Gait refers to a person’s
movement and gestures. It involves
actions like walking, running, skipping, hopping, and other movements that
bring the body from point A to B. ‘Gait Analysis’ is a specialised method or set of methods
designed to assess the way a person performs these actions. A gait analysis can
highlight different biomechanical abnormalities.
To avoid injuries, the body needs
to move efficiently. Keeping your joints healthy is critical to providing your
body sufficient range of movement and giving your muscles the ability to
produce enough force, which is vital in generating an efficient gait cycle.
Stiff joints and tight muscles limit the body's range of motion and make the
muscles weak. As a natural response, the body compensates for the problem—and
this may lead to biomechanical abnormalities such as overpronation and
oversupination, increased Q angle, hip hiking or hitching (lifting of the hip
on one side), ankle equinus (limited ankle dorsiflexion), and pelvic tilt
(anterior, posterior, or lateral tilt). These biomechanical problems are
usually caused by muscular imbalances such as tight muscles working against
weaker muscles. Other times, they are caused by structural problems like leg
length discrepancies that result in hip hiking.
Gait analysis, which usually
involves walking/running on a treadmill, is performed by a trained professional
such as an osteopath, physiotherapist or podiatrist. In most cases, a
professional simply watches the way that the test-taker moves, with particular
emphasis on the feet, ankles, hips, and knees. In a specialist setting,
however, a video recorder is usually set up behind the treadmill to film your
gait cycle. The clip is later relayed to a laptop where freeze frames and slow
motion images can be used to assess your movements more carefully. This kind of
gait analysis puts
focus on the ankles and feet.
