Responces to DAFO's
Jim Butts
Description
Collection
Title:
Responces to DAFO's
Creator:
Jim Butts
Date:
4/2/1999
Text:
Thanks to all for your input. Here is a posting of the responses I
received:
As a personal note I was hoping for a response more along the lines of do
the DAFO's work well for your patients. In stead I mostly got I love or Hate
Cascade (the company). I had several reply which I did not post ( one at the
senders' request ) which slammed cascade pretty hard. On a lighter note one
person suggested I find a good orthotist to make orthosis for my kids. I
guess the twenty years I have been a good orthotist do not count LOL. ( I
might add he did offer to make then for me) I think the biggest problem we
face as a field is this attitude of if it comes from some one else it must
be junk. We have a hard time seeing what is best for the patient because we
can not get past our ego! The truth is cascade would not be as large as they
are if orthotist's had not for years told PT's NO. When they asked for
DAFO's like orthosis. We as a rule told then I do not tell you how to do
your PT so do not tell me how to make braces. We gave cascade a foot hold
when we would not work as a team player. I know I am going to get a lot
replys to this, but we all know some one (or many) in the field with this
attitude.I have worked in four state for twenty years. Saddly I see kids
with poor fitting braces made by company that do not care, or are to strong
headed to know they are wrong. As long as we are more concerned with what is
best for us company like cascade will find a open door for there products.
Jim Butts RTO
We have had some experience with Cascade's DAFOs for several years.
They do a nice job in the quality and finishing of the orthoses,
however we find that the thin material that they exclusively utilize
is many times not ideal. I have seen times where the material just
did not hold up on some larger children.
Unfortunately, many times DAFOs are prescribed and fitted without any
Orthotist involved, so, in my opinion, they are not always ideally
matched to the patients needs. It is a case where the manufacturer
has marketed not to orthotists, but to other professionals. This I
believe has been very unfortunate.
Steve Fletcher, CPO
Shands Hospital at the University of Florida
Jim, Look atOrthomerica's website for a new tone reducing AFO program they
have. What is nice about this company is that they only sell their product
to orthotist! They can be found at www.Orthomerica.com
You may note that OrthoAmerica has recently come out with an entire line of
Dynamic AFO's both prefab and custom to cast at a lower cost than Cascade.
Personally, I prefer to do my own, though tedious and time consuming.
Besides
I've seen the sales pitch that Cascade practitioners (salesman) tour and
give
(mostly to therapists) encouraging them to perform the casting themselves
and
ship them off to Cascade for fabrication, rather than using a local
practitioner. It's sales techniques such as these that are ruining our
profession, so I refuse to use them, simply on principle.
I'm not a real strong advocate of the DAFO as I find they are not real cost
effective when you consider the labor involved as well as the amount of time
spent on adjustments and the fact they are usually worn by the very young
and
outgrown quite rapidly. I have yet to see proof that they are more
effective
in treatment of the high tone patient than the more traditional types of
orthoses. I also find the dynamic techniques being misused for patients
that
reap no rewards from it, such as the low tone patient. I do however, often
incorporate some of the principles/modifications into many of my AFO's, such
as a toe raise, metatarsal head depression and good calcaneal definition.
Vivian Alexander Wrote:
Dear Jim -
I am an orthotist living in Israel and much of our clientelle is made up of
children with C.P. Obviously Cascade is not a viable option for us but we
have seen their work and find it quite outstanding.
Therefore we would appreciate it if you could send us the answers you get
iether through the O and P list or directly.
Thank you very much,
Vivian Alexander.
Hi Jim,
I have been using Don's products for four years now. I have been very
satisfied. If you have not taken the two-day Cascade course, I highly
recommend it!
Have a good day,
received:
As a personal note I was hoping for a response more along the lines of do
the DAFO's work well for your patients. In stead I mostly got I love or Hate
Cascade (the company). I had several reply which I did not post ( one at the
senders' request ) which slammed cascade pretty hard. On a lighter note one
person suggested I find a good orthotist to make orthosis for my kids. I
guess the twenty years I have been a good orthotist do not count LOL. ( I
might add he did offer to make then for me) I think the biggest problem we
face as a field is this attitude of if it comes from some one else it must
be junk. We have a hard time seeing what is best for the patient because we
can not get past our ego! The truth is cascade would not be as large as they
are if orthotist's had not for years told PT's NO. When they asked for
DAFO's like orthosis. We as a rule told then I do not tell you how to do
your PT so do not tell me how to make braces. We gave cascade a foot hold
when we would not work as a team player. I know I am going to get a lot
replys to this, but we all know some one (or many) in the field with this
attitude.I have worked in four state for twenty years. Saddly I see kids
with poor fitting braces made by company that do not care, or are to strong
headed to know they are wrong. As long as we are more concerned with what is
best for us company like cascade will find a open door for there products.
Jim Butts RTO
We have had some experience with Cascade's DAFOs for several years.
They do a nice job in the quality and finishing of the orthoses,
however we find that the thin material that they exclusively utilize
is many times not ideal. I have seen times where the material just
did not hold up on some larger children.
Unfortunately, many times DAFOs are prescribed and fitted without any
Orthotist involved, so, in my opinion, they are not always ideally
matched to the patients needs. It is a case where the manufacturer
has marketed not to orthotists, but to other professionals. This I
believe has been very unfortunate.
Steve Fletcher, CPO
Shands Hospital at the University of Florida
Jim, Look atOrthomerica's website for a new tone reducing AFO program they
have. What is nice about this company is that they only sell their product
to orthotist! They can be found at www.Orthomerica.com
You may note that OrthoAmerica has recently come out with an entire line of
Dynamic AFO's both prefab and custom to cast at a lower cost than Cascade.
Personally, I prefer to do my own, though tedious and time consuming.
Besides
I've seen the sales pitch that Cascade practitioners (salesman) tour and
give
(mostly to therapists) encouraging them to perform the casting themselves
and
ship them off to Cascade for fabrication, rather than using a local
practitioner. It's sales techniques such as these that are ruining our
profession, so I refuse to use them, simply on principle.
I'm not a real strong advocate of the DAFO as I find they are not real cost
effective when you consider the labor involved as well as the amount of time
spent on adjustments and the fact they are usually worn by the very young
and
outgrown quite rapidly. I have yet to see proof that they are more
effective
in treatment of the high tone patient than the more traditional types of
orthoses. I also find the dynamic techniques being misused for patients
that
reap no rewards from it, such as the low tone patient. I do however, often
incorporate some of the principles/modifications into many of my AFO's, such
as a toe raise, metatarsal head depression and good calcaneal definition.
Vivian Alexander Wrote:
Dear Jim -
I am an orthotist living in Israel and much of our clientelle is made up of
children with C.P. Obviously Cascade is not a viable option for us but we
have seen their work and find it quite outstanding.
Therefore we would appreciate it if you could send us the answers you get
iether through the O and P list or directly.
Thank you very much,
Vivian Alexander.
Hi Jim,
I have been using Don's products for four years now. I have been very
satisfied. If you have not taken the two-day Cascade course, I highly
recommend it!
Have a good day,
Citation
Jim Butts, “Responces to DAFO's,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 17, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/211511.
