Dr Buxton’s bespoke KAFOs help him walk with post-polio syndrome

Robin Buxton was born in 1950. At the age of one and a half, he fell out of bed and his parents gasped “It’s polio!”

In those days, there was no vaccine (the first polio vaccinations were not introduced until 1955). For those who did contract polio, there is a 25 to 50% risk of the individual developing similar muscle weakness or even new muscle weakness and fatigue in later life. This condition is described as post-polio syndrome (PPS) for which there is no specific treatment, and which is likely to progress with age. The symptoms of muscle weakness are routinely treated with orthotics to support the lower limbs.

Robin can trace his PPS back to 2003 when climbing Mt Kilimanjaro for the second time, the first time was in 1999, when he had managed to plod on all day, but in 2003 this was no longer possible. For years Robin coped though becoming very dependent on his trusty stick. Over the latter years, however, Robin was aware that his condition was deteriorating, and falls were also becoming a yearly occurrence, so he decided to see an orthopaedic surgeon at St Thomas’ Hospital.

The consultant told him, “Frankly NHS orthotics will not be able to cope with the degree of contracture in your knees but a private specialist orthotic clinic like LOC may be able to help’, which is how Robin came to see Sam Walmsley, director and lead clinician of LOC, in 2019.

The most immediate benefit Robin enjoyed from his new orthotics was that he was able to stand comfortably for long periods of time.

“It was actually something I had just stopped doing, I always had to sit down, not great if you are in company with people looming over you to talk to you.”

Robin is in very active retirement, looking after an 80-acre farm which is intended to be for cattle. Currently, he spends most of his time on his hands and knees (not wearing his KAFOS) as he is trying to improve the quality of the soil on his land naturally without the use of unnecessary fertilisers. He does so reassured that when the time comes, he will be able to rely on the orthotics prescribed and manufactured by LOC to keep him standing and walking in comfort.

You can see Robin talking about polio in this short film jointly produced by the BBC and the Royal Society. If you suffer from mobility issues due to Polio or PPS, modern bespoke orthotics can make a real difference. For more information, please get in touch.