3 Beginner Exercises for Lower Extremity Amputees

Posted on: February 23rd, 2016 by FloydBrace Blogger

new amputee exercises

Going through an amputation is a traumatic experience.  It is painful, physically and emotionally.  Every amputee will tell you that you’ll have good days and bad days, but they’ll also tell you that no matter what, you need to keep moving forward.  At Floyd Brace, we want to help you move forward starting today with stretching, balancing and strengthening exercises for new lower extremity amputees!

Stretching

Stretching your joints after an amputation is extremely important.  Bending and extending your joints for as little as 20 minutes each day with each joint will increase flexibility and decrease pain.

  • Hips – To stretch your hips, you must lie on your stomach for 20 minutes at least two times per day. You can increase the stretch by adding pillows under your chest.
  • Knees – If you have a below knee amputation, remember to work your knees daily for full flexibility. To stretch your knees, simply extend your knee up on a chair for 20 minutes at least two times per day.

Balancing

Developing good balance is vital to a new amputee.  Your body will be balanced differently and you will need to practice daily to be successful.

  • Reaching – To relearn your body’s balance, you must set up objects to reach for while you are kneeling, standing on your good leg and standing on your prosthesis. Continue to increase the challenge to see how far you can push yourself.

Strengthening

Finally, new amputees will need to regain strength, especially in their stomach.  An important tip for this exercise is to remove your prosthesis before you begin or you may injure yourself.

  • Sit-ups – To strengthen your stomach, we recommend sit-up daily. As a new amputee, you will need to ask a partner to hold down your residual limb or place a weight on it to stabilize yourself.

With these simple stretching, balancing and strengthening exercises, you will be well on your way to a more active lifestyle in no time.  We hope you continue to push yourself and remain an active, healthy amputee.  However, you must watch for pain, redness, swelling or sores that may form, and contact your prosthetist if this occurs.

If you have any questions about how to be more active as an amputee, please don’t hesitate to contact us today!

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Finding the Shoe that Fit Your Child’s Orthotics Braces

Posted on: February 23rd, 2016 by FloydBrace Blogger

kids orthotics shoes

Parents, prepare yourselves – your relationship with your child’s custom orthotics can be one of love and hate. While both you and your orthotist are thrilled that your child has taken their first amazing steps because of the strength and stability provided by these custom orthotics, they may fit with very few colorful, light-up, stylish children’s shoe on the shelf.

As parents, we all know the struggle of getting shoes on our children without the added stress of a custom orthotic that affects the fit of the shoe. To help make a perfect marriage between your child’s shoe and their custom orthotic, here are some tips to keep in mind during your next trip to the shoe store.

  1. Wide Toe Box

Look for a wide toe box to fit the added width of the orthotic.  Brands that are designed with a wider, boxy feel include Keen and New Balance.

  1. Removable Insole

We will also need to take out the insole to add space for the orthotic.  Keeping this in mind, look for a shoe that has an easy-to-remove insole, but keep the insole for added padding in the front of the shoe.

  1. NO Low Profile

Look for shoes that come up to the ankle bone.  This will help keep the orthotic in place.

  1. Wide Opening

Keep an eye out for shoes with a wide opening through the tongue to make it very easy to slip the shoe on over the orthotic.  It is also helpful when the tongue space is designed as parallel lines and not in a “V” shape.

  1. Good Laces or Straps

Your child will need strong Velcro straps or laces to secure the shoe snuggly over the orthotic.  This will also keep your child’s foot secure and stable.

We hope these five simple tips will help you find a shoe that your child will love, and that will also work perfectly with their orthotic.  If you have any questions about the fit of your child’s orthotic or how to purchase shoes or socks that will enhance the effectiveness of the orthotic, give us a call today!

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Know the Difference Between Custom Shoe Inserts and Over-the-Counter Shoe Inserts

Posted on: January 27th, 2016 by FloydBrace Blogger

custom shoe inserts

Discreet and removable, a shoe insert is slipped into a shoe to offer added support to the heel, arch, and musculature of the foot, helping alieve pain from the ground up. Some options can be purchased from drug stores without a physician’s assistance, while others require much more than a trip to the corner store to secure. What gives?

Below, the Floyd Brace Company team breaks down key facts and differences between over-the-counter and custom shoe inserts:

Over-the-Counter Shoe Inserts

  1. Support and cushioning devices: Generic shoe inserts aim to temporarily ease minor foot and back pain. Some OTC inserts are made with gels and padded cushions, while others sport a hard plastic polymer, which provides more structure than their soft-material counterparts. Ultimately, they alieve but can’t properly fix the source of the pain.
  2. Available without a prescription: Because OTC shoe inserts are one-size-fits-all solutions, they don’t require a doctor’s signature. A pharmacist might offer insight if you’re deciding between different brands or designs, but their advice is generalized and given without complete understanding of your specific problem.
  3. Disposable, short-term solution: The average OTC shoe inserts lasts between six to twelve months, at which time materials have worn down and require a replacement. If an insert was improperly worn or targeted the wrong area, a new type of shoe insert may be needed to fix a problem created by the original device. Whether selected to provide arch support or back pain relief, generic shoe inserts aren’t designed to fix the core issue permanently but temporarily address the pain.

Custom Shoe Inserts

  1. Correct biomechanical imbalances: Heel pain, foot ulcers, hammertoes, and bunions are the result of faulty foot mechanics. Custom shoe inserts are designed to not just temporarily alleviate pain caused by the issues, but correct it by readjusting and redirecting bone and muscle placement and function.
  2. Designed for your feet only: Although some OTC shoe inserts market themselves as custom fit, they’re far from it. A true custom insert is made from a plastic mold formed to your foot by a trained professional, who has evaluated your gait and created a true-to-you prescription for an orthotic solution made of high-quality materials. Certain OTC options enable you to heat them to mold them to your feet, but they do not offer the same level of customization.
  3. Built to last: When handled properly, custom shoe inserts last five to seven years on average. Made with high-quality materials and professionally engineered, they hold up to treat your symptoms.

Though convenient, purchasing an OTC shoe inserts without a professional’s assistance may cause more harm in the long-run. Set up an appointment with one of the experts at Floyd Brace Company, who’ll evaluate and assist your next step towards a solution.

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Get Sleep Better NOW As an Amputee

Posted on: January 27th, 2016 by FloydBrace Blogger

better sleep amputees

In addition to warding off dark circles and a drained complexion, a full night of uninterrupted sleep can prevent diabetes, sharpen memory, boost mood, and reduce chronic pain. If you’re dreaming of a solid, deep, wonderful sleep but prosthetic-related pain is blocking you, Floyd Brace Company can help make those dreams a reality with these simple fixes:

  1. Stretch daily: Promoting blood flow, easing tension, and preventing injury, stretching keeps your muscles flexible and your body working holistically. Stretching before bedtime has the added benefit of centering and slowing your breathing to relax both body and mind before you hit the hay, paving the way to a smoother sleep. Additionally, it can align your joints to make lying down more comfortable.
  2. Shower before bed: A hot shower might wake you up in the morning, but it also causes swelling in your limb that creates an uncomfortable, improper fit with your prosthesis afterwards. Bathing before bedtime not only helps your prosthesis fit when you wake up, it can soothe and relax limbs from a long day of use and help you slip into sleep more quickly.
  3. Be careful with pillows: Below-knee amputees should never sleep with a pillow, blanket, or other cushioned support under the knee. This can cause a contracture, inhibiting your ability to straighten your knee. For above-knee amputees, limbs resting on pillows misaligns the hip, and support between the legs improperly lengthens the inner thigh and shortens the outer thigh, throwing off walking balance. Train your body to find comfort lying in more evenly supported positions.
  4. Take preventative steps: If your limb experiences painful cramps in the middle of the night, treat it as you would any other muscle cramp. Drinking water and eating foods high in potassium throughout the day help fuel and relax the agitated muscles, and a gentle five-minute massage of the limb and surrounding muscles before bed can help stimulate the tension. For particularly intense nights of cramps, ibuprofen and a heating pad can help provide relief.
  5. Attach devices bright & early: For limbs adjusting to prosthetic use, attach them in the morning immediately after sitting up. Shifting from a horizontal to vertical position increases blood flow to extremities, creating swelling in newer residual limbs. Ensure a comfortable and proper fit by keeping your legs or arms from dangling over the side of your bed and limiting the time you’re sitting up and moving before attaching the prosthetic.

Total body wellness is a 24/7 process. If you have questions about achieving greater nighttime comfort, give us a call today.

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5 Myths of a Diabetes-friendly Diet

Posted on: January 4th, 2016 by FloydBrace Blogger

diabetic diet

A balanced diet is key to healthy living regardless of age, gender, or medical background. For those with diabetes, however, diet is especially critical to maintaining health and weight. Neglecting either can lead to complications like heart disease, cholesterol, or stress on ulcer-prone feet and ankles. At Floyd Brace, we encourage our patients with diabetes to eat healthy – but what does that mean? Below, we’ve debunked some of the myths that make diabetes-friendly diets hard to follow:

Myth: Sugar is a major no-no.

Fact: While it’s true diabetes revolves around maintaining a healthy blood-sugar level, there’s still wiggle room in your diet for a little sugar. The key, like all things, is moderation. It’s also a series of swaps and modifications. If you’re craving that pie for dessert, pass on the bread, rice, or pasta during your meal, or take smaller bites to stretch a smaller piece longer.

Myth: You can’t eat “normal” meals, they must be diabetic-specific.

Fact: A diabetic diet isn’t like a branded weight loss diet that requires food items purchased from a program. Instead, it focuses on healthy, clean eating that’s beneficial for anybody, whether or not they’re keeping tabs on their blood-sugar level. When eaten in moderation, you can still enjoy the same foods with friends and family at restaurants or around the table at home.

Myth: You can adjust your insulin to match whatever you eat.

Fact: If you’re required to take insulin injections, you’ll learn to leverage the amount you use to match the amount and type of food you eat. However, insulin can’t be a cover-all to stabilize your blood-sugar levels following a massive binge. Follow your medications as prescribed by your doctor, who’s already tailored your dosage for your body and diet specifically.

Myth: High-protein diets are best.

Fact: Quite the opposite, actually. An excess of protein (especially animal protein) can lead to insulin resistance. Your diet should include protein alongside fats and carbohydrates, striving for balance across your macronutrients. But, speaking of carbs…

Myth: Carbs should be nearly eliminated.

Fact: Carbohydrates are building blocks to a healthy diet, diabetes notwithstanding. It’s the kind of carbs you’re consuming that matters. Whole grains, fruits, and vegetables carry vitamins, minerals, and fibers essential to good health, and these carbs come from natural sources that your body can break down safely. Foods high in starch require extra attention because they don’t have the same nutrients to offer and typically contain more concentrated forms of sugar. All carbs affect blood sugar levels, but it depends on the type and amount of carb consumed.

For better or worse, your diet shouldn’t stop you from living a full and satisfying life. The experts at Floyd Brace can help you. Give us a call today!

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Americans with Disabilities Act: Know Your Rights

Posted on: January 4th, 2016 by FloydBrace Blogger

Americans with disabilities act

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush broke new ground when he signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The legislation prohibits discrimination and ensures that mainstream opportunities aren’t withheld from citizens with mental or physical disabilities.

As you charge into a new year loaded with new possibilities, make sure you know your rights as an amputee or prosthetic user to receive equal treatment across the board:

Housing

  • Landlords can’t ask about your amputation, prosthetic device, mobility aids, or other medical information. Your information is private and can’t be used against you when deciding to accept your lease.
  • You have equal rights to available units in an apartment. Even as a lower body amputee relying on prosthetics, crutches, or wheelchairs to aid your mobility, your landlord can’t bar you from considering a fourth-floor option because he believes the ground floor option would be easiest for both him and you.
  • Reasonable accommodations to maintain a standard of living – wheelchair-accessible doorways, lowered countertops, etc. – may have to be provided at your landlord’s expense. Additionally, they’ll need to let you make reasonable modifications to your home on your own dime (ex: using drills to affix grab bars in your bathroom) so long as you propose a way you can personally restore the living space to saleable condition for the next tenant.

Employment

  • An employer can’t discriminate based on your amputee status during recruitment, hiring, training, job assigning, promoting, paying, laying off, or any other employment-related activity.
  • If you’re qualified but require reasonable accommodations to perform job-related duties, your employer must provide them. An upper-limb amputation requiring a modified mouse and computer keyboard, for example, would be made at the employer’s expense, not yours.
  • During the hiring process, an employer can’t ask about your prosthetic or require a medical exam unless it’s required of all applicants.

Public Transportation

  • Buses and coaches must meet the Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations to provide access to riders with disabilities. This includes space for a standard wheelchair, a boarding device, and handrails to help you maneuver your prosthetic smoothly through the bus.
  • Taxi drivers can’t legally charge you more to stow your wheelchair or mobility device than they would to stow a piece of luggage. Additionally, they can only refuse to offer you service if their vehicle can’t accommodate your equipment; refusal can’t be based on your amputee status alone.

The ADA sets certain standards nationally, but each state has its own additional laws and protections for amputees. Double check your state’s regulations to ensure you receive equal treatment wherever you are. Contact the experts at Floyd Brace for more advice on what accommodations can help you live the fullest life possible.

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Using S.M.A.R.T. Techniques to Stick to New Year’s Resolutions in 2016

Posted on: November 30th, 2015 by FloydBrace Blogger

new years resolution

Try saying this with a straight face: “I’m going to keep every one of my New Year’s Resolutions.”

Your giggles are warranted. When 1 in 3 resolution makers ditch their promise by the end of January, the idea of sticking to all your goals from start to finish seems a little laughable. When the going gets tough, the tough get neglectful. That’s why Floyd Brace Orthotics and Prosthetics challenges you to pick just one goal from the top of your list and see it through to the end with these S.M.A.R.T. techniques to stay the course:

Specific: Throwing out a flighty “I want to start running this year” will end as quickly as it was decided if you don’t assign a direction. Be clear with yourself.  “I want to run a local 5K in the spring at an 8:30 pace” gives you a target to aim for that goes beyond a hopeful thought.

Measurable: Buckling down to accomplish a long-standing goal feels awesome. Part of that rush comes from gauging your progress, leading to the Big Moment when you accomplish what you set out to do. Identify concrete ways to assess your goal so you know if and when you’ve reached it.

Attainable: Say you want to attend more of your child’s basketball games. After you’ve identified how many is “more”, figure out if it’s even possible. Because of distance, work scheduling, or accessibility, it may be just too far out of reach. Make as much of an effort as you can, but don’t set yourself up for failure with a goal that’s actually impossible to meet.

Realistic: Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. If you want to knit baby blankets for preemies in the NICU, could you knock out 30 in 30 days? Technically, probably, yes. However, how realistic is that goal when you factor in everything else on your plate? Don’t burn yourself out with a goal that pushes the boundaries of reason.

Time-Bound: When life stressors appear, personal goals are the first thing to go. If you’ve given yourself concrete deadlines, however, skipping out on what you set out to do becomes much, much harder. Whether you follow a daily timeline or strive towards a date a few months down the road, a time-bound goal helps keep you on track and moving forward.

Is it easy? No. Is it worth it? Absolutely. Choosing and meeting a goal gives you just a taste of all you’re capable of accomplishing. Let us know if there’s a goal we can help you conquer in 2016.

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What Goes Into Your Custom Shoe Orthotics? Pedorthists Tell-All!

Posted on: November 30th, 2015 by FloydBrace Blogger

custom shoe orthotics

If you nurse painful knees, swollen ankles, or aches in your Achilles, your first line of defense is probably over-the-counter shoe orthotics. But what if the pair you picked up from the drugstore just isn’t cutting it? Custom shoe orthotics may be your next step. At Floyd Brace Orthotics and Prosthetics, we create shoe orthotics tailor-made to your feet and needs. Take a look at the work that goes into each custom pair:

  1. Injury History

The first step to understanding pain is pinpointing the cause. You’ll tell us where, how long, and what type of discomfort you’re experiencing, as well as provide family history and insight on activities that increase pain.

  1. Biomechanical Examination

Based on the information you give, your practitioner will conduct a number of biomechanical exams of your feet and lower limbs. These may involve standing, lying on an examination table, or performing simple motions. This portion provides a look at the motion of your joints and the alignment of bone segments, helping direct attention to foot or leg muscles and tendons that are too tight or too weak.

  1. Gait Analysis

Next, insight from your biomedical exam will guide the gait analysis. During this stage, your practitioner will watch you walk to determine if one leg is shorter than the other or if your feet are pronated (falling inward) or supinated (pushing outwards). In-shoe pressure measurements and running on treadmills filmed by cameras may also be used during this portion of the exam.

  1. Plaster Casting

Requiring skill that comes with experience, your doctor will create a plaster cast of your foot to capture exact contours determined by joint flexibility. A cast may be formed to your foot while it’s in contact with the floor, as you lie in a non-weight bearing position on an examination table, or with a 3-dimensional laser scanner that provides schematics for a plaster cast.

  1. Prescription Writing

Combining information from your history, biomechanical examinations, gait analysis, and 3D cast, your practitioner will order a prescription orthotic tailored to your exact needs. It will dictate the orthotic’s flexibility, width, depth of heel cup, and length to best fit your foot and function.

Our experts at Floyd Brace Orthotics and Prosthetics are backed by credentials, experience, and ongoing training to provide you with the best in orthotic care. Schedule a consultation to see if custom shoe orthotics are best for you.

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4 Scary Causes and Effects of Smoking-Related Vascular Disease

Posted on: November 3rd, 2015 by FloydBrace Blogger

smoking-blog

It’s the largest preventable cause of death and disease in the United States, with more than 480,000 Americans fatally succumbing to its effects each year. An estimated 42 million U.S. adults still do it, racking up a $170 billion yearly medical bill across the nation. It fosters bone decay, impotency, and more than 100 different types of cancer.

Please – put the cigarette down.

We believe knowledge is power. In honor of the American Cancer’s Society’s annual Great American Smokeout, we want to expose the cause-and-effect of smoking-related vascular disease. Consider how it snowballs:

  • The block… Smoking narrows blood vessels to the point that they’re blocked. Fatty deposits in the vessels build up and build up (called “arteriosclerosis”) until blood struggles to flow through as normal. As flow is choked, your body loses circulation of blood that carries the oxygen and nutrients it needs to thrive.
  • …might cause gangrene… Without oxygen, your body starves. And when it starves, it dies. As skin, muscle, and sinew dies, it turns black and becomes impossible for future blood flow, even if surrounding vessels eventually reopen in the absence of cigarette use.
  • …that leads to amputation… Decaying skin can no longer receive blood that carries antibodies that fight infection. Tissue is then susceptible to bacteria, which can attack surrounding areas. To prevent further spread of this crippling disease to remaining healthy tissues, amputation may be the answer. Extremities – parts ranging from toes and fingers to portions of feet to entire lengths of legs – may be removed, depending on severity and response time to the spread of disease.
  • …which worsens for diabetics. For those with diabetes, the risk of contracting vascular disease and other smoking-related complications that lead to amputation is three times higher than for those without. The chemicals and crud that cigarettes pump into your body may weaken its ability to respond to insulin. If your blood sugar goes unchecked, you’re at increased risk for diabetic complications in your heart, kidneys and blood vessels.

We believe in the power of holistic health and want to help you achieve the healthiest you possible. For a closer look at our mission of patient-focused service, read through our about page.

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The Power of Positive Thinking: 3 Tips to Give You a More Positive Mindset

Posted on: November 3rd, 2015 by FloydBrace Blogger

positive-blog

Could a brighter future be all in your head? Science says yes. Picture this: a study showed five groups different film clips that elicited different feelings, ranging from joy to anger. They were then asked to create a list of possible actions they would take if found in the same situation as the one they viewed. Those that had positive thoughts bumping around their heads blew their negative-minded counterparts out of the water in terms of quantity and quality of responses.

Positive thinking doesn’t just happen; you’ve got to work for it. However, with benefits ranging from lower rates of depression and distress all the way to increased lifespan, your glass is definitely 100% full of potential. We want you to harness the power of positive thinking to unlock a better you, beginning with these three steps:

  1. Check your self-talk: Tell yourself you’re in a bad mood, and you will be. Say that you’ll never bounce back from surgery and adapt to a new lifestyle, and you won’t. The words you let bounce around your head dictate the actions you do or don’t take. Keep tabs on the “can’t’”, “won’t”, and “never” dialogue, and immediately correct yourself when you catch it. The first step to embracing positive thinking is to tell yourself you are, even if you have to fake it ‘til you make it.
  2. Confront your stress head-on: Closing your eyes as a car slides towards you through an intersection won’t stop it from hitting you. Likewise, ignoring the weight of stress on your shoulders doesn’t stop it from dragging you down. Positive thinking requires you to acknowledge the negatives in your life so that you can best create a plan of attack to eliminate them.
  3. Choose optimism over happiness: To feel happy is to feel everything amplified: the sky looks brighter, your day looks less stressful, and everyone looks a little kinder. However, happiness is situational and based on an emotion that fades fast. Optimism, however, is in your hands. It’s believing that you’re responsible for creating and maintaining your own happiness. Look at a situation, identify all the positives and negatives it can reap, and choose to hold onto those positives.

A happier you isn’t discovered overnight, but embracing positive thinking today gives you a longer lifetime to find it. Reach out to us today and let us know what we can do to help add a little more happy to your life.

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