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Walking seems as natural to you as breathing. There isn’t a way of doing it wrong, is there? But just as you can learn breathing techniques that improve your intake and use of oxygen, you can learn to walk or run better, too.
Although a gait analysis is usually associated with athletes who want to recover from or prevent sports injuries, nonathletes benefit from them, too. A gait analysis can help you improve your body mechanics to reduce or eliminate:
At Advanced Foot & Ankle Center, our board-certified podiatrists offer gait analysis to athletes and nonathletes alike. At our offices throughout Utah, you can learn to walk better and more efficiently.
What does a gait analysis reveal about your foot health? Below is a brief guide.
The first thing we look for when we conduct a gait analysis is how your feet hit the ground when you walk or run. The most important aspect of a healthy gait is a stable base. However, many people have misalignments in their feet that cause them to overpronate or underpronate.
Overpronation is a common misalignment that affects about 70% of people. If you overpronate, your foot rolls slightly inward when it strikes the ground.
The rolling motion transfers your weight to the inner portion of your foot, rather than distributing it evenly and centering it on the ball of your foot. You’re more likely to overpronate if you have low arches or flat feet.
If you underpronate, you hit the ground with the outer edge of your foot. The stress of the strike doesn’t get distributed to the rest of your foot, which can cause a jarring shock through your leg. Underpronation, also known as supination, is common to people who have high arches.
You might not think so, but there may be more efficient ways to run and walk than you’re currently utilizing. For instance, the best way to hit the ground is with the middle of your forefoot, which can more easily take the stress of the footfall and distribute it throughout your foot.
If you hit the ground with the ball of your foot or with your heel, the impact isn’t as well distributed. Hitting with your forefoot also allows you more easily to push off for your next stride with your toes.
Even if you’re not a runner, a gait analysis can help us understand your foot health and even your overall health. For instance, if you have diabetes, taking extra steps or walking at slower speeds suggests that you’ve developed neuropathy.
We evaluate several parameters to see if they fall within normal ranges (which are shown below in parentheses):
If any of your gait parameters lie outside the normal range, we then customize a treatment plan to help you attain a more normal, stable gait. That may include customized orthotics to correct over- or under-pronation, physical therapy to increase strength, and medications to control arthritis pain.
How well do you walk or run, and can you do it better, more efficiently, and less painfully? Find out by booking a gait analysis today by calling our team nearest you or using our online form.
