Ankle Hip Orthosis

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About Us Buying the Musmate   Australia   Canada   Europe   New Zealand   UK   USA   Other Countries Clinical Results Downloads » Home The Musmate Product Videos Site Map Testimonials Terms & Conditions Our Product Range    Anklemate Physio Aid    Exercise Kit    Musmate Walking Aid    Quadstep Stair Aid		The Musmate offers you...      Freedom from falls & trips      Adjustability for your needs      Help with steps and stairs      Option of shoes, sandals, wellies      Help with bending your knee      Help swinging your hip forward
	People with foot drop have difficulty walking. When they lift their leg to move forward, the ankle muscles do not lift the foot up and so the foot is dragged along. Alternatively the leg is lifted really high up so that the floppy foot clears the ground (this is called steppage gait). A third alternative is that the leg is not lifted up, but thrown to the side so that the foot clears the ground. All these walking movements are energy -intensive and so people with drop foot become tired quickly, and so tend to limit their movements. This has a negative impact at work and also socially. These factors then result in exercise which reduces fitness and causes further fatigue. A vicious circle is quickly created. The Musmate is designed to address this situation. It uses a shoulder harness and an elastic cord connected to the shoe. When walking, the thigh muscles push down on the elastic cord and it in turn gently supports the raising of the foot and leg. This lifting action also has the benefit of gently bending the knee - knee flexion to the professionals. This is because the lifting action is not in line with the leg and so creates pressure on the knee to move. A similar approach is often used by physiotherapsits when teaching people how to walk again following a stroke or brain injury. They often use a bandage to pull the leg up and cause the knee to bend. Most importantly this lifting action takes some of the weight onto the shoulder which reduces the effort the hip needs to make to swing the leg forward- which is called hip flexion by specialists. The Musmate's ability to assist hip flexion is important in maintainig your ability to walk because without this swing forward, it is very difficult to walk. Two adjustments are easily made to customise the Musmate for your maximum benefit. Firstly the amount of support the Musmate provides is adjustable. As you need more support, it is forthcoming. Secondly, the height to which your foot is lifted is also controlled. It is easy to adjust the Musmate to lift your foot higher, to cross rough ground or even go up stairs. The design has other benefits as well. With the elastic cord pulling up, the knee is encouraged to bend and this helps with a good walking pattern as well. Finally, the elastic cord can bear part of the weight of the leg, and this makes swinging the leg forward more easy. Since the foot has regained its normal action, Walking is made easier. Secondly, there is less risk of trips or falls because the foot is not dragging. The result is that people walk more than they used to. This creates a positive circle whereby increasing mobility leads to greater fitness which in turn reduces the effort required to walk. People can work more, and improve their social lives.

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Musmate Ltd, P. O. Box 3976, Bath, BA1 0DF, UK.
Tel. (0845) 094 4674; fax (0845) 094 4674;
e-mail sales@musmate.co.uk .