Does this guy have a short leg or what? How good are your eyes?

One again, we had the gait cam, investigating gait on the east coast. What do we see in this gent?

  • heel strike on out side of left foot with increased progression angle

he appears to be stabilizing the left side during stance phase. notice the upper torso shift to the left during left stance phase

  • abbreviated arm swing on right

note that ankle rocker is adequate on the left

  • body lean to right on right stance phase

gluteus medius weakness on right? short leg on right?

Good.

  • Did you also notice the loss of ankle rocker on the right, compared to the left? This results in less hip extension on that side as well.
  • He flexes his right thigh less than his right during pre swing and swing

external obliques should be firing to initiate hip flexion, perpetuated by the psoas, iliacus and rectus femoris. This does not appear to be happening.

All of this is great BUT nothing like being able to actually examine your patients is there? You can see how gait analysis can tell us many things, but they need to be confirmed by a physical exam.

The Gait Guys. Educating (and hopefully enlightening) with each post. Keep your eyes open and your thinking from the ground up : )