Analyzing changes in the way you walk can help tailor treatment
Gait is your manner, pattern, or style of walking. An easy walking gait is normal and healthy, but injury, illness, or muscle weakness can cause pain or functional mobility loss that affects your gait. Such changes in the way you walk are what medical professionals refer to as an altered gait cycle. This is unhealthy since compensating for an abnormality can cause injuries in other areas or put you at higher risk for a fall. hand therapy table
A doctor or physical therapist can analyze your gait cycle and offer strategies to help you walk easily and safely. Understanding what happens during a gait cycle can give you a better sense of what your healthcare professional is looking for when evaluating you and what might need to be addressed in therapy.
The gait cycle of the foot that is hitting the floor and accepting your weight when walking consists of specific phases, which you move through as you step. They include:
The other foot, which is simultaneously swinging through the air, goes through three phases:
Once these three phases are complete, and upon initial contact with the ground, this foot becomes the stance and the gait cycle repeats itself.
One foot swings through the air 40% of the time you're walking.
There are many types of gait patterns. Your physical therapist is trained to recognize them and offer strategies to maximize safe walking.
Gait analysis is done visually and your therapist may use video to evaluate your movements in slow-motion and take onscreen measurements.
After a gait analysis, your PT will examine you further to see why you are walking the way you are.
Learning about gait and the gait cycle is an important component of your physical therapist's education. By recognizing specific patterns and understanding what may be causing a gait problem, your physical therapist can prescribe the best exercises and strategies to restore your normal, safe gait pattern.
American Physical Therapy Association. Physical therapy guide to gait dysfunctions.
Nonnekes J, Giladi N, Guha A, Fietzek UM, Bloem BR, Růžička E. Gait festination in parkinsonism: introduction of two phenotypes. J Neurol. 266(2):426-430. doi:10.1007/s00415-018-9146-7
Li S, Francisco GE, Zhou P. Post-stroke hemiplegic gait: new perspective and insights. Front Physiol. 9:1021. doi:10.3389/fphys.2018.01021
Dunphy C, Casey S, Lomond A, et al. Contralateral pelvic drop during gait increases knee adduction moments of asymptomatic individuals. Hum Mov Sci. (49);27-35. doi:10.1016/j.humov.2016.05.008
Horst, F., Lapuschkin, S., Samek, W. et al. Explaining the unique nature of individual gait patterns with deep learning. Sci Rep 9, 2391 doi:10.1038/s41598-019-38748-8
By Laura Inverarity, DO Laura Inverarity, PT, DO, is a current board-certified anesthesiologist and former physical therapist.
Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up.
There was an error. Please try again.
Medical Equipment By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.