What Is Gait Analysis and Who Needs It
Gait analysis is the clinical assessment of how you walk - evaluating stride length, foot strike, joint angles, muscle activation, and movement symmetry. At VPARC in Varanasi, Dr. Prashant Punj uses gait analysis as a diagnostic tool for patients with knee pain, hip pain, lower back pain, ankle problems, and those recovering from joint replacement surgery or neurological conditions.
Many musculoskeletal problems are caused not by the joint that hurts but by an abnormal loading pattern during walking. A patient with knee pain may have a gait deviation at the ankle or hip that is transmitting excessive stress upward. Treating the knee alone without addressing the gait pattern rarely produces lasting results.
The VPARC Gait Assessment Process
Dr. Punj observes walking at natural pace, slow pace, and on stairs where relevant. Key parameters assessed include foot strike pattern, ankle dorsiflexion, knee flexion at loading response, hip extension in push-off, pelvic obliquity and rotation, trunk lean, and arm swing symmetry.
For post-neurological patients including those with stroke, Parkinson's disease, or spinal cord injury, gait analysis forms the foundation of the rehabilitation programme and tracks walking quality improvements session by session.
For sports and active patients, running gait analysis is also available - identifying over-striding, excessive pronation, IT band loading patterns, and other biomechanical inefficiencies that cause injury or reduce performance.
Treatment Following Gait Analysis
Based on gait assessment findings, Dr. Punj creates a personalised rehabilitation plan. This typically includes strengthening exercises for underactive muscles such as gluteus medius, tibialis anterior, or hip flexors, mobility work for restricted joints, orthotic recommendations where appropriate, and progressive gait retraining exercises that normalise the walking pattern.
Conditions effectively treated through gait analysis and correction at VPARC include knee osteoarthritis, patellofemoral pain, hip impingement, ankle instability, post-TKR gait deviations, post-stroke hemiplegia gait, and Parkinson's shuffling gait.