Why is Gait Analysis Essential?
Whether patients are weekend warriors or occasional athletes, their bodies are susceptible to a variety of injuries from chronic overuse or misuse. You may have even experienced one of them yourself, but they are extremely common, can be debilitating and require recurring care.
We're talking about some common injuries, such as shin splints, plantar fasciitis, iliotibial band syndrome (runner's knee), patella tendonitis (jumper's knee), patello-femoral knee pain, Achilles tendonitis and lower back pain.
These common injuries aren't the result of one jarring collision, or a cut which causes a tear. They're the result of imperfections in a persons gait which, over time, add up and ultimately debilitate patients.
What is Gait Analysis?
Gait analysis is the study of Human Locomotion!
In the past, gait analysis has involved subjective metrics: viewing the way a patient moves, viewing video of patients or watching still images of their gait.
Today Gait analysis has evolved to incorporate technology that provides objective data in real-time of a person's Balance from the right side of the body to the left.
With data feedback in real-time a doctor, physical therapists or medical professional can quantitatively measure inefficiencies or asymmetries of the body and target these gait abnormalities of the patient.
Corrections to the Gait Cycle
Gait abnormalities are easy to correct today with a change in footwear, orthotics or an exercise regimen designed to address these specific issues. The hardest part, until now, has been discovering where the abnormalities are, and their extent. That's where the OptoGait comes in!