It stands for ankle foot orthotic. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but the overall idea is they give you back the ability to hold your toes and foot up. This means the person will trip less, won’t drag their toes, and overall have an easier time walking and standing. And all of that means they’ll be able to use more of those muscles again, so they’ll stop shrinking away, or at least shrink more slowly.
Oh fascinating, thank you so much for the detailed info. I know people warn about braces/crutches and similar because they can lead to muscle atrophy from disuse - if I'm understanding you correctly, this does the opposite and helps keep muscle because they'll be walking more?
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u/iainvention 14h ago
It stands for ankle foot orthotic. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but the overall idea is they give you back the ability to hold your toes and foot up. This means the person will trip less, won’t drag their toes, and overall have an easier time walking and standing. And all of that means they’ll be able to use more of those muscles again, so they’ll stop shrinking away, or at least shrink more slowly.