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Friday, October 29, 2010

Top 100 Biomechanical Guideline #7: Gait Evaluation is a Great Key to seeing how various modalities effect stability



When we watch patients walk and run, called gait evaluation, it is the ideal time to check how various treatment modalities change for better or worse the stablity of gait. Common conditions that are evaluated by gait evaluation on a routine basis are:
  1. Shoe selection
  2. Power Lacing
  3. Various Shoe Modifications
  4. Insert Selection and Possible Modifications
  5. Bracing
  6. Taping
  7. Muscle Strengthening (seen over an extended period)
  8. Overal Improvement in Tone/Function fo the Lower Extremity through Pilates, Physical Therapy, Yoga, and other disciplines that can change gait patterns.


Here is a scene from the 2007 San Francisco Marathon. If you want to get good at gait evaluation or just some exposure, do what all podiatry students are taught in their first day of biomechanics class. Go out and watch people walk in the malls, on the streets, in races like this and you can get a feeling of what is smooth and gentle on the body, and what is not.

When I am treating my patients, I am trying to see what conditions make them stable and fluid in their motions. This allows for alot of experimentation at times with many different factors.


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Thank you very much for leaving a comment. Due to my time restraints, some comments may not be answered.I will answer questions that I feel will help the community as a whole.. I can only answer medical questions in a general form. No specific answers can be given. Please consult a podiatrist, therapist, orthopedist, or sports medicine physician in your area for specific questions.