Gait analysis in St. Ann, MO. Gait analysis, also called motion analysis, is a way physical therapists and other healthcare providers can examine your movement to offer better therapy and return you to the things you love most. Whether you’re an athlete healing from an injury or you’re trying to manage chronic pain, gait analysis can be part of an overall, evidence-backed plan of care that’s tailored to your lifestyle and goals.

Your St. Ann, MO physical therapist can use gait analysis to:

• Identify and manage gait disorders
• Find out underlying musculoskeletal or nerve dysfunction that leads to pain or impacts movement health
• Evaluate and monitor 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 St. Ann, MO, our team of physical therapists base our practice on one thing: positive patient outcomes. If you’re wondering if gait analysis is right for you, call the Axes’ location nearest you or request an appointment online 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 gaining precise information about 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 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 St. Ann, 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 St. Ann, MO physical therapist can tailor your treatment and help you achieve the most benefit for your movement health and fitness.

Who Gait Analysis Can Help in St. Ann, MO

While gait analysis isn’t a treatment in and of itself, it offers essential data to your physical therapist about your movement health, allowing them to offer more focused and personalized approach. As such, gait analysis can positively impact a wide range of people in St. Ann, MO:

• Athletes searching for a competitive edge — Proper form becomes essential at the highest level of athletic competition. Gait analysis allows athletes to improve their form, identify muscle 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 verify that your body is healing and gaining strength appropriately.
• Anyone else recovering from injury — Whether you were injured at work, in a slip and fall, or need post-surgical therapy, you don’t have to be an athlete to gain advantages from gait analysis in assisting 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 assist you in discovering the appropriate footwear, which, coupled with other insights from gait analysis, can boost your speed, preserve energy, and reduce the probability of injury.
• Amputees — Having a limb removed can drastically interrupt your mobility health, in addition to resulting in phantom pain. Gait analysis allows healthcare professionals to design and fit orthotic and prosthetic devices tailored to your body and lifestyle. It can also help you in adapting to your new device and maximizing its performance and convenience.
• People suffering from neurological conditions — Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, stroke, and other conditions can greatly affect our everyday lives and movement health. Gait analysis allows healthcare professionals to observe disease progression, evaluate treatment effectiveness, and shape rehabilitation strategies.
• Older adults — Our bodies naturally weaken as we age. This can cause an increased risk of falling for older adults, along with degenerative conditions like tendonitis and arthritis. Gait analysis can be beneficial in finding ways to relieve pressure on sore joints, minimize injury risks, and evaluate the cognitive and motor elements of mobility health.

Regardless of the reason you’re considering physical therapy, whether it’s working to ultimately run that marathon or just engage in your day-to-day life without pain, Axes’ licensed therapists in St. Ann, MO will employ gait analysis to customize your treatment, maximize your care, and help you in getting back to the experiences you cherish.

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 personally observing your gait as you walk and through video recordings. It enables the physical therapist to obtain a general assessment of your mobility health and easily identify any noticeable patterns. Qualitative gait analysis relies on the professional judgment 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, quantifiable data about your gait. By using precise numerical values, it allows more in-depth analysis and monitoring of your improvement over a period of time.

Both qualitative and instrument-assisted gait analysis are appropriate in the right situations and with specific patients. At Axes, our team in St. Ann, MO has the capacity and knowledge to personalize our gait analysis services to address your specific needs.

Axes’ DorsaVi Video Motion Analysis in St. Ann, MO

At Axes, our primary aim is achieving positive patient outcomes and assisting individuals in returning to what they love most. To accomplish this, we employ every available tool that can help our patients in St. Ann, MO. When conducting gait analysis in St. Ann, MO, our experienced physical therapists employ cutting-edge DorsaVi video motion analysis to offer both 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 translates that complex data into valuable information that your physical therapist can examine
• During playback, your movements are slowed down to aid a more detailed analysis and breakdown of your movement
• Your Axes’ physical therapist incorporates these insights with their professional observations to prescribe successful, evidence-based treatment modalities
• Your progress is continuously monitored over time and compared against the normal population as well as your previous sessions

Axes’ Approach to Gait Analysis in St. Ann, MO

Axes Physical Therapy is dedicated to offering our St. Ann, MO patients with effective, safe, and research-supported treatment plans that align with their lifestyles and goals. Gait analysis can be incorporated into your personalized treatment plan:

• To get started, ask your doctor if gait analysis could be helpful for you, or visit any Axes’ location for a free injury screening.
• We’ll perform a thorough patient interview and assessment to understand your objectives, preferences, and medical history.
• We’ll create a partnership with you and your doctor, integrating the results of gait analysis into your holistic treatment approach, improving your mobility health, and promoting overall well-being.
• We’ll develop personalized treatment plans integrating methodologies that have been proven through research and peer-reviewed studies, ensuring their effectiveness.
• In addition to providing physical therapy exercises, we’ll support you in picking proper footwear, braces, or alternative devices, while informing you on achieving proper posture and optimizing movement health, drawing on insights gained from gait analysis.
• We’ll utilize gait analysis, alongside other measurable data and markers, to constantly review your growth and adapt your treatment plan accordingly.

Axes offers a lot more than just a list of exercises to tick off. With decades of combined experience, clinical expertise, and state-of-the-art technologies at our fingertips, Axes offers a specialized team of physical therapists in St. Ann, MO who are driven to provide optimal results in your treatment.

Other services we offer in St. Ann, 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 St. Ann, MO Today

Gait analysis is an invaluable tool that can greatly enhance your overall health and movement health, regardless of whether that means gliding down the field or climbing stairs without discomfort. As we are dedicated to offering customized treatment plans that are proven to work, we’re one of the limited number of clinics in the St. Ann, MO 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 St. Ann, MO is suitable for you.