“Hi, my name is Dr. Wachtel, and today we’re going to talk about neuropathy and its causes and some of the problems associated with it.We have a very large diabetic population in our practice. Diabetes, as everyone knows, is a problem with sugar production and maintenance. Unfortunately, over many years, when someone has diabetes, that may affect the nerves in the patient’s body, especially the nerves in the feet. A problem with diabetics is neuropathy, and neuropathy can occur on many scales. It can be a very painful burning scenario, it can be a complete numbness where you don’t land, there are several different scenarios.

The one we want to focus on today is neuropathy and the inability to sense where you’re landing. That is a big problem for patients who are diabetic and they typically have falls, because they can’t figure out where they’re landing, so they’re constantly spraining their ankles or leg muscles, or they’re falling down physically.

In our practice, when someone is diagnosed with diabetes and they have neuropathy and they’re at risk of falls, we are using this fall prevention brace. What’s great about the fall prevention brace is it gives the patient who has diabetes and neuropathy the ability to know where they’re landing, even though they have no feeling or sensation. It controls the way the foot and ankle work. It decreases many times the risk of ulcers or sores, because it’s mechanically controlling the way the foot lands and it’s just a good form of support. It also actually provides what we call bio-feedback, or feedback basically to the brain that tells you where you’re landing, which is a problem with neuropathy because you have no feeling down there in your feet typically.

If you know someone who has diabetes, neuropathy, and are at risk of falls, please have them come in for a fall prevention assessment and we’ll see if they qualify for a brace like this.”