Gait analysis in Town and Country, MO. Gait analysis, also known as motion analysis, is a method used by physical therapists and other healthcare practitioners to evaluate your mobility to offer personalized care and return you to the activities you love. Whether you’re an athlete healing 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 Town and Country, MO physical therapist can use gait analysis to:

• Diagnose and treat gait disorders
• Discover underlying musculoskeletal or nerve impairment that results in pain or impacts movement health
• Evaluate and monitor 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 Town and Country, MO, our staff of physical therapists base our practice on one thing: positive patient outcomes. If you’re wondering if gait analysis would be beneficial for you, call the Axes’ location most convenient for 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 evaluation 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 combination 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 Town and Country, 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 Town and Country, MO physical therapist can tailor your treatment and help you get back to the things you love most.

Who Gait Analysis Can Help in Town and Country, MO

While gait analysis isn’t a therapy by itself, it provides crucial data to your physical therapist about your mobility, allowing them to offer more focused and customized approach. As such, gait analysis can positively impact a wide range of people in Town and Country, MO:

• Athletes searching for a performance boost — Correct form becomes increasingly important at the peak 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 coming back 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 recovering and gaining strength correctly.
• 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 benefits from gait analysis in aiding your recuperation from trauma.
• Runners — Whether you’re just starting out in a beginner running program or you’re an experienced veteran, gait analysis can assist you in finding the right footwear, which, together 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 disrupt your movement 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 suffering from neurological conditions — Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, stroke, and various conditions can profoundly affect our everyday lives and movement health. Gait analysis allows healthcare professionals to observe disease progression, judge treatment effectiveness, and shape rehabilitation strategies.
• Older adults — Our bodies inherently lose strength as we age. This can cause an heightened risk of falling for older adults, in addition to degenerative conditions such as tendonitis and arthritis. Gait analysis can be beneficial in discovering ways to lessen pressure on painful joints, mitigate injury risks, and assess the cognitive and motor aspects of mobility health.

Regardless of why you’re considering physical therapy, whether it’s striving to eventually run that marathon or just enjoy your daily life without pain, Axes’ licensed physical and occupational therapists in Town and Country, MO will apply gait analysis to personalize your treatment, maximize 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 technique entails a physical therapist personally observing your gait in real time and through video recordings. It enables the physical therapist to obtain a overall overview of your mobility health and easily spot any noticeable patterns. Qualitative gait analysis depends on 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, quantifiable data concerning your gait. By employing precise numerical values, it enables 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 circumstances and with specific patients. At Axes, our team in Town and Country, MO possesses the capabilities and knowledge to customize our gait analysis services to fulfill your individual needs.

Axes’ DorsaVi Video Motion Analysis in Town and Country, MO

At Axes, our main objective is delivering positive patient outcomes and helping individuals in returning to their cherished activities. To accomplish this, we employ every available tool that can help our patients in Town and Country, MO. When conducting gait analysis in Town and Country, MO, our highly skilled physical therapists employ cutting-edge DorsaVi video motion analysis to offer both qualitative and quantitative services.

With DorsaVi video motion analysis:

• Sensors are positioned on your body that track your motion, muscle activity, and static postures
• DorsaVi’s software translates that complicated data into helpful information that your physical therapist can analyze
• During playback, your movements are slowed down to enable a more thorough analysis and examination of your motion
• Your Axes’ physical therapist integrates these insights with their clinical observations to prescribe successful, evidence-based treatment modalities
• Your progress is continuously tracked over time and evaluated against the normal population as well as your previous sessions

Axes’ Approach to Gait Analysis in Town and Country, MO

Axes Physical Therapy is dedicated to delivering our Town and Country, MO patients with successful, safe, and research-supported treatment plans that fit their lifestyles and goals. Gait analysis can be included in your individualized treatment plan:

• To start the process, consult your doctor to determine if gait analysis might be beneficial for you, or come to any Axes’ location for a free injury screening.
• We’ll perform a thorough history taking and assessment to understand your objectives, preferences, and health background.
• We’ll build a team with you and your doctor, including the results of gait analysis into your comprehensive treatment approach, optimizing your movement health, and promoting overall wellness.
• We’ll create personalized treatment plans incorporating methodologies that have been proven through research and scholarly studies, ensuring their efficacy.
• In addition to providing physical therapy exercises, we’ll help you in selecting suitable footwear, braces, or other devices, while educating you on maintaining proper posture and enhancing movement health, utilizing insights gained from gait analysis.
• We’ll utilize gait analysis, together with other measurable information and indicators, to consistently evaluate your progress and adapt your treatment plan as needed.

Axes provides much more than simply a series of exercises to complete. With decades of combined experience, clinical expertise, and innovative technologies at our fingertips, Axes offers a dedicated team of physical therapists in Town and Country, MO who are driven to provide the best results in your treatment.

Other services we offer in Town and Country, 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 Town and Country, MO Today

Gait analysis is an invaluable tool that can positively enhance your overall well-being and performance, whether that involves gliding down the field or climbing stairs without discomfort. As we are committed to providing individualized, evidence-based treatment plans, we are the few clinics in the Town and Country, MO area that offer video motion analysis. If you want to optimize your movement health, contact the nearest Axes location or contact us online to find out if gait analysis in Town and Country, MO is suitable for you.