Gait Analysis

The science of walking and running

What is Gait?

Gait is the technical term for walking (or running). Everybody is different and as such your muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones interact in subtly different ways. One person may have more dominant muscles down the fronts of their legs and another down the back. One person may have a highly arched foot another more flat. However this is normal for you, but pain is not! If you are in pain when walking or running, that is your body letting you know that something isn't quite right. Other changes that may occur are dragging of feet, imbalance and poor coordination or soft tissue (muscle, ligament or tendon) damage.

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All is not lost

Gait changes can occur normally with age and more often than not as a result of some muscle weakness or overuse injury. We have a number of tools in our tool kit that can assist in rectifying these changes from muscle strengthening or stretching exercises to orthotics. We will analyse the way you walk using our in-shoe pressure analysis system, which will highlight how the pressure of your foot hitting the ground changes through the different phases of your normal walking cycle. We will also look at the rest of your body while in motion to direct us to possible causes of your discomfort.

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How can you tell what's wrong?

Gait analysis is the technical term for looking at the way you walk or run. Podiatrists are specialists at doing this. The motion from the big toe joint to the hips and lower back are instrumental in functional gait motion. A thorough gait analysis allows us to measure pressure distributions as the foot strikes the ground as well as the angular changes that occur during each phase. The foot doesn't just hit the ground and come off again but multiple muscles fire in a specific order to allow this to happen, locking and unlocking the foot to allow rigidity and flexibility at particular points. When something goes wrong the gait analysis shows small changes in loading pressures and pathways. Our World Class Footscan system and Podosmart in-shoe analysis allows us to do just that, breaking down the individual components of the gait cycle to millisecond accuracy. The Footscan and Phits insole technology is endorsed by global superstars like Mo Farah and Paula Radcliffe.

Immediate data collation and feedback
Provides additional information as to root cause of issues
Accurate dynamic and static gait analysis
Also used for plantar pressure information of the diabetic foot

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Related treatments

Acupuncture

Often we will incorporate Acupuncture with Laser Therapy.

The Laser will stimulate the Acupuncture pressure points and can result in better responses in your healing.
The meridians and trigger points are the same in many cases and we can use the 2 treatments to increase the speed of your recovery and reduction in your pain.

Find out a bit more about Acupuncture here:

Acupuncture Acupuncture

Orthotics

We can offer a range of orthotics that will fit in your shoes, whether it is off the shelf or customised specific to you. The purposes of the device may be directed by the podiatrist to reduce load on particular parts of the foot or to help reduce strain on muscles, tendons or ligaments.

Orthotics Orthotics

Laser therapy

Low level lasers can help with many of the conditions we see in clinic such as acute and chronic problems, pain, wounds, musculo-skeletal conditions, neurological pain and nerve damage, skin conditions and diseases.

Laser Therapy Laser Therapy

FAQs

What do I need to bring?

Ideally we would like you to wear shorts or tight fitting leggings for your Gait Analysis. It is important that we are able to see how your hip, knee and ankle move while walking to understand where there may be changes or stress occurring. We may want to watch you walk or run in footwear you would normally wear, so bringing an assortment may help. We will also take a full medical history, so if you take any prescription medications please bring a list of these with you.

How long is the appointment?

Generally speaking the appointment will last about an hour and can be quite a hands on affair. Alongside watching you walk, we will also test your joints and muscle strength as well as your flexibility. This will help to guide your treatment plan and locate the cause of your pain. If you would prefer a male or female podiatrist please let us know in advance.

Gait Analysis

The science of walking and running

What is Gait?

All is not lost

How can you tell what's wrong?

Immediate data collation and feedback

Provides additional information as to root cause of issues

Accurate dynamic and static gait analysis

Also used for plantar pressure information of the diabetic foot