Are you having difficulty moving freely and comfortably? There may be something going on that is difficult to identify at the surface or from your medical or injury history. In some instances, to diagnose where your pain is coming from, we need to monitor the way you move.
A professionally conducted dynamic gait analysis by one of our podiatrists in Northcote will assess the alignment of your feet, knees, and hips during walking, as well as your overall posture. This may allow us to determine the main cause of your discomfort, such as plantar fasciitis.
We tailor your treatment, such as custom orthotics, based on your individual needs. Together, we want to help you return to better functionality and comfort. Read on to learn more about gait analysis.
What is Gait Analysis?
A gait analysis is an assessment of how you walk, run, and move your feet. We use these in an effort to see if there are any issues, such as biomechanical faults, that may be causing you pain or discomfort.
Before your gait analysis, we will discuss your symptoms, concerns, footwear, lifestyle, relevant history, and goals.
During the gait analysis, we ask you to walk and/or run on a treadmill. As you move, we use high-definition digital video equipment to record and assess your walking or running pattern. This enables frame-by-frame analysis, allowing us to look for biomechanical faults and potential diagnoses.
As you walk or run, we look at:
- The way your lower limbs and joints move
- Where and how your foot lands
- Your step rate and length
- Your overall postural alignment and movement
Gait analysis may also be used during and after treatment to assess your progress and identify whether further changes may be required.
How Gait Analysis May Help You
Gait analysis is often used for many reasons, including people with widely varying lifestyles, symptoms, and goals. Several potential main targets of gait analysis include:
- Diagnosis of a condition or injury
- Injury prevention by addressing gait inconsistencies or abnormalities
- Enhancement of athletic performance through gait retraining
- Improved movement efficiency
- Decreased pain and discomfort when standing, walking, and/or running
- Development of a personalised treatment plan
Treatment will be personalised to your needs, and the target outcomes and results from your gait analysis aim to allow for specific adjustments. As a result of your analysis, your plan may include aspects such as:
Learning and adopting different running or walking techniques
Prescription of strengthening exercises and stretches
Footwear guidance
Modification to training load and overall movement
What Conditions May Benefit From Gait Analysis?
Many people may benefit from undertaking a gait analysis. Whether you run for fun, play sports professionally, or sit at a desk all day, this form of assessment may help to improve your quality of life.
Alongside assisting with meeting performance and movement goals, gait analysis may help with particular conditions. Some of these include:
- Plantar fasciitis
- Ankle, knee, and hip pain
- Achilles tendonitis
- Lower back pain
- Overuse and gradual wear and tear
- Stress fractures
- Shin splints
- IT band syndrome
- Sporting and running injuries
Biomechanical Faults
A biomechanical fault is an issue with the structure of an area of your body that influences the way you move. This may be the way you were born, or it may be because of an injury, postural changes, or a condition.
Biomechanical faults may lead to suboptimal function of your joints, muscles, and other relevant soft tissues, affecting your mobility, movement efficiency, and comfort.
Common biomechanical faults relevant to your gait may include:
- Tightness in the lower leg muscles
- Different leg lengths
- Excessive pelvic tilt
- Excessive foot pronation
Foot Pronation
Too much foot pronation (where your foot rolls inward) is one of the most common biomechanical faults. The arch appears to flatten, and your ankle moves over and towards the ground.
Excess foot pronation may lead to many issues due to abnormal movement and altered shock transmission as the foot contacts the ground during movement. These issues may include:
- Collapsed foot arch
- Lower leg rotation
- Knee rotation
- Lowered hip and pelvis
- Joint misalignment and instability
- Pain, aching, and fatigue in the feet, ankles, knees, hips, and back
Gait Analysis at the Ankle, Foot & Orthotic Centre
Gait analysis often plays a dynamic and valuable role when dealing with many issues that cause discomfort, reduced mobility and functionality, and negative effects on daily life. It aims to enable your trained podiatrist to see faults and abnormalities that are hard to see with the naked eye.
If you would like to better understand your movement and potentially benefit from our passionate and experienced team’s assessment, diagnosis, intervention, and guidance, please contact us today to make an appointment.
