Gait analysis in New Haven, MO. Gait analysis, also referred to as motion analysis, is a method used by physical therapists and other healthcare professionals to evaluate your movement to offer personalized care and return you to the things you love most. Whether you’re an athlete healing from an injury or you’re trying to handle chronic pain, gait analysis can be part of an overall, evidence-backed treatment plan that’s tailored to your lifestyle and goals.

Your New Haven, MO physical therapist can use gait analysis to:

• Identify and manage gait disorders
• Discover hidden musculoskeletal or nerve dysfunction that results in pain or impacts movement health
• Assess and track treatment outcomes
• Prevent and rehabilitate injuries
• Prescribe orthotic or prosthetic devices
• Find footwear that’s comfortable and helps prevent injuries

At Axes Physical Therapy in New Haven, MO, our team of physical therapists are committed to one thing: getting you back to what you love most. If you’re wondering if gait analysis can help you, call the Axes’ location nearest you or make an appointment through our website to get started with your treatment today.

What Is Gait Analysis?

When carried out by qualified physical therapists, gait analysis is an evaluation 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 progress of injury rehabilitation, and more. Because our gaits our the product 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 New Haven, 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 New Haven, MO physical therapist can tailor your treatment and help you get back to the things you love most.

Who Gait Analysis Can Help in New Haven, MO

While gait analysis isn’t a treatment by itself, it provides valuable data to your physical therapist about your motion, allowing them to offer more targeted and personalized treatment. As such, gait analysis can benefit a wide range of people in New Haven, MO:

• Athletes desiring a competitive advantage — Proper form becomes increasingly important at the highest level of competition. Gait analysis allows athletes to improve their form, identify 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 your progress and ensure that your body is recovering and gaining strength adequately.
• Others recovering from injury — Whether you were injured on the job, involved in a car accident, or underwent recent surgery, you don’t have to be an athlete to gain advantages from gait analysis in facilitating 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 aid you in identifying the appropriate footwear, which, coupled with additional insights from gait analysis, can boost your speed, save energy, and reduce the risk of injury.
• Amputees — Having a limb removed can drastically disrupt your mobility health, in addition to causing phantom pain. Gait analysis allows healthcare professionals to design and fit orthotic and prosthetic devices tailored to your body and lifestyle. It can also assist you in adjusting to your new device and optimizing its performance and comfort.
• People with neurological conditions — Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, stroke, and various conditions can profoundly influence our day-to-day lives and mobility health. Gait analysis enables healthcare professionals to track disease progression, evaluate treatment effectiveness, and direct rehabilitation strategies.
• Older adults — Our bodies inevitably lose strength as we age. This can cause an elevated risk of falling for older adults, as well as degenerative conditions like tendonitis and arthritis. Gait analysis can offer support in identifying ways to relieve pressure on aching joints, mitigate injury risks, and evaluate the cognitive and motor facets of movement health.

No matter the reason you’re seeking out physical therapy, whether it’s working to eventually run that marathon or just engage in your day-to-day life without pain, Axes’ licensed therapists in New Haven, MO will employ 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 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 in real time and via video recordings. It enables the physical therapist to obtain a general overview of your mobility health and effortlessly identify any observable patterns. Qualitative gait analysis utilizes the clinical expertise of the therapist to draw conclusions.
2. Quantitative gait analysis — Also known as instrument-assisted gait analysis, this approach employs specialized technology, including sensors and motion capture software, to deliver objective, measurable data about your gait. By employing precise numerical values, it allows more detailed analysis and tracking of your progress over time.

Both clinical and instrument-assisted gait analysis are appropriate in the right situations and with specific patients. At Axes, our team in New Haven, MO possesses the capacity and knowledge to personalize our gait analysis services to address your specific needs.

Axes’ DorsaVi Video Motion Analysis in New Haven, MO

At Axes, our main focus is delivering positive patient outcomes and helping individuals in getting back to what they love most. To accomplish this, we employ every available tool that can help our patients in New Haven, MO. When conducting gait analysis in New Haven, MO, our highly skilled physical therapists utilize innovative DorsaVi video motion analysis to provide combined qualitative and quantitative analysis.

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 examine
• During video replay, your movements are slowed down to enable a more comprehensive analysis and breakdown of your motion
• Your Axes’ physical therapist combines these insights with their clinical observations to prescribe efficient, proven treatment modalities
• Your progress is regularly tracked over time and evaluated against the normal population as well as your prior sessions

Axes’ Approach to Gait Analysis in New Haven, MO

Axes Physical Therapy is committed to delivering our New Haven, MO patients with successful, safe, and research-supported treatment plans that fit their lifestyles and objectives. Gait analysis can be part of your individualized treatment plan:

• To begin the process, talk to your doctor to evaluate if gait analysis may be helpful for you, or come to any Axes’ location for a free injury screening.
• We’ll carry out a comprehensive history taking and physical examination to understand your goals, preferences, and health background.
• We’ll build a team with you and your doctor, incorporating the findings of gait analysis into your holistic treatment approach, enhancing your movement health, and promoting overall wellness.
• We’ll develop personalized treatment plans incorporating methodologies that have been confirmed through research and scholarly studies, ensuring their effectiveness.
• In addition to offering physical therapy exercises, we’ll help you in choosing appropriate footwear, braces, or other devices, while informing you on maintaining proper posture and improving movement health, drawing on insights acquired from gait analysis.
• We’ll utilize gait analysis, together with other quantitative data and markers, to continuously evaluate your progress and modify your treatment plan as necessary.

Axes offers much more than simply a series of exercises to complete. With decades of combined experience, professional knowledge, and advanced technologies at our fingertips, Axes provides a dedicated team of physical therapists in New Haven, MO who are driven to deliver optimal results in your treatment.

Other services we offer in New Haven, 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 New Haven, MO Today

Gait analysis is an invaluable tool that can positively improve your overall well-being and performance, regardless of whether that means gliding down the field or playing with your grandkids without pain. As we are committed to providing customized, evidence-based treatment plans, we’re one of the few clinics in the New Haven, MO area that provide video motion analysis. If you want to improve your movement health, call the nearest Axes location or contact us online to find out if gait analysis in New Haven, MO is appropriate for you.