Gait Training

Gait training improves walking; it is as simple as that. How you walk can significantly impact your life, from excess energy usage to unnecessary injury. What makes the way you walk (a.k.a. your gait) abnormal? A walking abnormality can be as obvious as a limp or waddle or something much more subtle, requiring a trained eye. Kreis Physical Therapy knows all about gait training and can assist you in gaining a healthy gait in Catonsville, MD, and Canton or Brewers Hill, Baltimore.

Gait Training in Baltimore, MD

Gait training is a form of physical therapy that, as mentioned, improves walking by having patients practice a series of exercises over a period of time. Kreis Physical Therapy can help you regain your gait after surgery or a lower extremity injury. You may also qualify for this medical treatment if you have any of the following:

• Balance disorder
• Movement disorder
• Neurological disorder
• Foot problem
• Deformity
• Vision problem

Even if none of these conditions apply to you, but you still experience an abnormal gait, gait training can significantly benefit your life. If you have doubts about whether you qualify, your primary care physician can help you. If you have any questions, you can also contact us!

Learning about Gait Training

Physical therapists have names to identify different types of gaits and gait abnormalities, including antalgic, Parkinsonian, scissors, spastic, Diabetic, and Trendelenburg gait. Easy signs for you to tell if there is an abnormal gait would be:

• Shuffling or dragging feet
• Frequent small steps
• Lack of knee bending
• Too much knee bending (high steppage)
• Swaying (waddling)
• Too much hip movement (Trendelenburg)
• Balance issues
• Pain when walking

What gait training can do for a patient is reduce the chance of gait-related injury, remove pain from an abnormal gait, and conserve energy. A physical therapist can achieve these results through various exercises for strength, range of motion, walking, and stepping.