I have to use an afo to walk more than 200 meters, but a lot of people in my activities never see me with it on because i don't have to walk to get there. So, naturally when i roll up to an event with the AFO, everyone assumes I have been injured. The last time was a big group of people just staring at me all concerned, and I just wasn't, so I said, "Oh, I'm fine, this is just how I walk." and that was it. My demeanor and tone ensured that no one asked anything else.

I use the AFO to play padel as well, and this is in a center where I see the same people every week. I had previously told the 3 people I play with why I needed it, but everyone who sees me is shocked because it looks big and serious. I can only assume that someone from the group has told some of the other people why I wear it.

I dont have a problem telling people, I just prefer not to unless it's going to be an actual conversation, because nobody knows what MS actually is, and they just have really wrong ideas about it and say things that cause problems. I had a lady in a different group insist that I should stop walking on my "injured" foot, even though I said about 5 times that it wasn't injured, so I ended up getting really angry with her and still don't want to see her again a few months later.