Gait Analysis in Roxana, IL | Physical & Occupational Therapy

Gait analysis in Roxana, IL. Gait analysis, in combination with video motion analysis, is a way physical therapists and other healthcare providers can assess your movement to offer personalized care and get you back to the things you like doing most. Whether you’re an athlete recovering from an injury or you’re trying to handle chronic pain, gait analysis can be part of an overall, evidence-backed plan of care that’s personalized for your lifestyle and goals.

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

Diagnose and treat gait disorders
Discover underlying musculoskeletal or nerve impairment that leads to pain or impacts movement health
Evaluate and monitor treatment outcomes
Prevent and recover from injuries
Prescribe orthotic or prosthetic devices
Find footwear that’s comfortable and helps prevent injuries

At Axes Physical Therapy in Roxana, IL, our staff of physical therapists are committed to one thing: positive patient outcomes. If you’re curious if gait analysis is right for you, call the Axes’ location closest to you or schedule an appointment through our website 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 walk and run, your physical therapist can offer insights into muscle imbalances, injury risks, the status of injury rehabilitation, 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 your overall movement health.

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

Who Gait Analysis Can Help in Roxana, IL

While gait analysis isn’t a treatment by itself, it offers crucial data to your physical therapist about your movement health, allowing them to offer more specific and customized treatment. As such, gait analysis can benefit a wide range of people in Roxana, IL:

Athletes searching for a performance boost — Proper form becomes increasingly important at the highest level of athletic 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 your progress and ensure that your body is healing and building strength appropriately.
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 gain advantages from gait analysis in assisting your recovery from trauma.
Runners — Whether you’re just starting out in a beginner running program or you’re a seasoned runner, gait analysis can assist you in finding the right footwear, which, coupled with additional insights from gait analysis, can improve your speed, preserve energy, and lower the chance 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 adapting to your new device and optimizing its function and convenience.
Those with neurological conditions — Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, stroke, and other conditions can significantly impact our day-to-day functioning and mobility health. Gait analysis allows healthcare professionals to track disease progression, evaluate treatment effectiveness, and direct rehabilitation strategies.
Older adults — Our bodies inherently lose strength as we age. This can cause an elevated risk of falling for older adults, in addition to degenerative conditions like tendonitis and arthritis. Gait analysis can offer support in identifying ways to relieve pressure on painful joints, mitigate injury risks, and examine the cognitive and motor aspects of movement health.

Regardless of why you’re seeking out physical therapy, whether it’s aiming to finally run that marathon or simply enjoy your day-to-day life without pain, Axes’ licensed physical and occupational therapists in Roxana, IL 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 typically two primary types of gait analysis:

Qualitative gait analysis — Also known as clinical gait analysis, this technique entails a physical therapist personally watching your gait in real time and through video recordings. It enables the physical therapist to obtain a broad overview of your mobility health and readily spot any noticeable patterns. Qualitative gait analysis relies on the professional judgment of the therapist to make assessments.
Quantitative gait analysis — Also known as instrument-assisted gait analysis, this technique employs specific technology, including sensors and motion capture software, to deliver objective, quantifiable data regarding your gait. By using precise numerical values, it allows greater in-depth analysis and tracking of your improvement over a period of time.

Both clinical and quantitative gait analysis are appropriate in the right circumstances and with specific patients. At Axes, our team in Roxana, IL has the ability and expertise to personalize our gait analysis services to meet your individual needs.

Axes’ DorsaVi Video Motion Analysis in Roxana, IL

At Axes, our main focus is achieving positive patient outcomes and assisting individuals in returning to what they love most. To accomplish this, we utilize every possible tool to support our patients in Roxana, IL. When conducting gait analysis in Roxana, IL, our experienced physical therapists employ innovative DorsaVi video motion analysis to provide combined qualitative and quantitative analysis.

With DorsaVi video motion analysis:

Sensors are attached to your body that record your motion, muscle activity, and static postures
DorsaVi’s software converts that hard data into valuable information that your physical therapist can examine
During video replay, your movements are slowed down to aid a more comprehensive analysis and breakdown of your motion
Your Axes’ physical therapist integrates these insights with their professional observations to prescribe successful, proven treatment modalities
Your progress is regularly tracked over time and evaluated against the normal population as well as your previous sessions

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

Axes’ Approach to Gait Analysis in Roxana, IL

Axes Physical Therapy is devoted to offering our Roxana, IL patients with successful, safe, and evidence-backed treatment plans that align with their daily lives and objectives. Gait analysis can be part of your personalized treatment plan:

To get started, ask your doctor if gait analysis could be advantageous for you, or come to any Axes’ location for a no-risk, no-obligation injury screening.
We’ll perform a thorough patient interview and physical examination to understand your goals, preferences, and health background.
We’ll form a team with you and your doctor, including the findings of gait analysis into your all-encompassing treatment approach, improving your movement health, and promoting overall well-being.
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 assist you in choosing proper footwear, braces, or alternative devices, while educating you on sustaining proper posture and optimizing movement health, utilizing insights acquired from gait analysis.
We’ll utilize gait analysis, alongside other quantitative data and markers, to continuously assess your progress and adjust your treatment plan accordingly.

Axes delivers a lot more than simply a series of exercises to check off. With decades of combined experience, clinical expertise, and cutting-edge technologies at our disposal, Axes provides a committed team of physical therapists in Roxana, IL who are determined to provide optimal results in your treatment.

Other services we offer in Roxana, IL include:

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

Gait analysis is an invaluable tool that can significantly enhance your overall health and movement health, regardless of whether that means soaring down the court or climbing stairs without pain. As we are dedicated to offering customized, evidence-based treatment plans, we are the limited number of clinics in the Roxana, IL area that offer video motion analysis. If you want to optimize your movement health, call the nearest Axes location or contact us online to ascertain if gait analysis in Roxana, IL is suitable for you.

Gait Analysis Roxana, IL