Gait analysis in Leslie, MO. Gait analysis, also referred to as motion analysis, is a way physical therapists and other healthcare providers can examine your mobility to offer personalized treatment and get you back to the activities you love. Whether you’re an athlete dealing with an injury or you’re trying to handle arthritis, gait analysis can be part of an overall, evidence-backed treatment plan that’s personalized for your lifestyle and goals.

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

• Identify and manage gait disorders
• Find out hidden musculoskeletal or nerve dysfunction that results in pain or affects movement health
• Measure and follow treatment outcomes
• Prevent and rehabilitate injuries
• Prescribe orthotic or prosthetic devices
• Choose footwear that’s comfortable and helps prevent injuries

At Axes Physical Therapy in Leslie, MO, our team of physical therapists base our practice on one thing: getting you back to what you love most. If you’re curious if gait analysis would be beneficial for you, call the Axes’ location nearest you or schedule an appointment through our website to get started with your treatment today.

What Is Gait Analysis?

When done by professional physical therapists, gait analysis is an assessment of how you move, specifically how you walk and run. By understanding how you walk and run, your physical therapist can offer insights into muscle imbalances, injury risks, the progress 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 your overall movement health.

In a gait analysis appointment, your Axes physical therapist in Leslie, 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 precise insights into your gait, your Leslie, MO physical therapist can tailor your treatment and help you get the most benefit for your movement health and fitness.

Who Gait Analysis Can Help in Leslie, MO

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

• Athletes seeking a performance boost — Correct form becomes increasingly important at the peak of sports. Gait analysis allows athletes to improve their form, identify strength imbalances and range of motion limitations, 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 ensure that your body is recuperating and developing strength appropriately.
• Others recovering from injury — Whether you were injured at work, involved in a car accident, or had to get surgery, you don’t have to be an athlete to derive positives from gait analysis in aiding your recuperation from injury.
• Runners — Whether you’re just starting out in a beginner running program or you’re an experienced runner, gait analysis can aid you in finding the appropriate footwear, which, coupled with further insights from gait analysis, can boost your speed, preserve energy, and minimize the probability of injury.
• Amputees — Having a limb removed can significantly interrupt your movement 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 assist you in adjusting to your new device and maximizing its function and comfort.
• People suffering from neurological conditions — Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, stroke, and other conditions can significantly impact our everyday lives and movement health. Gait analysis allows healthcare professionals to monitor disease progression, assess treatment effectiveness, and direct rehabilitation strategies.
• Older adults — Our bodies naturally lose strength as we age. This can result in an increased risk of falling for older adults, in addition to degenerative conditions like tendonitis and arthritis. Gait analysis can provide assistance in identifying ways to lessen pressure on painful joints, reduce injury risks, and assess the cognitive and motor elements of mobility health.

No matter the reason you’re considering physical therapy, whether it’s working to ultimately run that marathon or just enjoy your day-to-day life without pain, Axes’ licensed therapists in Leslie, MO will apply gait analysis to customize your treatment, optimize your care, and assist you in getting back to the experiences you cherish.

Two Types of Gait Analysis

There are typically two major types of gait analysis:

1. Qualitative gait analysis — Also known as clinical gait analysis, this method entails a physical therapist personally watching your gait as you walk and through video recordings. It enables the physical therapist to gain a general assessment of your mobility health and easily spot any apparent patterns. Qualitative gait analysis depends on the professional judgment 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 deliver objective, measurable data concerning your gait. By employing precise numerical values, it allows greater 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 situations and with specific patients. At Axes, our team in Leslie, MO has the capabilities and expertise to customize our gait analysis services to fulfill your individual needs.

Axes’ DorsaVi Video Motion Analysis in Leslie, MO

At Axes, our main aim is delivering positive patient outcomes and assisting individuals in getting back to what they love most. To accomplish this, we make use of every possible tool that can help our patients in Leslie, MO. When conducting gait analysis in Leslie, MO, our highly skilled physical therapists employ cutting-edge DorsaVi video motion analysis to offer combined qualitative and quantitative analysis.

With DorsaVi video motion analysis:

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

Axes’ Approach to Gait Analysis in Leslie, MO

Axes Physical Therapy is committed to providing our Leslie, MO patients with successful, safe, and evidence-backed treatment plans that fit their daily lives and objectives. Gait analysis can be incorporated into your personalized treatment plan:

• To get started, consult your doctor to evaluate if gait analysis could be beneficial for you, or come to any Axes’ location for a no-risk, no-obligation injury screening.
• We’ll carry out a thorough patient interview and physical examination to gain insight into your objectives, preferences, and health background.
• We’ll build a partnership with you and your doctor, integrating the insights from gait analysis into your holistic treatment approach, enhancing your movement health, and promoting overall wellness.
• We’ll create personalized treatment plans integrating methodologies that have been proven through research and scholarly studies, ensuring their success.
• In addition to providing physical therapy exercises, we’ll help you in choosing suitable footwear, braces, or other devices, while educating you on achieving proper posture and optimizing movement health, incorporating insights gained from gait analysis.
• We’ll use gait analysis, alongside other measurable information and indicators, to constantly assess your growth and modify your treatment plan as needed.

Axes provides a lot more than just a list of exercises to complete. With decades of combined experience, clinical expertise, and cutting-edge technologies at our fingertips, Axes offers a committed team of physical therapists in Leslie, MO who are motivated to deliver optimal results in your treatment.

Other services we offer in Leslie, 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 Leslie, MO Today

Gait analysis is an invaluable tool that can significantly contribute to your overall well-being and performance, regardless of whether that means moving down the court or playing with your grandkids without pain. As we are committed to providing individualized, evidence-based treatment plans, we are one of the few clinics in the Leslie, MO area that provide video motion analysis. If you want to enhance your movement health, contact the nearest Axes location or contact us online to ascertain if gait analysis in Leslie, MO is appropriate for you.