Gait analysis in New Town, MO. Gait analysis, alongside video motion analysis, is a method used by physical therapists and other healthcare professionals to assess your mobility to offer personalized care and return you to the things you like doing most. Whether you’re an athlete dealing with an injury or you’re trying to cope with chronic pain, gait analysis can be part of an overall, evidence-backed treatment plan that’s personalized for your lifestyle and goals.

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

• Detect and address gait disorders
• Discover underlying musculoskeletal or nerve impairment that causes pain or impacts movement health
• Measure and follow 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 Town, MO, our team of physical therapists base our practice on one thing: positive patient outcomes. If you’re curious if gait analysis would be beneficial for you, call the Axes’ location closest to you or make an appointment online to get started with your treatment today.

What Is Gait Analysis?

When performed by licensed 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 status of injury recovery, and more. Because our gaits our the product of a multitude of factors – strength, flexibility, coordination, vision, the vestibular system – gait analysis can provide a valuable look at what may be affecting your movement health.

In a gait analysis appointment, your Axes physical therapist in New Town, 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 Town, MO physical therapist can customize your treatment and help you get back to the things you love most.

Who Gait Analysis Can Help in New Town, MO

While gait analysis isn’t a healing method by itself, it offers crucial insights to your physical therapist about your mobility, allowing them to offer more focused and personalized approach. As such, gait analysis can be advantageous for a wide range of people in New Town, MO:

• Athletes desiring a competitive advantage — Correct form becomes essential at the peak of sports. Gait analysis allows athletes to improve their form, identify strength imbalances and limited range of motion, and prevent injury.
• Athletes healing from injury — If you’re recovering from an ACL tear or other sports injury, gait analysis can be used to track how your recovery’s going and confirm that your body is healing and building 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 facilitating your recuperation 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 other insights from gait analysis, can enhance your speed, conserve energy, and minimize the risk of injury.
• Amputees — Having a limb removed can significantly interrupt your mobility health, as well as 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 support you in acclimating to your new device and optimizing its performance and comfort.
• People with neurological conditions — Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, stroke, and various conditions can significantly influence our daily lives and movement health. Gait analysis allows healthcare professionals to track disease progression, judge treatment effectiveness, and shape rehabilitation strategies.
• Older adults — Our bodies inherently lose strength as we age. This may lead to an increased risk of falling for older adults, along with degenerative conditions such as tendonitis and arthritis. Gait analysis can be beneficial in discovering ways to relieve pressure on painful joints, mitigate injury risks, and examine the cognitive and motor elements of movement health.

No matter why you’re considering physical therapy, whether it’s aiming to eventually run that marathon or just engage in your day-to-day life without pain, Axes’ licensed therapists in New Town, MO will employ gait analysis to customize your treatment, optimize your care, and assist you in getting back to the experiences you love.

Two Types of Gait Analysis

There are commonly two primary types of gait analysis:

1. Qualitative gait analysis — Also known as clinical gait analysis, this approach entails a physical therapist directly observing your gait as you walk and through video recordings. It allows the physical therapist to acquire a general assessment of your mobility health and readily detect any observable patterns. Qualitative gait analysis utilizes the clinical expertise of the therapist to make assessments.
2. Quantitative gait analysis — Also known as instrument-assisted gait analysis, this method employs specialized technology, including sensors and motion capture software, to offer objective, measurable data concerning your gait. By employing precise numerical values, it allows more thorough analysis and tracking of your progress over time.

Both clinical and quantitative gait analysis are suitable in the right circumstances and with specific patients. At Axes, our team in New Town, MO possesses the ability and knowledge to tailor our gait analysis services to address your specific needs.

Axes’ DorsaVi Video Motion Analysis in New Town, MO

At Axes, our primary goal is delivering positive patient outcomes and assisting individuals in getting back to their cherished activities. To accomplish this, we employ every possible tool that can help our patients in New Town, MO. When conducting gait analysis in New Town, MO, our expert physical therapists utilize state-of-the-art DorsaVi video motion analysis to offer combined qualitative and quantitative analysis.

With DorsaVi video motion analysis:

• Sensors are attached to your body that track your movement, muscle activity, and static postures
• DorsaVi’s software interprets that complicated data into useful information that your physical therapist can review
• During video replay, your movements are slowed down to facilitate a more comprehensive analysis and examination of your movement
• Your Axes’ physical therapist combines these insights with their professional observations to prescribe efficient, evidence-based treatment modalities
• Your progress is continuously monitored over time and compared against the typical population as well as your previous sessions

Axes’ Approach to Gait Analysis in New Town, MO

Axes Physical Therapy is dedicated to offering our New Town, MO patients with successful, safe, and scientifically validated treatment plans that align with their daily lives and goals. Gait analysis can be part of your customized treatment plan:

• To start the process, ask your doctor if gait analysis may be beneficial for you, or visit any Axes’ location for a complimentary injury screening.
• We’ll carry out a thorough patient interview and assessment to understand your objectives, preferences, and medical history.
• We’ll create a partnership with you and your doctor, incorporating the findings of gait analysis into your holistic treatment approach, optimizing your movement health, and promoting overall well-being.
• We’ll design personalized treatment plans incorporating methodologies that have been proven through research and scholarly studies, ensuring their success.
• In addition to offering physical therapy exercises, we’ll assist you in selecting suitable footwear, braces, or alternative devices, while educating you on achieving proper posture and optimizing movement health, drawing on insights obtained from gait analysis.
• We’ll use gait analysis, alongside other quantitative data and indicators, to constantly assess your progress and modify your treatment plan as needed.

Axes delivers a lot more than just a series of exercises to complete. With decades of combined experience, clinical expertise, and innovative technologies at our disposal, Axes provides a dedicated team of physical therapists in New Town, MO who are driven to provide excellent results in your treatment.

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

Gait analysis is an invaluable tool that can positively enhance your overall health and movement health, whether that involves gliding down the court or going up stairs without pain. As we are dedicated to providing personalized treatment plans that are proven to work, we are among the limited number of clinics in the New Town, MO area that provide video motion analysis. If you want to optimize your movement health, get in touch with the nearest Axes location or contact us online to ascertain if gait analysis in New Town, MO is right for you.