping for because he gained the ability to walk on his heels however, he didn't gain the mentatlity to stay down on them.  This caused the muscles to shorten again.  He curently can't pull his foot up more than about -15% which is slightly on the toes). 
  Frog's physical therapist has been talking about braces for a while.  The braces help hold the foot at a neutral position which will retrain the muscles to how they need to work.  Upon speaking with the orthotics people, they were uncomfortable going straight to braces.  Braces would cause the knee to be perminently hyperextended while frog walked yet it would only gain about 3 degrees a week in flexability.  Casting causes less hyperextention and can cause a gain of 5 to 7 degrees a week.  
  What does this mean for Frog?  It means over the next month he will be in casts from just under the knee to his toes.  The cast type he has are soft casts so we can take them off at home.  Every week we will take the cast off on Wednesday evening and then Thursday Frog will go in to get new casts applied.  We are hoping by the end of a month we have gained enough of an angle to be able to go into braces.  The braces will be for 6 months to a year and will work more on retraining him how to walk correctly vs attempting to gain more flexability.  What happens if all this doesn't work?  At that poing, Frog will go back in for another Heel Release Surgery and then we still do casts and braces.  Here is to hoping.  Oh and just like Ladybug, Casts don't slow him down at all.