Gait analysis is essential for understanding human movement, as the ability for individuals to move freely, continuously, and without pain is necessary for survival, health, and well-being. We move in order to live, to work, to play, and to interact with our world and others. If pain, illness, disease, or injury prevents us from doing so, then our lives would certainly feel diminished. Our very independence depends on it.
The Need for Assistive Devices
Sometimes, canes, crutches, walkers, and wheelchairs become necessary as assistive devices, simply because human beings have a relentless need to move despite our limitations. Our goal is to thrive first and foremost, but if unable to do so, then reducing our attrition becomes paramount.
The Role of Physiotherapists in Gait Analysis
Physiotherapists work collaboratively as part of a healthcare community that aims to help people thrive. Keeping individuals moving frequently and well is part of our mandate, our passion, and our reason for being. Physiotherapists spend their entire careers studying human movement. We study how joints, ligaments, tendons, and muscles move. We even study how our eyes move whenever the vestibular system or brain is injured.
We then “zoom out” and observe how each person stands, walks, hops, jumps, and runs as each body part works harmoniously together. And if anything looks abnormal or inefficient, then our job is to “zoom back in” to determine the reasons for the abnormality. This back-and-forth process is extremely complex, dynamic, and person-specific. No two people move the same way since no two are affected by their work, lives, and sports in the same way.
Ankle Dorsiflexion: Walking uphill requires a sufficient amount of bend in the ankle called dorsiflexion. If this is insufficient, a limp is inevitably observed.
Comprehensive Gait Analysis at Elevation Physiotherapy
Here at Elevation Physiotherapy, we perform gait analysis as part of a comprehensive assessment to determine how people move. Every gait analysis starts with a careful history that takes into account a person’s full health background. We then proceed to test the individual joints, muscles, tendons, and ligaments of each joint critical for the person’s movement difficulties. After that, we test movement in single planes and then progress to multiple planes, eventually working up to more complex movements like walking, hopping, skipping, jumping, and running, if the person is able.
Observing Movement Errors and Improving Efficiency
We analyze gait, or a person’s ability to walk and run, for many reasons. Most often, it is performed to observe movement errors and to improve movement efficiency.
Movement Errors: If a person has sustained an injury or an illness or is struggling with pain, then their ability to walk and run normally is often compromised. The body typically tries to compensate for the loss or restriction; however, it can only do so for a limited period before it creates a different and new problem. While compensations can be helpful and necessary at times, they can also be unhealthy and unsustainable. Identifying movement errors and correcting them takes skill, experience, and an understanding of the whole person as part of a larger decision-making process to determine if the compensations should be maintained or removed.
Movement Efficiency: Compensatory movement patterns are often the body’s way of maintaining or improving movement efficiency. Again, some compensations are beneficial, while others may not be. Because no two people move the same way, deciding whether an observed pattern is normal can be challenging. Maximizing movement efficiency without placing additional stress on other systems is key.
Hip Extension: The ability of our hip to extend backwards when walking is vital. If this is reduced, one common compensation is excessive trunk rotation and low back extension.
The Significance of Gait Analysis in Sports
Movement errors and movement efficiency are especially important in sport due to their repetitive nature and potentially high impact forces. Runners, for example, are particularly prone to injuries due to the demands of this sport. A Running Gait Analysis is typically conducted both on the treadmill and on the ground to observe such errors and inefficiencies. Here at Elevation Physiotherapy, we use specialized computer software to perform video analysis. Joint angles can be measured at different parts of the gait cycle to determine if they are moving within normal limits.
The video recording is then shared and discussed with the patient so that they can observe their own movement and gain a better understanding of what to improve upon—because rarely do we observe ourselves walking or running.
Running Hip Angle: Higher hip angles of 80 degrees or more indicate good hip abductor strength during the most impactful phase of a running gait cycle.
Take the Next Step in Your Gait Analysis Journey
A picture is worth a thousand words. But when the right words explain the picture, we can truly see the forest for the trees. Only then will our patients understand the importance of their home exercise program for their knee, for example, so they can walk and run better, with less pain and greater efficiency. It is the difference maker between the split-second time for the runner and the additional 1,000 steps for the walker.
If you’re ready to improve your movement and overall well-being, we invite you to book a Gait Analysis through Elevation Physiotherapy today!