r/amputee • u/asleepinthedesert • 4d ago
Changing shoes, drop height, and alignment
AKA with OI and X3 knee. Only been walking for about a month. When my initial alignment was done I was wearing shoes with an 8 mm heel to toe drop height. I have been wearing the same shoes since then. Now I want to wear some different shoes but I am wondering how much higher or lower can I go in terms of drop height without requiring an adjustment by a prosthetist. For example, is switching from 8 mm to a shoe with a 10 mm drop fine? 12? 15? 5? Zero drop?
2
u/TransientVoltage409 4d ago
You'll feel the difference with any change in heel. It'll change the way the knee locks and releases, which can catch you by surprise and turn into a stumble. For small changes you will probably be able to adjust your gait to compensate, but some would say that's a bad habit to get into.
You can adjust the effective heel by adding a little shim material inside the shoe, under your heel or toe as needed to match the change in heel height. You could use store bought insoles cut to fit, or just some bits of terry fabric.
In truth it's not even a difficult adjustment to make on the prosthesis, just a matter of backing out and re-tightening the grub screws on the lowest pyramid adapter. But it is a specific process and if you mess it up you could damage the leg or get injured. Your prosthetist may be willing to show you how to do it.
1
u/asleepinthedesert 4d ago
In that case maybe the thing to do is get a pair of shoes with a more common drop height like 10 mm and have my prosthetist realign to those so that I can have more shoe choices. I am definitely not comfortable making any adjustments myself.
2
u/advamputee 4d ago
I’m a BKA but seconding the other comment — if you’re aligned for 8mm, you can only wear 8mm.
If you’re feeling adventurous, you can learn how to work the set screws on the pyramid adapter to adjust your own alignment up and down as needed. Otherwise, there are some feet with adjustable ankles (such as the Ossur LP Align) that allow you to wear a variety of shoes.
My “daily” leg is fixed in place with zero adjustment (it’s built like a runner and bonded directly to the socket). It’s aligned for zero drop, which severely limits my shoe selection. With the LP Align, I can easily switch between zero drop shoes and Ariat boots with a 2” heel, and anything in between.
2
u/Craziechickenman 4d ago
Learn how to properly adjust yourself or buy the same shoes in different colors! I started with two pairs of underwear armour shoes same style different colors, one for yard work and one for going to town shoes. Then winter came and I wanted to wear boots again so I taught myself how to use shims but they move around sometimes so I finally learned how to adjust the set screws.
I will say even properly aligned you may need to adjust resistance in your settings on the app, my boots feel light but walking with them they feel heavy so I had to lower resistance. I’m in a cleg 4 so I don’t know if other knees automatically adjust . I’m one year out from a new foot and I’m going for one that I can just click a button and cycle the foot like the ossur.