Thank you for joining me again this evening for our nightly podcasts. I perform these podcasts in the hopes that you will be able to education yourself on the topics discussed so you can make better informed medical decisions regarding your health in the future. I am doctor Harrison Campbell of Restoration Health a premier sugar land chiropractors office. Previously we discussed why Restoration Health is the clear choice for your health care needs. This is because whether you have insurance, want to pay cash, were hurt at work and fall under worker’s compensation, or you have suffered from a car accident, we can help you. Tonight, we will be discussing orthopedic boots and the proper utilization of them.
It might seem strange hearing about orthopedic boots from sugar land chiropractors but we do have patients who have suffered injuries which require them. I currently have a patient that suffered an injury which included torn ligaments and a fracture to their ankle. We referred them to an orthopedic for consultation and initial treatment and are in charge of their rehabilitation.
When orthopedic boot is mention, most everyone pictures the large black boot which makes people walk funny. This is the initial boot used for care and in some cases is the only boot which people will utilize. The purpose of this contraption is to stabilize and support the foot and or ankle for the healing process. Many of you have heard me talk about motion healing while at Restoration Health a premier sugar land chiropractors office. This is true, but there are some injuries which require immobilization for a period of time in order to heal properly, and fractures are one such injury.
The main problem with this type of boot is the inability of the patient to have a normal gait and stride. That is the fancy way of saying they walk funny. The boot makes on leg longer than the other and it weighs much more than a normal shoe. This leads the patient to have a limp because the pattern of their stride has changed. Most people who have worn an orthopedic boot can tell you their foot and ankle hurt when initially using it, and the longer they wear it the more their knees, hips, and low back hurt.
This is due to the kinetic chain which says that each body part influences the adjacent parts of the body. In this case because the ankle and foot are immobilized and the stride has changed more pressure is being put on the knees or hips. The changes in the gait also influence the motion of the back and lead to low back pain due to the altered pattern of the patients stride.
Moving past this type of boot there is a lace up boot which is stylized for waking. This brace allows the patient to have more mobility than the orthopedic boot but still provides stability. Patients at Restoration Health a premier sugar land chiropractors office are typically switched to this type of boot after a set period of time to start the recovery process from the immobilization. Additionally, there is a sleeping brace that the patient will wear at night at the same time they are transitioning from the orthopedic boot to the lace up brace. This night brace does not provide as much stability as the orthopedic boot, but is more comfortable for the patient to sleep in.
As sugar land chiropractors will tell you braces are good for the role they play in helping the healing process, but they are not meant to be permanent fixtures for people to use on a daily basis. Now there are rare exceptions to this, but more often than not people continue to use their orthopedic braces longer than required and they become dependent on the stability they provide.
Let us return to my patient with the orthopedic boot. We are right now going through the transition process of switching to the lace up brace and we will in the near future further transition to no brace at all. The reasoning for this is we want to restore their ability to rely on the ligaments in the foot and ankle for support not the brace. We could leave the patient in the brace, but this would be doing them a disservice and at Restoration Health a premier sugar land chiropractors office we do not believe in doing a disservice to a patient. Leaving the brace on would prevent the body from healing at a certain point.
For instance, If a brace for he low back is providing core strength for the lumbar spine, why would the core muscles of the body become stronger? The answer is they would not strengthen, they would actually weaken. This would lead the person to be more susceptible to injury when lifting without the brace as the muscles required to protect the back would not be trained. If a brace is left on the ankle, the body becomes reliant on the stability of the brace and the surrounding muscles and ligaments weaken as they have no function. This is where we come back to motion heals.
If we as sugar land chiropractors want the healing tissue to be strong and flexible we need to place that issued under strain when healing. Leaving a brace o prevents the tissue from being placed under strain during the healing process and results in a weaker tissue as an end result.
Thank you for joining me again this evening for another great podcast. I hope you enjoyed the discussion on orthopedic boots and braces as well as the proper use of these pieces of equipment. As always should you or someone you know require a sugar land chiropractors services or simply have more questions on what was discussed please call Restoration Health today. We would love to schedule you an appointment and get you on the path to better health today. Thank you once again for joining us. Have a good night.