Brett Sears, PT, MDT, is a physical therapist with over 20 years of experience in orthopedic and hospital-based therapy.

Laura Campedelli, PT, DPT, is a physical therapist with experience in hospital-based acute care and outpatient therapy with both children and adults.

Angela Underwood's extensive local, state, and federal healthcare and environmental news coverage includes 911 first-responder compensation policy to the Ciba-Geigy water contamination case in Toms River, NJ. Her additional health-related coverage includes death and dying, skin care, and autism spectrum disorder.

If you have suffered an injury or illness that results in foot drop, then you understand how this condition can affect the way you walk. Foot drop can make walking difficult, and it can place increased stress on other parts of your body.

Foot drop occurs whenever the muscle in the front of your shin, called the anterior tibialis, fails to function properly. This can occur with various types of injuries including, but not limited to:

If your anterior tibialis is not working properly, then when you walk, your foot does not lift up as you are swinging your leg forward. This results in foot drop and a compensatory gait pattern called a high steppage gait.

To clear your foot and toes over the ground while walking, you flex your hip and knee excessively when swinging your leg forward.

Physical therapy for foot drop may help you quickly return to normal walking and mobility. Your physical therapist can use various treatment modalities and exercises to help improve the function of your leg.

The main goal of physical therapy for foot drop is to help your anterior tibialis muscle contract properly. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation may be used. Specific exercises are typically prescribed to improve strength in your anterior tibialis.

Sometimes, the improvement in your muscle function is slow, and occasionally damage to the nerve causing your foot drop is permanent. You may require a brace, called an ankle foot orthosis, to help lift your foot off the ground while walking.

Another technique your physical therapist may suggest to help lift your toes and foot up while walking with foot drop involves an elastic band. Elastic resistance bands are often used in physical therapy clinics for exercises, but you can also use one to treat foot drop. Here is how you do it:

The elastic band can help pull your foot up while walking if you have foot drop, but it is only a temporary solution to be used immediately after your injury while your anterior tibialis muscle is still too weak to lift your foot up.

If your foot drop is a permanent condition, then an ankle foot orthosis is a more appropriate device to use to help accomplish this task.

If you have anterior tibialis weakness that results in foot drop, you may benefit from the skilled services of a physical therapist to help improve your overall function related to walking.

Using an elastic resistance band to help lift your foot while walking can be an effective temporary solution for foot drop. This can allow you to maintain appropriate walking ability until your symptoms resolve completely or until a more permanent solution can be found for your foot drop.

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McCabe FJ, McCabe JP. An unusual presentation of right-sided sciatica with foot drop. Case Reports in Orthopedics. 2016;2016:1-3. doi: 10.1155/2016/9024368

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