Sally compares The Step-Smart Brace for Drop Foot to other AFOs

Video Transcript:

Go ahead and stand up, Sally. Alright, that looks pretty good. How does that feel?

It feels excellent to have a brace on that’s not uncomfortable back here like my other braces, it’s not cool, and the flexibility is beautiful.

So, you said you didn’t have the flexibility with your other designs and…

Oh no, it was locked in one position. Now it’s like I can…

You can do more.

Absolutely, yes, it’s like I’m not even wearing a brace.

Nice!

Really, it’s like I’m not even wearing a brace.

Well, let’s take a look at your other braces again. Let’s just pick each one up and take a look at them. So, you wore this one first.

This was the first one. I wore it for about four years.

Uh huh, and that one there is kind of stiff.

Very stiff. So, then they thought I might need something that would articulate. So, I was given this.

It’s got a plantar flexion stop; I see that.

So, that was the limit of my articulation.

Yeah, so you can’t go into any plantar flexion. It’s very flat on the bottom. Probably hard to wear shoes with that one. Did you have a hard time getting shoes on with that/

I only had one pair of shoes I could wear for like, all the time.

Wow.

Ok, I was wearing orthopedic shoes. I felt like I was 90 years old.

Oh, shoot, haha.

Then you went to a carbon graphite one.

I went to a special pharmacy and the fellow had to special order this 900-hundred-dollar brace and he put it on me and it hurt from the get go. And this here rubbed on my leg. So, that immediately went on the shelf.

I see.

And then they sent me a new brace, and I got this lovely one which was built so high up, it would dig in. Right here it would cause me calluses, we had to shave it down. And all of this, it would just sweat and my skin would get rashes, get cuts, that kind of thing. And to bring the strap around every time was an annoyance. So, I’m liking the fact that this here is like I’m not even wearing anything.

It looks like it fits into your normal shoes too.

It does!

And I can just roll my pant leg down and you never know. With this and with the flexibility, it doesn’t even look like I have a brace on.

Yeah, you’re ready to go!