Better Walking Despite Your Multiple Sclerosis

My dear friend Mo found this wonderful tool to help her walk better. She has a bit of a dropped foot and she was wearing an orthotic to help her keep her foot up when she was walking (so she wouldn't trip over her foot). The bad thing about such a brace is that it discourages muscle growth and really makes your leg worse. This further decreases your mobility and worsens this sympton of multiple sclerosis.

In looking for other devices she found the Walk Aid and the Bioness L300. The beauty of the Bioness L300 seemed to be that you could control it better (ensuring that it is placed right for optimum function) and it actually helped strengthen your leg to help you get some of your gait ease back. This is amazing news for people with multiple sclerosis who often have walking/gait challenges.

The Bioness L300 is composed of a cuff that fits securely below your knee as well as a small reciever unit that connects to your shoe but transmits to the knee cuff. The unit sends signals to the cuff to communicate foot action and lift. The cuff communicates back with each stop to tell the reciever unit how much to stimulate your foot to lift up based on the immediate gait information.

The L300 is really an amazing tool particularly for those who exhaust so much energy focusing on their walking so that it is smooth and they don't fall. It is particularly beneficial for stroke victims and those with multiple sclerosis do to the type of damage existing in the body.

The bad news is that the L300 is in the process of being approved (for payment through Medicare) and since this is not final yet, it is fairly cumbersome to get it approved through your insurance. However, this device is so powerful for someone with gait challenges from multiple sclerosis that it warrants a little hard work!