Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet- Thich Nhat Hanh
One of the things that a Physical Therapist evaluates when you have your initial visit is how you are walking. Gait changes are very common with injuries to the back, hip, knees or ankles. One of the most important things you can do is to start to walk as normally as possible after your injury or surgery. The sooner you get back to a normal gait pattern, the better you will be. Often after surgery you may have crutches, a walker, or limitations per you doctor about weight bearing status which assist you for support until you can fully weight bear.
A normal gait pattern begins with the heel strike, knee lock, mid stance, pelvis moving forward, and the knee bends and swings through with release. Often times when we have pain we protect that body part and change our gait. Sometimes, we don’t load the side involved and create an imbalance and the other limb works more. Other times we don’t bend the knee through swing phase and keep it locked and then create hip hiking and circumducting of that leg. In addition, with leg weakness we often see poor knee extension at heel strike.
Our bodies are remarkable and they do remember normal gait given the cues from yourself and your PT.
So remember to…
- Hit the heel first and lock the knee
- Weight bear onto the leg and move the pelvis over the top of the leg, then the knee bends and swing the knee through!
Before you know it, you will be back enjoying your walks with great appreciation!