Walking & Running Assessments in Canberra
Podiatrists call walking and running assessments, ‘gait analysis’. Gait analysis is an assessment of the dynamics and coordination of the various sections of the body during the phases of walking and running. The assessment identifies potential inefficiencies or abnormalities in your special technique of walking or running. This data is used in conjunction with other tests and assessments to diagnose, recognise potential causes and identify ways to improve your pain, injury, discomfort or fatigue.
How is gait analysed?
Walking in the hallway with/without video: At our practice in Florey we have a lovely wide 10 metre corridor with a 5 meter extension into the waiting room. This gives our podiatrists the best chance to pick up as much information about how you move. You will do several laps of our corridor.
Treadmill walking or running with video: This is an easier position to video your walking or running gait as you aren’t moving further or closer away to the camera. The video playback helps us to closely evaluate how you move.
Podosmart innersoles: These smart innersoles are placed within your athletic shoes before you go for your 1–3 minute walk or run. You can do up to 15 minutes if you want! There are heaps of sensors in the innersoles to detect speed, step length, angles and other tiny movements in gait. The data is relayed back to the podiatrist’s computer who then analyses for inefficiencies that were not detected by our visual assessment.
Gait analysis helps to diagnose, recognise potential causes & identify ways to improve your pain, injury, discomfort or fatigue.
What happens during & after a gait analysis?
For running or race walking assessments we usually take people outside. The Florey shops is in a fantastic location for this as we have plenty of footpaths, grass, slopes and flat areas. To be clear, we only do a running gait analysis on patients if they run or want to run during your chosen activity.
After our Podiatrists have concluded all assessments, we discuss with the patient our findings, the diagnosis of your condition and how to treat/manage your pain, injury or concern.
More gait assessments will likely occur in follow up consultations so we can assess for improvements.