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How to Cure Foot Drop Naturally: Homeopathic Methods for Recovery

green eucalyptus on blue background to symbolize natural remedies for foot drop

If you want a natural way to recover from foot drop, look no further. Today you’ll learn how to cure foot drop naturally, without resorting to drugs or surgery.

These natural remedies for foot drop are effective because they pull on the brain’s natural ability to heal and rewire itself. You’re about to learn what that process is and how to take advantage of it. But first, let’s get a clear understanding of what foot drop is.

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Naturally Curing Foot Drop to Recover Dorsiflexion

Image from Wikipedia

Foot drop occurs when you have difficulty lifting the front part of your foot through a movement known as dorsiflexion. The muscles that control dorsiflexion are the tibialis anterior, extensor halluces longus, and extensor digitorum longus.

When the brain loses the ability to send signals that tells these muscles to move (due to neurological injury like stroke), it results in foot drop. Many individuals with foot drop gravitate towards foot braces as a solution, but there’s actually a better way.

If foot drop is caused by injury to the brain, then the best natural remedy for foot drop involves healing and rewiring the brain through neuroplasticity. This is the brain’s natural ability to create and strengthen new neural pathways.

Neuroplasticity is how all skills are learned. It allows us to create and strengthen specific circuits in the brain as a result of experience (more on this soon). The concept of neuroplasticity is at the heart of all foot drop treatment in homeopathy.

Natural remedies for foot drop are particularly effective because they address the root issue: the brain-muscle connection. Drugs and surgery actually skirt around this issue and, as a result, do not lead to the best results.

In this case, homeopathic remedies are the most effective method for foot drop recovery.

This begs the question: how does it work?

The Best Natural Cure for Foot Drop: Exercise!

Neuroplasticity refers to how the brain adapts as a result of experience. For example, when a child first learns how to ride a bike, it’s the repeated experience of riding the bike that helps the child get better at it.

Repetition encourages the brain to adapt and improve its abilities. In this case, the ability is riding a bike — but the concept applies to almost everything during neurological rehabilitation after stroke or brain injury. So let’s tie this back to natural foot drop recovery.

The best home remedy for foot drop is consistent rehab exercise. When the brain is exposed to exercises that involve dorsiflexion, the repeated experience encourages the brain to rewire itself and improve control of your foot and ankle.

Repeated experience with foot drop exercise encourages the brain to get better at moving the affected foot. Therefore, you will see the best results from consistent, regular exercise.

What if You Can’t Exercise Your Foot?

If you are a stroke survivor with foot drop, you might have some residual movement in your foot, or you might have none at all.

Individuals that have residual movement can do active exercises where each exercise is performed on your own. If you have no movement, then you can start with passive exercises where you assist your affected foot through the movement.

To see how foot drop exercises can be done passively, see the Ankle Dorsiflexion movement demonstrated by Liliana, PT, DPT, from our foot drop exercise article:

During this passive movement, your hand helps move the affected foot. Although you aren’t “doing it yourself,” studies have shown that passive exercise helps activate neuroplasticity and rewire the brain.

With enough passive exercise, you might be able to regain enough movement in your foot to begin active exercise. This is why rehab exercise is the most effective natural remedy for foot drop.

Want 13 pages of foot drop exercises in a beautiful PDF? Click here to download our free Stroke Rehab Exercise ebook now (link opens a pop up for uninterrupted reading)

Do Foot Braces Count as Natural Remedies?

While rehabilitation exercise is the best foot drop treatment in homeopathy, you might need a foot brace to ensure your safety as you move around.

A foot brace is also known as an ankle foot orthotic (AFO), which helps prop your foot up so that it doesn’t drag when you walk. If your therapists recommend one, be sure to listen to them. It’s important to avoid falls, which are a major reason for admission to nursing homes.

However, AFOs should not replace your foot drop exercise, as they do not help rewire the brain. It’s best to wear a foot brace during your daily activities, but make time to take the brace off and practice therapeutic foot drop exercises. This helps address the root issue.

If you’ve read this far, it’s clear that you’re interested in homeopathic and natural remedies. A good source of motivation to continue pursuing this path is to avoid learned nonuse.

Learned nonuse occurs when affected muscles are neglected and, if the neglect is carried on long-term, the brain completely forgets about the affected muscles. As a result, all movement is lost, and recovery becomes that much harder.

Don’t let this scare you from using foot braces in general. Rather, use it as motivation to practice foot drop exercises on a regular basis to stimulate recovery.

Summary: How to Cure Foot Drop Naturally

Daily foot drop exercise is the best way to naturally recover from foot drop. It helps rewire the brain and improve control of dorsiflexion by drawing upon the brain’s natural ability to rewire itself.

Even if you cannot move your foot at all, passive exercise can still help spark changes in the brain. This is particularly helpful for people that have extremely limited mobility in the affected foot and leg.

In conjunction with exercise, foot drop braces can also help improve safety in the interim. While foot braces promote neglect of the affected foot, they are essential for preventing devastating falls.

Generally, it works best to use a combination approach. Use foot braces to carry out your daily activities, and be sure to schedule time to do your foot drop exercises with consistency. Best of luck on the homeopathic road to recovery.

You’re on a Roll: Get Free Foot Drop Exercises in a Beautiful PDF!

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Get Inspired with This Stroke Survivor Story

Mom gets better every day!

“When my 84-year-old Mom had a stoke on May 2, the right side of her body was rendered useless. In the past six months, she has been blessed with a supportive medical team, therapy team, and family team that has worked together to gain remarkable results.

While she still struggles with her right side, she can walk (with assistance) and is beginning to get her right arm and hand more functional. We invested in the FitMi + MusicGlove + Tablet bundle for her at the beginning of August.

She lights up when we bring it out and enjoys using it for about 20 to 30 minutes at a time. While she still doesn’t have enough strength to perform some of the exercises, she rocks the ones she can do! Thanks for creating such powerful tools to help those of us caring for stroke patients. What you do really matters!”

-David H.

FitMi is a neurorehab device that you can use from the comfort of home. It works by motivating you to accomplish high repetition of therapeutic exercises.

As you work through the program, you’ll unlock more difficult exercises when you’re ready. It’s like having a virtual therapist available anytime you need it.

See how quickly Sudhir was able to notice improvements:

Saw results within a few days

“I bought FitMi about a month and a half ago. Quite impressed with the range of exercises for hand, arm, leg and foot. I suffered a stroke about 2 years ago which paralyzed my right side. I do walk now with a cane or walker, but my right hand curls up and my right arm is also weak. Within a few days of trying it out, I could note a distinct improvement in stamina before tiring. So, I am looking forward to continued improvement.”

-Sudhir

Not only is FitMi approved by survivors, but it’s also approved by therapists, too. FitMi is used in some of the top clinics in the world, including the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, the #1 ranked rehab hospital in America. Plus, two PTs on YouTube with over 3 million subscribers (you may know them as Bob & Brad) gave FitMi the thumbs up, too.

To learn more about this motion-sensing, game-changing recovery tool, click the button below: