Yes I have foot drop, it is one of the components of one of the diseases that I have called CMT /peroneal muscular atrophy. It is progressive in the disease and is one of the reasons I am mostly wheelchair bound now. I have to be very very careful the times I do try walking or climbing because I am very prone to have my toe drag and catch and send me face first down. I wore tall ankle supporting shoes and boots which helps some when it is milder. Braces can help too. It's very unfortunate that you developed the condition. I would suggest as much physical therapy and exercise as is possible to reinforced the the muscles in the area affected. Nothing can be done to repair the nerve damage but having good muscle strength there is going to be essential. You can still get the muscles to work for you luckily, in my disease it most often involves muscular atrophy as well.

So work on the muscles! Be aware of your step, lift higher to off set the drop. And look into high top ankle supporting foot wear. It may not be the best fashion statement but it can keep your face from being flattened! I used to scour the Internet for shoes and tennies that were supportive, they are out there, just try to stay with light weight options because any additional weight on the foot increases the drop. I hope you don't wear heels because you can definitely say goodbye to those. Choose your footwear wisely it can make a huge difference.

Good luck!

A friend with MS has foot drop and she uses a WalkAide
WalkAide

My brother has had it for about fifteen years, he wears a leg brace every day and does his exercises faithfully. As a result, he still plays golf and does most of what he did prior to getting it. He does a great deal of traveling and seems to have no problems.
I can understand being disturbed, to say the least, at hearing the diagnosis but, like many other health issues in life, it can be dealt with successfully. I hope you have a wonderful outcome and it does regenerate. You never know.

My husband suffered a back injury that resulted in the beginning stages of drop foot
during physical therapy. We were instructed
to go see the surgeon ASAP. He
recommended surgery to remove the pressure on the nerve. (We got a second opinion who recommended the
same) We were told that once drop foot symptons happened
you had no other option and that you needed to do it quickly or the nerve
damage could be permanent.

After the surgery (a lamenectomy of the herniated disk),
recover, then therapy. It has been 4
years now. He has good flexibility
(according to the doctor) but has lost stamina in that leg. He was able to recover enough to not develop drop foot. He cannot do the heavy work that he was
accustomed to. His flexibility is
reduced (for twisting the back). Now he
must move carefully and consider his position or any lifting otherwise he will
twinge the nerve. He often gets pain
(pins & needles) in the calf/foot. He
will change his shoes from day to day, which seems to help. He continues to do physical therapy on his
own, 2 ½ hours (3) times a week. Says
that if he doesn’t do it, he aches and is in pain. He still works full time at a physically intensive
job. It has taken a lot of time,
patience and personal insight, but he has a much better handle on physical
abilities so that he does not does not
have to take pain medication.

Regarding nerve generation, the pain doctor provided some
medication to help “regenerate” the nerve. But
the side effects were awful (dizzy, anxious, nervous, jumpy) so DH wouldn’t take
them. We were told that the nerve may
heal some, but it would never be like it was before the injury. We did measure his calves and there is an 1 ½”
difference in the diameter from muscle loss.
There is also the long term stamina loss on affected leg.

I'm pretty dumb about people disease/treatments but if you were a 4 legged critter I would be giving you Vit. E for the nerve damage.

I know the B vitamins and magnesium are also recommended for nerve health. You might look into supplements in addition to the PT and exercises. And would a cane help avoid falls? I'm sorry you have to deal with this.

My Mom developed it at age 85. She was at our house for Christmas and she and my husband were having a great, all day cooking event. The two of them loved spending time in the kitchen and on this day, they worked all day, had a blast, the meal was delish but that night she developed dropped foot. Out of the blue, she could not lift her toes. The Dr. told her it was caused by nerve damage or inflammation someplace between her back and her calf. She was told that there was surgery but that it may also, with rest, resolve on it's own, which it did. Within three weeks she was back to normal.

A good friend developed dropped foot three years ago, it did not resolve, he had the surgery which was successful. He has regained full function.

Another friend developed it, it did not resolve, she did not like wearing the plastic foot brace so she often walked around, lifting her knee high enough so she could swing her foot out enough so it would slap down on the ground and she could walk. Looked funny but with time, she became proficient.

There ya go, three people with drop foot, all with different outcomes.

Good luck, shelgal, I hope you find some help.