The CAM walking boots are regularly given to individuals that suffer from diabetic foot ulcers, fractures or tendon injuries as a part of a treatment regime. Which is a good thing, but wearing a CAM boot brings with it a certain level of walking boot discomfort. This article seeks to give you a bit of general information that can help you to uncover some way of eliminating some typical walking boot discomforts. You can surely speak to your healthcare professional about some of these ideas.
Walking boot discomfort is primarily as a result of the misalignment of the ankle, knees, hips and lower back brought about from the fact that the walking boot causes one side of your hip to be higher than the other because of the extra padding at the bottom designed to absorb shock impact from walking. Furthermore, the cast prevents your foot from being able to breathe freely.
What is a walking boot?
The CAM of the CAM walking boot stands for controlled ankle movement and forms a big part of the treatment plans for the respective injuries. The CAM walking boot helps to control the ankle movement of the injured leg. It is a great device that securely holds the ankle in place during the healing process.
During the process holding the ankle region together and controlling the ankle movement, they can wreak havoc on the rest of your body and brings a certain level of walking boot discomfort.
Getting the benefit of the walking boot also brings with it a level of discomfort but there are techniques to reduce the level of walking boot discomfort which we will explore in this article.
Let’s get started.
Eliminating Walking Boot Discomfort is the focus of this article and as a result of some simple research, a number of strategies to relieve general discomforts were uncovered.
Please remember that the information provided in this article is for information purposes only and that you should always listen to your healthcare professional. They have all the skills and experience necessary to guide you to total recovery.
“Even-up” to Back, Knee and Hip soreness
This one idea will eliminate most of the discomfort that you experienced as part of wearing the walking boot. Most of the problems experienced are as a result of misalignment of the body caused by the wearing of the walking boot. Therefore the solution is to realign your body. You can easily solve this problem by wearing a trainer, shoe, sneakers, heel lifts or evenup products that will elevate your good leg until it is in balance with the injured leg, basically, rebalance your hips. By doing this one thing most of your problems will disappear.
These products work because in wearing the walking boot one side of your body becomes more elevated than the other leading to an imbalance in your gait (walking pattern). The walking boots have a very high surface because it is needed to absorb the excessive shock impact from each step that you take as you walk. The walker boot could not be lowered as the technology is needed to protect your foot from reinjury.
Even up using a wedge
The wedge or adjustable heel lift is a quick fix to the problem. How does it work? Insert the wedge in the boot (the boot that is on the good foot) and include as much as possible until you find a comfortable height. The solution is to ensure that both legs are at the same height. This will certainly ensure that both ankle, knees and hips are aligned once again.
If you do not have a shoe with high enough heel, the simple solution is to buy an adjustable heel lift for the good leg so that both the good leg and the injured leg would be balanced. I found this lovely Warwick Enterprise Adjustable heel lift of amazon that would work perfectly and suit any budget. You can add as many as you like until the required height is achieved.
Even-up Using a Shoe Balancer
An alternative to using the heel lift is to purchase and use one of the even-up product. This product is attached to the bottom of your regular shoe to elevate you to the height required to match the height of the walker boot. The original EVENup shoe balancer is a good choice and at a great price on Amazon. It is a lovely product that will give you a more symmetric gait and likely decreasing the overall chance of knee, hip and back pain.
Using Arch Support to Stabilize the Foot
Inside the walker boot is flat and do not offer much support for your instep. It becomes a real problem when you have to walk for any period of time because it does not follow the natural curviture of your instep. Inside the walker boot is a bit unpleasant, let us just say uncomfortable especially if you are flat footted. Solving this problem will bring massive foot relief.
Arch suport will realign the bones in your foot to the natural curviture ensuring that your foot muscles get rest. By inserting an arch support inside the boot before you put it on will stabilise the foot and promote a speedy recovery to the injury, reduce foot pain and generally may your foot feel relaxed.
You can insert an arch support inside your boot to stabilize the foot in order to promote speedy healing of the injury and a reduction in foot pain. What works best? A full-length semi-rigid orthotic adjustable arch support is a good choice because it offers the right balance of cushion with structural support.
For most people, the FootChair Orthotic with Adjustable Arch Support will work perfectly. It provides the right level of support. Most importantly if you are a budget-conscious person, the relatively low cost is a god sent and it can be sourced on Amazon. It is adjustable arch support that gives maximum support with comfort.
Care for the foot while wearing a walking boot.
The skin is very delicate while wearing the boot. Wearing a sock is a good way to protect your delicate skin.
Which socks to wear under the walking boot? Your skin is a delicate organ and you have to protect it by using a good quality sock linker within the walker boot. The Aircast Sock Liner is a good option for air cast walker brace, it keeps moisture from your skin, it goes up to your knee and protects your skin when you are wearing a boot.
The Air Sock liner, Aircast AirSelect Walker Brace and the EVENup typically go together and most people purchase them together. They are all available on Amazon for purchase.
Keeping Your Foot Dry in a Waking Boot from outside moisture?
We leave the house sometimes to have a little walk to get some fresh air. We all need a bit of fresh air and time to clear our head. As luck would have it rain pour at a time least expected. Not all the time you are permitted to remove the walking boot. If the doctor instructed you not to remove it, you will have to shower with the boot intact. Both of these scenarios occur but there are simple solutions or workaround that would be satisfactory.
You need to try as much as possible to keep your foot dry but what if moisture enters the walker boot. When moisture collects in the boot it causes skin irritation and itching which increases significantly the chance of irritation.
If you are instructed to keep your boot on at all times even while showering, a good solution is to wear the Vive Leg Cast Cover could be an awesome option. What if it rains? You can wear the My Recovers Brace Cover, it is a walking Boot Weather Cover that will keep your feet dry in any weather.
A good walker boot cover is open at the bottom to allow you to work properly without slipping and still covers the top to allow maximum protection from the rain, keeping your foot nice and dry. While looking for a boot cover get one that can protect the walking boot from rain, snow and sand. The fabric must be breathable, waterproof and easy to clean.
A Cane Can Help When Used Correctly
Who wants to be walking down the road using a cane? In most cases no one, net even myself. Using a cane or a crutch is not what most people want to hear. If wearing an elevated shoe on the non-affected foot isn’t enough because you are still limping, a crutch or cane could help to release some of the pressure off your feet. Remember if you do use a walking aide then it goes in the opposite hand of the injured leg. Most people make the mistake of including it in the same hand as the injury. Using a cane in the opposite hand can reduce 30 – 40% of the force you are putting on the injured side, dramatically reducing the amount of pain felt and make it much easier for you to walk around comfortably.
During the first week or so of an injury, when it is at it’s most painful, a cane can be very helpful. Here is the inexpensive Vive Walking Cane that is recommended by a number of doctors.
How to use the cane properly?
The cane or walking stick should be used in the opposite hand as your injury
Move your cane forward at the same time as you step with the injured foot.
Both the walker boot and the cane should be hitting the ground at the same time.
Final thoughts on walking boot discomfort
Having to wear a walking boot does not put a smile on anyone’s face. We all have to face difficult challenges sometimes. It shows our strength of courage to be faced with difficulty and overcome. There are a number of tools that can be used to make your life much easier, much of which is detailed within this article. Remember that nothing in the article should be considered as advice, I am not qualified for that, speak to your health care team.
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