Gait analysis in Campbellton, MO. Gait analysis, alongside video motion analysis, is a way physical therapists and other healthcare professionals can examine your mobility to offer better treatment and return you to the activities you love. Whether you’re an athlete healing from an injury or you’re trying to manage chronic pain, gait analysis can be part of an overall, evidence-backed treatment plan that’s personalized for your lifestyle and goals.

Your Campbellton, MO physical therapist can use gait analysis to:

• Detect and address gait disorders
• Uncover hidden musculoskeletal or nerve dysfunction that results in pain or impacts movement health
• Assess and track treatment outcomes
• Prevent and recover from injuries
• Prescribe orthotic or prosthetic devices
• Find footwear that’s comfortable and helps prevent injuries

At Axes Physical Therapy in Campbellton, MO, our staff of physical therapists base our practice on one thing: positive patient outcomes. If you’re curious if gait analysis can help you, call the Axes’ location nearest you or make an appointment online to get started with your treatment today.

What Is Gait Analysis?

When carried out by licensed physical therapists, gait analysis is an assessment of how you move, specifically how you walk and run. By gaining precise information about how you walk and run, your physical therapist can offer insights into muscle imbalances, injury risks, the status of injury recovery, and more. Because our gaits our the result of a variety of factors – strength, flexibility, coordination, vision, the vestibular system – gait analysis can provide a valuable look at your overall movement health.

In a gait analysis appointment, your Axes physical therapist in Campbellton, MO will look at:

• Step length and width
• Cadence (number of steps taken per minute)
• Foot and ankle alignment to see if you have tendencies towards pronation (inward rolling) or supination (outward rolling)
• Joint movement and range of motion
• Movement of the pelvis to see if there is excessive rotating or titling
• Stability, balance, and body sway (the amount of lateral movement)
• Step repeatability (the similarity of your steps)

With a exact understanding of your gait, your Campbellton, MO physical therapist can customize your treatment and help you get back to the things you love most.

Who Gait Analysis Can Help in Campbellton, MO

While gait analysis isn’t a therapy in and of itself, it provides essential insights to your physical therapist about your movement health, allowing them to offer more targeted and customized treatment. As such, gait analysis can positively impact a wide range of people in Campbellton, MO:

• Athletes searching for a competitive advantage — Proper form becomes increasingly important at the zenith of competition. Gait analysis allows athletes to improve their form, identify muscle imbalances and range of motion limitations, and prevent injury.
• Athletes recovering from injury — If you’re coming off an ACL tear or other sports injury, gait analysis can be used to track your progress and ensure that your body is recuperating and developing strength adequately.
• Others recovering from injury — Whether you were injured at work, involved in a car accident, or need post-surgical therapy, you don’t have to be an athlete to derive benefits from gait analysis in assisting your healing from trauma.
• Runners — Whether you’re just starting out in a beginner running program or you’re a seasoned vet, gait analysis can help you in discovering the suitable footwear, which, along with other insights from gait analysis, can enhance your speed, conserve energy, and lower the risk of injury.
• Amputees — Having a limb removed can drastically disrupt your mobility health, as well as causing phantom pain. Gait analysis allows healthcare professionals to design and fit orthotic and prosthetic devices tailored to your body and lifestyle. It can additionally support you in acclimating to your new device and maximizing its performance and comfort.
• People suffering from neurological conditions — Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, stroke, and other conditions can profoundly influence our everyday functioning and mobility health. Gait analysis enables healthcare professionals to track disease progression, evaluate treatment effectiveness, and shape rehabilitation strategies.
• Older adults — Our bodies inevitably weaken as we age. This can result in an elevated risk of falling for older adults, as well as degenerative conditions like tendonitis and arthritis. Gait analysis can be beneficial in discovering ways to relieve pressure on sore joints, minimize injury risks, and evaluate the cognitive and motor aspects of mobility health.

No matter the reason you’re seeking out physical therapy, whether it’s striving to finally run that marathon or just engage in your day-to-day life without pain, Axes’ licensed therapists in Campbellton, MO will employ gait analysis to customize your treatment, optimize your care, and help you in getting back to the activities you enjoy.

Two Types of Gait Analysis

There are generally two primary types of gait analysis:

1. Qualitative gait analysis — Also known as clinical gait analysis, this approach entails a physical therapist personally watching your gait in real time and through video recordings. It enables the physical therapist to gain a overall overview of your mobility health and easily detect any apparent patterns. Qualitative gait analysis relies on the clinical expertise of the therapist to reach conclusions.
2. Quantitative gait analysis — Also known as instrument-assisted gait analysis, this approach employs specific technology, including sensors and motion capture software, to provide objective, quantifiable data about your gait. By utilizing precise numerical values, it allows more thorough analysis and monitoring of your improvement over time.

Both qualitative and instrument-assisted gait analysis are suitable in the right situations and with specific patients. At Axes, our team in Campbellton, MO possesses the capabilities and knowledge to tailor our gait analysis services to fulfill your specific needs.

Axes’ DorsaVi Video Motion Analysis in Campbellton, MO

At Axes, our main objective is delivering positive patient outcomes and helping individuals in returning to what they love most. To accomplish this, we employ every available tool to support our patients in Campbellton, MO. When conducting gait analysis in Campbellton, MO, our highly skilled physical therapists utilize cutting-edge DorsaVi video motion analysis to provide combined qualitative and quantitative analysis.

With DorsaVi video motion analysis:

• Sensors are placed on your body that monitor your movement, muscle activity, and static postures
• DorsaVi’s software converts that algorithmic information into valuable information that your physical therapist can review
• During playback, your movements are slowed down to facilitate a more detailed analysis and examination of your motion
• Your Axes’ physical therapist incorporates these insights with their clinical observations to prescribe efficient, proven treatment modalities
• Your progress is continuously monitored over time and compared against the normal population as well as your prior sessions

Axes’ Approach to Gait Analysis in Campbellton, MO

Axes Physical Therapy is committed to offering our Campbellton, MO patients with successful, safe, and research-supported treatment plans that suit their daily lives and objectives. Gait analysis can be part of your personalized treatment plan:

• To start the process, ask your doctor if gait analysis may be beneficial for you, or come to any Axes’ location for a free injury screening.
• We’ll perform a thorough patient interview and assessment to gain insight into your objectives, preferences, and health background.
• We’ll form a partnership with you and your doctor, incorporating the findings of gait analysis into your holistic treatment approach, improving your movement health, and promoting overall wellness.
• We’ll design personalized treatment plans integrating methodologies that have been confirmed through research and scholarly studies, ensuring their success.
• In addition to offering physical therapy exercises, we’ll support you in choosing appropriate footwear, braces, or alternative devices, while educating you on sustaining proper posture and optimizing movement health, drawing on insights gained from gait analysis.
• We’ll leverage gait analysis, together with other measurable data and indicators, to consistently assess your growth and adapt your treatment plan as necessary.

Axes offers much more than simply a list of exercises to check off. With decades of combined experience, clinical expertise, and innovative technologies at our disposal, Axes provides a specialized team of physical therapists in Campbellton, MO who are determined to provide the best results in your treatment.

Other services we offer in Campbellton, MO include:

• Physical Therapy Clinic
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment
• Sciatica Treatment
• Sports Medicine
• Hand Pain Physical Therapy
• Foot & Ankle Pain Treatment
• Hip Pain Treatment
• Plantar Fasciitis Treatment
• Stroke Rehabilitation
• Hip Replacement Physical Therapy

Call Axes’ for Your Gait Analysis in Campbellton, MO Today

Gait analysis is an invaluable tool that can greatly improve your overall health and performance, regardless of whether that means flying down the field or climbing stairs without pain. As we are committed to offering customized treatment plans that are proven to work, we are one of the limited number of clinics in the Campbellton, MO area that provide video motion analysis. If you want to optimize your movement health, contact the nearest Axes location or contact us online to determine if gait analysis in Campbellton, MO is suitable for you.