Gait analysis in Country Life Acres, MO. Gait analysis, alongside video motion analysis, is a method used by physical therapists and other healthcare providers to evaluate your mobility to offer better care and get you back to the things you enjoy most. Whether you’re an athlete healing from an injury or you’re trying to cope with arthritis, gait analysis can be part of an overall, evidence-backed treatment plan that’s personalized for your lifestyle and goals.

Your Country Life Acres, MO physical therapist can use gait analysis to:

• Detect and address gait disorders
• Uncover underlying musculoskeletal or nerve dysfunction that leads to pain or influences movement health
• Evaluate and monitor treatment outcomes
• Prevent and rehab injuries
• Prescribe orthotic or prosthetic devices
• Find footwear that’s comfortable and helps prevent injuries

At Axes Physical Therapy in Country Life Acres, MO, our staff of physical therapists base our practice on one thing: getting you back to what you enjoy most. If you’re curious if gait analysis is right for you, call the Axes’ location nearest you or schedule an appointment online to get started with your treatment today.

What Is Gait Analysis?

When carried out by professional physical therapists, gait analysis is an assessment of how you move, specifically how you walk and run. By understanding how you move, 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 combination of factors – strength, flexibility, coordination, vision, the vestibular system – gait analysis can provide a valuable look at what may be keeping you from living the life you want.

In a gait analysis appointment, your Axes physical therapist in Country Life Acres, 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 accurate understanding of your gait, your Country Life Acres, MO physical therapist can tailor your treatment and help you achieve the most benefit for your movement health and fitness.

Who Gait Analysis Can Help in Country Life Acres, MO

While gait analysis isn’t a therapy by itself, it offers important insights to your physical therapist about your movement health, allowing them to offer more targeted and personalized approach. As such, gait analysis can benefit a wide range of people in Country Life Acres, MO:

• Athletes searching for a competitive edge — Proper form becomes vital at the pinnacle of athletic competition. Gait analysis allows athletes to improve their form, identify strength imbalances and limited range of motion, and prevent injury.
• Athletes recuperating from injury — If you’re coming off an ACL tear or other sports injury, gait analysis can be used to track how your recovery’s going and verify that your body is recovering and gaining strength correctly.
• Others recovering from injury — Whether you were injured on the job, in a slip and fall, or underwent recent surgery, you don’t have to be an athlete to derive benefits from gait analysis in assisting your healing from injury.
• Runners — Whether you’re just starting out in a beginner running program or you’re an experienced veteran, gait analysis can help you in identifying the suitable footwear, which, together with other insights from gait analysis, can improve your speed, conserve energy, and lower the risk of injury.
• Amputees — Having a limb removed can significantly interrupt your mobility health, along with causing phantom pain. Gait analysis allows healthcare professionals to design and fit orthotic and prosthetic devices customized to your body and lifestyle. It can also assist you in adjusting to your new device and optimizing its performance and convenience.
• People with neurological conditions — Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, stroke, and other conditions can profoundly affect our day-to-day lives and mobility health. Gait analysis allows healthcare professionals to track disease progression, judge treatment effectiveness, and shape rehabilitation strategies.
• Older adults — Our bodies inevitably weaken as we age. This can cause an heightened risk of falling for older adults, along with degenerative conditions such as tendonitis and arthritis. Gait analysis can provide assistance in discovering ways to relieve pressure on aching joints, reduce injury risks, and examine the cognitive and motor elements of mobility health.

Regardless of why you’re considering physical therapy, whether it’s striving to ultimately run that marathon or simply enjoy your daily life without pain, Axes’ licensed physical and occupational therapists in Country Life Acres, MO will apply gait analysis to personalize your treatment, optimize your care, and assist you in returning to the activities you cherish.

Two Types of Gait Analysis

There are commonly two main types of gait analysis:

1. Qualitative gait analysis — Also known as clinical gait analysis, this technique entails a physical therapist personally observing your gait in real time and through video recordings. It enables the physical therapist to obtain a general overview of your mobility health and effortlessly detect any apparent patterns. Qualitative gait analysis relies on the clinical expertise of the therapist to make assessments.
2. Quantitative gait analysis — Also known as instrument-assisted gait analysis, this technique employs advanced technology, including sensors and motion capture software, to provide objective, measurable data regarding your gait. By using precise numerical values, it enables more in-depth analysis and monitoring of your progress over a period of time.

Both clinical and instrument-assisted gait analysis are appropriate in the right circumstances and with specific patients. At Axes, our team in Country Life Acres, MO possesses the capacity and knowledge to customize our gait analysis services to fulfill your particular needs.

Axes’ DorsaVi Video Motion Analysis in Country Life Acres, MO

At Axes, our primary objective is delivering positive patient outcomes and assisting individuals in returning to what they love most. To accomplish this, we employ every possible tool that can help our patients in Country Life Acres, MO. When conducting gait analysis in Country Life Acres, MO, our expert physical therapists employ innovative DorsaVi video motion analysis to provide both qualitative and quantitative services.

With DorsaVi video motion analysis:

• Sensors are placed on your body that record your movement, muscle activity, and static postures
• DorsaVi’s software converts that hard data into useful information that your physical therapist can examine
• During video replay, your movements are slowed down to enable a more comprehensive analysis and examination of your motion
• Your Axes’ physical therapist combines these insights with their professional observations to recommend successful, evidence-based treatment modalities
• Your progress is regularly monitored over time and compared against the normal population as well as your previous sessions

Axes’ Approach to Gait Analysis in Country Life Acres, MO

Axes Physical Therapy is dedicated to delivering our Country Life Acres, MO patients with effective, safe, and scientifically validated treatment plans that suit their daily lives and objectives. Gait analysis can be included in your personalized treatment plan:

• To get started, talk to your doctor to evaluate if gait analysis could be advantageous for you, or visit any Axes’ location for a complimentary injury screening.
• We’ll perform a comprehensive history taking and assessment to gain insight into your goals, preferences, and health background.
• We’ll form a partnership with you and your doctor, integrating the results of gait analysis into your all-encompassing treatment approach, optimizing your movement health, and promoting overall well-being.
• We’ll design personalized treatment plans integrating methodologies that have been proven through research and peer-reviewed studies, ensuring their success.
• In addition to offering physical therapy exercises, we’ll support you in choosing proper footwear, braces, or alternative devices, while informing you on sustaining proper posture and optimizing movement health, incorporating insights obtained from gait analysis.
• We’ll leverage gait analysis, alongside other measurable data and markers, to consistently evaluate your progress and adjust your treatment plan as necessary.

Axes provides a lot more than just a list of exercises to tick off. With decades of combined experience, professional knowledge, and advanced technologies at our fingertips, Axes offers a specialized team of physical therapists in Country Life Acres, MO who are motivated to deliver the best results in your treatment.

Other services we offer in Country Life Acres, MO include:

• Neck Pain Treatment
• 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

Call Axes’ for Your Gait Analysis in Country Life Acres, MO Today

Gait analysis is an invaluable tool that can significantly enhance your overall well-being and movement health, regardless of whether that involves gliding down the court or playing with your grandkids without pain. As we are dedicated to offering individualized treatment plans that are proven to work, we’re one of the limited number of clinics in the Country Life Acres, MO area that offer video motion analysis. If you want to optimize your movement health, reach out to the nearest Axes location or contact us online to determine if gait analysis in Country Life Acres, MO is suitable for you.