AircastAirlift PTTD Ankle Support Brace, Left Foot, Large

I have a ruptured posterior tibial tendon, tendinosis, bursitis from a severely twisted ankle. This aircast PTTD brace has been a godsend as without it I am unable to weight bear. My doctor did not want to put it in a regular cast as tend to get more scar tissue vs repair of tendon. This brace allows me to take it off to massage my ankle, and to do passive ROM to promote healing. I am having a custom brace made but in the interim, this aircast has allowed me to be up and about. It does fit in my athletic shoe as my shoe is a wide. Due to the severity of my injury I have to use 2 canes when up and about but without this brace I would be non weight bearing. I plan to continue to use it even when my custom brace is ready as if I need to I can wear this one at night and when able, plan to use it in the pool so I dont re injure the tendon as it starts to heal or may order a second one just for the pool. I would suggest to promptly rinse off, mild soap and water, pat dry and then air dry completely. So far, I have had no issues with loss of air. Also, I found that too much air made my tendon more tender as I am naturally flat footed and was originally over inflating. 2-3 "pumps" of air was all it took to give me relief. I am not sure my ruptured tendon will heal completely without surgery but this is sure worth a try!July, 2019 update. Did get my custom made brace ($1200) for which I could only wear a few weeks as it was not made right and worsened my torn tendon so much that I had to go on crutches. So big setback and money down the drain for me and insurance company, and I am back in the aircast pttd brace since March/April. It works so much better than the custom AFO brace. I think I am one of the lucky ones as the aircast is still holding air just fine. The material is starting to wear some around where top of the heel area slides into my shoes. I purchased a second aircast pttd brace recently just in case the air bladder does break some day. My use past few months is just walking with crutches partial weight bearing with pttd aircast in sneakers and hikers. Since I am not very active now may be why the brace has lasted so long? These tendons once ruptured are difficult to heal. As it heals and feels better it is important to follow doctor's orders and resist temptation to overuse or you will inflame tendon and back to square one again. Anticipating a year or so recovery. Aircast worth a try as surgery also has year recovery. I miss wearing regular shoes but wide athletic shoes or hikers work great with this brace.

I own several of these braces for PTTD and although not perfect, they have been helpful for my condition. I must say that I have rarely worn them in shoes. However when I did have occasion to do so, they fit easily into a pair of hiking boots that were a little wide for my foot; I also wore a sock underneath. I was unable(an advised not to by my doctor) to walk around without wearing shoes fitted with orthotics before I purchased these. I wear them to bed and around the house without shoes, I do not wear a sock underneath or on top of the brace; thus allowing my toes an opportunity to breath. Yes, the Velcro does catch on clothing, and sheets, or anything that Velcro is prone to stick to. But I have devised a simple solution by purchasing Velcro strips (fabric store) and placing the loop side onto the remaining exposed area on the original strap. This eliminates the need to where a sock over the brace and stops the Velcro form sticking to other items. Yes, I have one with a faulty air bladder,but it didn't happen until about 6-8 months of daily use. The material that the brace is made of is durable but like all braces, it will wear after several months of continuous use. I have not had one break or completely wear out yet.The brace provides excellent support, but like any ankle brace it can cause some chaffing. For me the positives totally outweigh any of the negatives and I will continue to use and recommended this brace!!

I developed PTIT as a result of wearing some too-big running shoes for a weekend. I am an over-pronator and my feet collapse in when I walk or run, but I am a super active person running and cycling every day so I was devastated when I got PTIT. I found this brace and it sounded like it might help, as it was designed by a doctor especially for PTIT. when wearing this, I could walk pain free. I wore it around the house (I work from home) while I rested and allowed my PTIT to recover. It definitely helped a lot and was a huge relief not to be in pain with every step.I did try to wear it to go walking outside but it did not really fit well in a shoe.I wore it every day all day for a few weeks and did not have any of the problems some reviewers had with it but holding air. I did top up the inflation every few hours but it held quite well.I hope this helps someone else to recover at it's a great product.the painIf you want another tip, the ten seconds motion control insoles combined with a little arch support stick-on pad was my perfect solution once I was ready to start walking again.

First review- I have tried 2-3 different braces trying to find one that actually works. I appear to have damaged my posterior tendon and am going in for an MRI. In the meantime I wore a boot for 6 weeks and it didn't help the ankle or foot at all. I purchased this brace with skepticism but as soon as I put it on it made a difference. The boot irritated the ankle but with this brace I don't even have the ankle pain. So happy to find this brace.UPDATED REVIEW: My positive review unfortunately is to be downgraded. The air lift under my arch no longer holds air. I am in a lot of pain and have to be on my feet a lot for Thanksgiving. I am so disappointed. It could have been a great product. I shouldn’t have to purchase a new one. It isn’t even been 30 days.