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Spasticity and Splints (Part 6)
For me, AFO splints can mean the difference between walking and not walking. I don’t technically have spasticity in my legs, but I do have high muscle tone. To put it simply, muscle tone is basically the amount of effort your body puts into moving the muscles. People who have high muscle tone either have spastic (tight) muscles, or a mixture of tight and loose muscles causing involuntary movements. People with low muscle tone struggle to move because their muscles are too loo
Ailsa
17 hours ago
Spasticity and Splints (Part 5)
Eventually, I got plastered. When I got plastered for the old splints, I remember having two casts taken for each leg; one set of casts was for the full-length splints, and the other ones were just casts of my feet. This time, he only took one cast of each leg. He said that they would make the inserts from the original casts. I didn’t want to speak too soon, but I was quite optimistic that I would get what I needed this time. I know that I said that last time, but we’d just h
Ailsa
1 day ago
Spasticity and Splints (Part 4)
My first pair of new splints didn’t have any heel on them at all, which caused rubbing and awful bruising on my heel. When I tried these splints on at the hospital, I knew that they didn’t feel right, but I went with it because I wasn’t used to them. I had suspicions right from when I saw the moulds of my legs because they didn’t look like my legs at all. I was sick of the constant battle just to get splints that actually work for me. I was sick of not being listened to. I ha
Ailsa
2 days ago
Spasticity and Splints (Part 3)
Eventually, I got back on my feet once my blisters had healed on 10 December 2024 but I only walked a short distance before having to stop. Apart from the feeling that my feet were moving in the splints, it felt fine to start with, but as I walked further, my feet began to hurt again. I stopped straight away because I didn’t want to put myself through all that with the blisters again. Funnily enough, I knew exactly what the problem was: Besides from the new splints not being
Ailsa
3 days ago
Spasticity and Splints (Part 2)
As I mentioned in the first post, I have had three pairs of splints in the last few months. The original pair of new splints did not fit the shape of my feet at all… Something drastically went wrong with the mould. I think the Orthotist (the person who deals with Orthotics) forced my leg and foot into an unnatural position when they took the mould. It was painful too, which isn’t normal. When I looked at the mould, I thought that it looked weird (it didn’t look like my leg at
Ailsa
4 days ago
Spasticity and Splints (Part 1)
A couple of years ago, I saw an image of a girl wearing a pair of AFO splints with the caption “If you give a girl the right pair of shoes, she can conquer the world”. I didn’t think much of it until my recent issues with my splints. I can walk without splints but not long distances because I get tired easily when I have no support to control my movements, so I wear splints on my legs called Ankle-Foot Orthoses, also known as splints, but there are many types of splints. You
Ailsa
5 days ago
ASD Awareness - Part 2
I haven’t always known, but I experience burnouts and shutdowns. When I was at college, me having a burnout looked like I was isolating...
Ailsa
Apr 30
ASD Awareness - Part 1
April is Autism Acceptance/Awareness Month. Autistic Spectrum Disorder is a developmental disability, which affects a person’s...
Ailsa
Apr 29
ASD, CP and Mental Health - Part 7
I have always known that it shouldn’t matter what other people think about me, but I always have these thoughts in the back of my mind...
Ailsa
Dec 22, 2024
ASD, CP and Mental Health - Part 6
When we queried the effects of the medication with the doctor, they told us to stop the medicine immediately, just as the pharmacist...
Ailsa
Dec 21, 2024
ASD, CP and Mental Health - Part 5
In the early stages of taking the medication, I tried using my walking frame because the side effects were meant to go away, and I needed...
Ailsa
Dec 20, 2024
ASD, CP and Mental Health - Part 4
In May I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. As I said in the beginning, I knew that I had mental health issues from the age of 16...
Ailsa
Dec 19, 2024
ASD, CP and Mental Health - Part 3
I don’t have many friends; I only have three or four really good friends, and they mean the world; I honestly don’t know what I’d do...
Ailsa
Dec 18, 2024
ASD, CP and Mental Health - Part 2
At college, I made one friend in the class, but even though this may sound horrible, I didn’t feel like she was a true friend, more of an...
Ailsa
Dec 17, 2024
ASD, CP and Mental Health - Part 1
Written between 27 May and 12 December 2024 I only remember having three friends throughout primary school, and we soon drifted apart...
Ailsa
Dec 16, 2024
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