Gait Analysis in Maryville, IL | Physical & Occupational Therapy

Gait analysis in Maryville, IL. Gait analysis, also referred to as motion analysis, is a method used by physical therapists and other healthcare professionals to assess your mobility to offer better therapy and get you back to the activities you love. Whether you’re an athlete recovering from an injury or you’re trying to cope with chronic pain, gait analysis can be part of an overall, evidence-backed plan of care that’s personalized for your lifestyle and goals.

Your Maryville, IL physical therapist can use gait analysis to:

Detect and address gait disorders
Find out underlying musculoskeletal or nerve impairment that leads to pain or affects movement health
Measure and follow treatment outcomes
Prevent and rehabilitate injuries
Prescribe orthotic or prosthetic devices
Select footwear that’s comfortable and helps prevent injuries

At Axes Physical Therapy in Maryville, IL, our staff of physical therapists base our practice on one thing: getting you back to what you love most. If you’re curious if gait analysis is right for you, call the Axes’ location closest to you or make an appointment through our website to get started with your treatment today.

What Is Gait Analysis?

When carried out by credentialed 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 multitude 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 Maryville, IL 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 precise understanding of your gait, your Maryville, IL physical therapist can tailor your treatment and help you get back to the things you love most.

Who Gait Analysis Can Help in Maryville, IL

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

Athletes looking for a competitive edge in their sport — Correct form becomes crucial at the pinnacle of competition. Gait analysis allows athletes to improve their form, address strength imbalances and restricted mobility, and prevent injury.
Athletes recuperating from injury — If you’re recovering from an ACL tear or other sports injury, gait analysis can be used to monitor how your recovery’s going and ensure that your body is recuperating and gaining strength adequately.
Anyone else 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 gain positives from gait analysis in aiding your recovery from injury.
Runners — Whether you’re just starting out in a beginner running program or you’re a seasoned runner, gait analysis can help you in discovering the right footwear, which, along with further insights from gait analysis, can enhance your speed, conserve energy, and reduce the risk of injury.
Amputees — Having a limb removed can greatly disrupt your mobility health, in addition to 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 maximizing its function and comfort.
Those with neurological conditions — Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, stroke, and various conditions can greatly affect our everyday functioning and mobility health. Gait analysis allows healthcare professionals to monitor disease progression, evaluate treatment effectiveness, and direct rehabilitation strategies.
Older adults — Our bodies inherently lose strength as we age. This can cause an heightened risk of falling for older adults, as well as degenerative conditions such as tendonitis and arthritis. Gait analysis can be beneficial in finding ways to alleviate pressure on sore joints, minimize injury risks, and assess the cognitive and motor facets of movement health.

Regardless of why you’re considering physical therapy, whether it’s aiming to eventually run that marathon or just enjoy your daily life without pain, Axes’ licensed physical and occupational therapists in Maryville, IL will apply gait analysis to customize your treatment, maximize your care, and help you in returning to the pursuits you enjoy.

Two Types of Gait Analysis

There are typically two major types of gait analysis:

Qualitative gait analysis — Also known as clinical gait analysis, this method entails a physical therapist personally observing your gait in real time and through video recordings. It allows the physical therapist to gain a broad overview of your movement health and readily spot any observable patterns. Qualitative gait analysis utilizes the professional judgment of the therapist to reach conclusions.
Quantitative gait analysis — Also known as instrument-assisted gait analysis, this method employs advanced technology, including sensors and motion capture software, to provide objective, quantifiable data concerning your gait. By employing precise numerical values, it allows greater detailed analysis and tracking of your improvement over time.

Both qualitative and quantitative gait analysis are suitable in the right situations and with specific patients. At Axes, our team in Maryville, IL has the capabilities and knowledge to customize our gait analysis services to address your individual needs.

Axes’ DorsaVi Video Motion Analysis in Maryville, IL

At Axes, our primary focus is achieving positive patient outcomes and helping individuals in getting back to their cherished activities. To accomplish this, we employ every available tool to support our patients in Maryville, IL. When conducting gait analysis in Maryville, IL, our highly skilled physical therapists employ innovative DorsaVi video motion analysis to offer combined qualitative and quantitative services.

With DorsaVi video motion analysis:

Sensors are positioned on your body that monitor your motion, muscle activity, and static postures
DorsaVi’s software converts that complicated data into helpful information that your physical therapist can analyze
During playback, your movements are slowed down to facilitate a more thorough analysis and examination of your motion
Your Axes’ physical therapist combines these insights with their clinical observations to prescribe effective, evidence-based treatment modalities
Your progress is regularly monitored over time and evaluated against the average population as well as your prior sessions

Gait Analysis in Maryville, IL | Injury Rehab and Prevention | Physical and Occupational Therapists Near Maryville

Axes’ Approach to Gait Analysis in Maryville, IL

Axes Physical Therapy is dedicated to providing our Maryville, IL patients with successful, safe, and scientifically validated treatment plans that align with their daily lives and objectives. Gait analysis can be incorporated into your customized treatment plan:

To start the process, consult 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 detailed patient interview and assessment to understand your goals, preferences, and health background.
We’ll create a partnership with you and your doctor, integrating the insights from gait analysis into your all-encompassing treatment approach, optimizing your mobility health, and promoting overall wellness.
We’ll develop personalized treatment plans integrating methodologies that have been validated through research and scholarly studies, ensuring their efficacy.
In addition to offering physical therapy exercises, we’ll support you in selecting suitable footwear, braces, or alternative devices, while informing you on sustaining proper posture and optimizing movement health, utilizing insights obtained from gait analysis.
We’ll use gait analysis, alongside other measurable information and markers, to continuously assess your progress and adjust your treatment plan as needed.

Axes provides a lot more than simply a list of exercises to tick off. With decades of combined experience, clinical expertise, and innovative technologies at our disposal, Axes provides a dedicated team of physical therapists in Maryville, IL who are determined to deliver the best results in your treatment.

Other services we offer in Maryville, IL include:

Call Axes’ for Your Gait Analysis in Maryville, IL Today

Gait analysis is an invaluable tool that can greatly enhance your overall well-being and performance, whether that involves gliding down the field or going up stairs without discomfort. 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 Maryville, IL area that provide video motion analysis. If you want to enhance your movement health, call the nearest Axes location or contact us online to find out if gait analysis in Maryville, IL is suitable for you.

Gait Analysis Maryville, IL