Foot Drop Causes

Suffering from a foot drop and not being able to find out the cause? All the foot drop causes are mentioned right here, in this article for you. These will make diagnosis of the entire problem much easier for you and will tell you about the foot drop causes relation and interrelation with other parts of the body.

Before we proceed to the foot drop causes, let us take a look at what is foot drop exactly. Not many people hear about the foot drop as commonly as they see it. Yes, many times we see people walking with an abnormal gait and we think it must be an accident or the sorts but most often, those people are suffering from a foot drop. Foot drop is basically a problem people face with the lifting of their leg/toe while walking. Here, we mean normal lifting and by normal lifting we mean lifting the foot upward while taking a step. This normal lifting of the foot is restrained due to the paralysis of the muscles in that particular area of the foot. What causes this kind of paralysis? Surely, not everyone meets with an accident.

The foot drop symptoms usually start showing slowly and thus, it is important that we know the foot drop causes for better diagnosis. Foot drop is one of those foot problems that is caused by more than one particular problem. To see the causes from a broader view, we might be able to divide them into three main categories. First, muscle damage, second, anatomical or skeletal abnormalities that affect the foot and third, damage of the nerves. Here, mostly we mean the deep fibular nerve, though the chances of other nerves too can be one of the causes. In this article, we shall see these very causes and that too, in detail.

Causes of Foot Drop

There are basically, two types of causes of foot drop. One, unilateral foot drop causes and two, bilateral foot drop causes. Unilateral causes, affect only one foot while bilateral causes, affect both the feet. However, we shall take a look at both these types below.

Lower Back Problems

It is often wondered whether foot drop causes back pain or back pain causes foot drop. Here is the answer. The lower back problems that affect the functioning of certain foot muscles and lead to foot drop are lumbar herniated disc, bone lacerations and fractures, spondylolisthesis and spinal stenosis. The herniated disc is considered as one of the most common foot drop causes. These problems affect the nerve by applying too much pressure and then gradually affect the peroneal nerve that is important in lifting the foot.

Parkinson’s Disease

In the Parkinson's disease, there are quite some chances of experiencing slowness in movements and rigidity of muscles. However, these need to be diagnosed properly by your physician. These problems are most obvious in the affected limb and it is said that people might find it difficult to climb down stairs and trip often. This is one of the foot drop causes that is very easy to diagnose but a little difficult to treat. The basic problem lies in the proper signaling of the brain to the muscles.

Multiple Sclerosis

Also called encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease that is said to have no guaranteed cure. This generally affect young adults and mostly females. In MS, the nervous system or moreover the brain and spinal cord nerve cells become incapable of communicating with each other. We previously saw how pressure on one nerve can affect the other. This too, is said to be one of the leading causes of foot drop.

Motor Neuron

In the nervous system, nerve cells called motor neurons carry signals from the brain to the different parts of the body, related to their functioning. Though the exact cause is unknown, it is said the motor neuron disease kills these motor neuron nerve cells. This in turn leads to a fatigue, weakness and improper or no functioning of certain muscles. This is said to affect the men twice as much as women.

Injury/Trauma

This is one of those foot drop causes that is perhaps the easiest to understand. Injury or trauma due to some kind of accident may lead to the paralysis of the foot muscles. In this case, not only the muscles but also injury to a particular bone might lead to abnormal gait and abnormal functioning of the foot muscles while walking. However, this can be diagnosed really easily immediately after the accident.

Strokes/Tumors

Central nervous system and its effects on foot drop are very rare but they still exist. There have been cases where a people suffering from brain tumors have also said to suffer from a foot drop. This type of diagnosis takes a detailed examination of the problem by the doctor/physician. If you are experiencing any of the foot drop symptoms, it is necessary you opt for consultation almost immediately.

Diabetic Neuropathies

Diabetic Neuropathies are a group of nerve disorders or diseases that are caused by diabetes and lead to various other diseases, out of which one is the foot drop. This is one of those foot drop causes that needs to be diagnosed properly. Whether diabetes is the cause or something else, will prove to be important during the treatment.

Drugs/Alcohol

One of the most common foot drop causes, drug addiction and alcoholism are said to have adverse reactions on the functioning of the body. We all know that drugs and alcohol can affect a persons body and functioning of the nervous system is more than one ways. Overdose of particular drugs or ample consumption of alcohol harms and disturbs/curbs the proper functioning of the nerve cells present in our body. The ability of the nervous system and the brain to communicate effectively becomes non existent.

Most of these foot drop causes are mostly detected only after a visit to the doctor. If you are having problems with lifting your foot while walking, it is advisable to get it checked soon before the intensity of these causes of foot drop increases. The foot drop treatment depends mostly always on the type of foot drop cause and this makes it even more important for us to these causes well. Thought the foot drop exercises and foot drop brace are said to help, it is important we take whatever precautions we can, isn't it? Hope this list of foot drop causes helped you in one way or the other.