When should I wear my Foot Defender to properly and fully heal my Diabetic Foot Wound (DFU) or foot ulcer? This is a question we hear a lot at Defender. In order for a Removable Cast Walker (RCW) like the Foot Defender to work it needs to be worn every step of every day until the wound is fully healed and the “new” skin over the wound strong enough to hold your weight. That’s right, EVERY STEP of EVERY DAY. This concept is something that we call adherence. Adherence is one of the biggest determining factors for how long you will need to wear your Foot Defender. The higher your adherence, the faster your wound will typically heal.
Scientifically speaking, the Foot Defender “offloads” the pressure on your DFUs. There is a multitude of high-quality evidence that shows the effect that offloading has on speeding DFU healing time. Multiple randomized controlled trials have shown time and again that offloading is one of the best methods to heal foot wounds, but the thing is offloading requires consistent use. We find that most people know they have to wear their Foot Defender for trips outside of the house like going to work or running to the grocery store. Where we find people falling out of adherence is inside their home. You must wear the Foot Defender with every step for it to work effectively. EVERY STEP, yes, even that 2am jaunt to the bathroom that is only 5 steps away. Even those 5 steps will have a detrimental effect on your foot wound, increasing your healing time.
Studies have shown there are two main reasons for a lack of adherence which causes increased wound healing times or wounds that just won’t heal:
The first is awareness. Most folks just don’t realize that they need to wear their Foot Defender for every single step they take, outside the home or inside. Since we have mentioned you need to wear the Foot Defender with EVERY STEP about 5 times in this article, consider yourself made aware!
The second reason people have less than ideal adherence is something that surprises most doctors, appearance. If people feel self conscious wearing something they tend to leave it home in the closet, even if it is something that could potentially save their leg or even their life. This is why we spent so much time making sure the Foot Defender aesthetically could blend in with athletic footwear in addition to work better functionally than it’s competitors. It’s just human nature, we want to fit in, we don’t want to look like we are wearing a medical product. At Defender we think it is best to design for how people actually are. Instead of scolding people for not wearing their RCW to work or to an event, we worked hard to make a product that people would actually want to wear.
Want the facts beyond these findings? Check out the results of these academic papers:
A qualitative exploration of adherence to wearing removable cast walkers in patients with diabetic foot ulcers from the Journal of Wound Care
Anas Ababneh, Helen Edwards, Peter Lazzarini, Kathleen Finlayson
Published July 5th 2023
Offloading treatment in people with diabetic foot disease: A systematic scoping review on adherence to foot offloading from the NIH National Library of Medicine
Simona Racaru, Layla Bolton Saghdaoui, Jaya Roy Choudhury, Mary Wells, Alun H Davies
Published April 18th 2022
To learn more about Defender, contact us, call +1 305-204-7203 or connect on LinkedIn.
