A thorough biomechanical assessment forms a vital part of your injury management. Seeing how your body moves through running, walking or sport specific movements allows us not only to correctly diagnose your injury, but also uncover the potential risk factors posed by weaknesses, imbalances or restrictions.
A significant aspect of your assessment is a running or walking gait analysis. We look closely at the way you are moving each an every day, taking into consideration how each joint is moving and how that impacts fluid function through the entire body. We complete gait analysis at both our Torquay clinic and Geelong clinic, where our Podiatrists are skilled in gait analysis. You will be taken through slow motion video analysis of your walking or running, describing to you what is happening with your technique and how this might play a role in your injury. If deemed necessary, we can also look into gait retraining as part of your holistic management plan.
In addition to assessing your gait pattern, we also look at how you complete specific exercises and movements. We will often break down sport specific or lifestyle specific movements into slower, more controlled movements. How the body performs these tasks will tell us a lot about the body's capacity to perform these movements when we increase the speed, intensity or external stimulus. Depending on what type of exercise or sport you do, we will look at things like calf strength, hip stability, proprioception & balance. Our Geelong Podiatry Clinic has access to a gym space which is fantastic for incorporating lots of different movements and our Torquay Podiatry Clinic has access to a similar space with the addition of Physio and Pilates.
If you have any questions regarding running assessment / running technique and it's involvement in injury management then please do not hesitate to reach out to our Geelong or Torquay Podiatry Teams hello@movepod.com.au