A Few Of My Favorite Things - Part 4: Prefo Boots

If you are paralyzed, one of the things that will happen to you is foot drop.  Since you aren't walking or standing, over time, your calves will shorten, and your feet will start to point down.  To combat this, you may sleep in a prefo boot.

My first prefo boot was given to me after my very first surgery.  It has a rigid frame, and it holds your ankle at a 90 degree angle.  In the hospital, I would wear it on one foot at a time while I was in bed to try to keep my calf stretched.

The other purpose of the boot is to keep pressure off your heel.  This became especially important for me when I got that horrible pressure sore on my right heel.  In order to get that wound to heal, I had to wear a prefo boot all the time.

What I have discovered about prefo boots is that they are not all created equal.  When I was at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, they gave me one made by DeRoyal.  This was a pretty nice boot, and much nicer than the one they gave me at UNC.  I ended up buying a second one, and using them all the time when my heel had that wound.

Later, I discovered another brand of boot that is much nicer than the DeRoyal, and I now own two of them.  If you need to use prefo boots, I strongly recommend the one made by LEEDer Group.  It has higher build quality, it seems more comfortable, and is generally more secure than any of the others I've seen.

One of my LEEDer boots

They call it the KYDEX-PRO Ambulation Boot Orthosis.  This type of boot is also known as a "heel contracture boot".  The one by LEEDer is also adjustable if the frame needs to be a slightly different shape.

Another thing I like about this particular boot is that the kick-stand is more secure than the others I've used.  These boots have an arm built into the back of the boot that can fold out to keep your foot upright when you're sleeping on your back.  I never use the arm, but on some of the other boots, the arm will flop out to the side when you don't want it to.  That's not a problem on these.  The arm snaps to the center securely, and it is hidden by the boot cover so you don't see it.  Also a unique feature of these boots.

If you have to pay for them yourself, these boots are also cheaper than the DeRoyals, and I think they're American made, but I'm too lazy to look that up.

I spent several months wearing these things against my skin at a time when I wasn't able to wash my feet, so they got pretty nasty.  I bought some spare covers for them so I can swap them out and wash the liners.  Swapping liners isn't the easiest thing in the world, but at least you can wash and/or replace every piece of fabric on them. 

They are a little bit heavier than the other prefo boots I've used, but I think that is a result of the quality.  They make it a bit more difficult to throw your legs around, but I think the tradeoff is worth it.

If I ever have to buy another prefo boot, which is doubtful because these will probably last forever, it will be from LEEDer Group.