Leg drop and foot drop, different MS disabilities
I just like the picture and colours
Leg drop is an MS disability that makes my life awfully difficult. Do not confuse it with foot drop. These are two very different MS disabilities and I suffer from both. Foot drop and leg drop are inevitably mentioned in the same sentence as if they are the same problem and can be resolved the same way, Just do a Google search on leg drop and you will see what I mean.
What is the difference
Let me explain. Foot drop affects the ankle and is a relatively common MS disability. The front part of the foot drops at the ankle so the toes will drag along the ground when walking. I now use an FES (functional electrical stimulation) to help my walking, it holds the front of my foot far enough off the ground so I can walk and it reduce the chances of doing a face-plant
Leg drop is a less common MS disability, I cannot lift my leg off the ground. Instead I must hoick it up my using my hip, to lift the leg of the ground. Now I must use both an FES and a Musmate to achieve this simple action.
What are an FES and Musmate
An FES is a device that sends a small electrical impulse directly to a muscle through an electrode on the skin and therefore helps it to contract. The message to lift the ankle is sent from the brain and along the spinal cord. MS damages these nerves and it loses efficiency to transmit a good electrical message. When it arrives at the nerve it is very weak and this is where an FES is required. I have a dual channel FES the second channel stimulates a quadriceps muscle that helps to lift the leg off the ground
A Musmate is a physical device that uses a piece of elastic to lift the leg. The elastic is connected between the shoe and a shoulder strap that reaches to the waist. The elastic strap helps to lift entire the leg when I walk and it weighs about 20% of a persons body weight. In my case this will be about 12 Kg or 26.4 lb. The elastic is stretched by walking to lift the leg.
My wife found the Musmate quite by chance on the internet in 2007 and it made walking much safer. My FES is supplied by the mobility clinic in Queen Square London and I started to use one in 2014 and I could now pack the Musmate away. In 2018 I was sponsored to walk for hour and the distance covered was a mile. I managed to raise over £6000 for the local MS Therapy centre.
Leg drop and smouldering MS
This type of SPMS is like a smouldering fire and I’ve got it in trumps. My MS health deteriorates very slowly, diagnosis of smouldering MS in 2022. In late 2023 the FES on its own could no longer lift my foot or my leg when I walked. This problem only occurr in s evening when my muscles were tired. Then I remembered my Musmate and that solved the problem of walking. My balance continues to get worse and now I definitely need both mobility aids.
Leg drop and foot drop
As my mobility has deteriorated so my sense of balance has got worse as well. Falls happen too often and standing up again is getting harder and harder. It is usually a team effort, MrsB has to help lift me up by holding the belt of my jeans. I cannot stand on my feet for more than ten or fifteen minutes, whether or not I am walking,. Even standing up from a chair requires concentration and care and my rollator must be within reaching range.
I have digressed
I hope you get an idea of how MS is affecting my mobility and walking and you understand the difference between foot drop and leg drop. The disease creeps forward very slowly but I am grateful that I can still get to my feet and walk. I do now need to use both a Musmate and FES to solve the foot drop and leg drop problems. I just hope that a wheelchair will not become necessary too soon.
Image by [email protected] from Pixabay
June 2025
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Associated articles
FES (Functional Electrical Stimulation)
MuSmate a walking aid for foot drop
Dear Patrick, I too use FES for foot drop and leg drop because of my Transverse Myelitis.
My wife read about a version of Musmate and me, being a frustrated inventor decided to take some old car seat belts and some bungee straps and make my own device. When I tested it my wife was out shopping and when she returned she was surprised to have to rescue me from the loft!
( Not an exactly true story but I thought it would make you laugh.) Kind Regards, Peter.
Hello Peter,
Thanks for the story, yes it did bring a wry smile to my face.
Talk soon
Thank you for this helpful info. I have forwarded on to a friend who could use it.
Hello SoCalAllison,
I’m really pleased that the article could be useful. I know I talk about my MS but other people have similar problems and it is not easy to find a site that shares information.
talk soon