In this blog post, Bristol Manager and Physio Leanne Plenge, reveals what a physiotherapist looks for when analysing your walking or running pattern (gait).
I met up with John Stephenson at AAA-Physio in Bristol recently to discuss his special interest in gait analysis and biomechanics. We discussed the benefits of truly getting to the bottom of a tricky persistent inner knee pain in a runner by carefully analysing their running technique, and correcting the faults you observe. This takes a trained eye and years of seeing the various differences that runners and triathletes present with. John uses a running machine with purpose-built video analysis equipment, so that he can slow the footage down and focus on the problem areas. This can be really useful as even a professional assessment can often miss some important findings when movement analysis is not utilised.
John and I share a common interest in treating patients with lower limb injuries. Whereas John uses movement analysis in his clinic, I treat my clients at home using body weight and functional exercise. There are many different ways to assess whether your gait pattern is influencing your symptoms whilst running or walking. A Physiotherapist can utilise lots of different assessment techniques to identify what might need changing including gait analysis with video footage, as well as observation of you walking and breaking down the phases of your gait into stages to assess where the problems lie. Assessing the length and strength of the muscles used to walk and run, and how these muscles work in combination is important. It is also essential to analyse the neuromuscular connection as you may have strong muscles but if the messages to the muscles from the brain are not sharp and accurate, then they won’t work effectively when you need them to.
If you have a problem with your walking or running and you are getting pain when doing either, don’t ignore it, contact us now for an assessment. Your physio will be able to provide a training programme to correct any problems in your gait pattern. Contact us today on 0207 884 0374 or email us at info@physiocomestoyou.com.
