The Gait Assessment process involves more than just "watching you walk or run." It is a multi-step process to ensure that you purchase the shoe that:
There are many factors involved in the assessment. We start by evaluating your current worn shoe. Examining the insole and outer sole of your current shoe tells us a lot about your gait. We can usually see impressions in the insole that inform us about your foot distribution within the shoe. Is there more wear on the interior side (medial) or outside (lateral) side? Is there significant wear in the arch area? What does the heel imprint look like? Is the posterior lateral edge of the heel the most worn?
We also look for any shoe modifications that may have been made to your current shoe. For example, do you wear an orthotic? Is there a heel cushion or metatarsal pad? These modifications are important when we select the shoes for fitting.
Next, we examine your foot. Is your foot lean and boney, stocky, muscular? Does your foot flare out, in, or is it straight? Are your arches high, medium, or low? How do your arches change from non-weight bearing to weight bearing. Is your big toe the longest; or is the second or third toe longer? Do you have a hammer toe or crossover toes? Do you have any bunions or bunionettes?
Do you have any other foot conditions that we need to be aware? For example, do you have Plantar Fascitis, Heel Spur, Pump Bump, Neuroma, or previous surgeries?
After we have an appreciation for your foot characteristics and health, we ask you to "walk the red carpet." While you are walking, we are looking to see how your foot, arches, and ankles move. The question is not whether or not you pronate. Every foot pronates during the gait cycle. The question is really to what extent you pronate -- Under Pronation? Normal Pronation? Over Pronation?
Normal pronation occurs when the outside part of the heel makes initial contact with the ground. The foot "rolls" inward about fifteen percent, comes in complete contact with the ground, and can support your body weight without any problem. The rolling in of the foot optimally distributes the forces of impact. This movement is called "pronation," and it's critical to proper shock absorption. At the end of the gait cycle, you push off evenly from the front of the foot. Under-pronation or supination occurs when there is less inward movement of the foot. The forces of impact are then concentrated on the outside part of the foot and the "push-off" is usually done by the smaller toes of the foot.
Over-pronation occurs when the foot to rolls inward past the "sagittal plane", or median line, in the leg/foot, so that excessive twisting occurs in the bones and muscles of the foot, lower leg and quad.
Why do we care? Because running shoe manufacturers have engineered shoes to accommodate for different pronation characteristics. A foot that severely over-pronates would benefit from a shoe with a high degree of stability control where a foot that pronates normally would benefit from a shoe with "neutral" stability control.
After we assess your gait during the walking cycle, we measure your foot and bring out several shoes for you to try. We select shoes based on your foot shape, foot length and width, characteristics of your gait, your cushioning preferences, and your price range, if stated. We always try to bring a minimum of three shoes for you to try.
Once we are certain that you are in an appropriate shoe in terms of shape, length, width, and characteristics, we then ask you to walk or run (only if you're a runner).
Often times, we see a difference in the running gait versus the walking gait. We also look at your running style -- are you a heavy heel striker, a mid-foot striker, or a forefoot striker? Depending on what we see in your gait and running style, we may adjust the level of stability control in the shoe that we are suggesting.
While it may sound like a lengthy and time-consuming process, it actually goes fairly quickly. We appreciate that your time is valuable and that we may just be one stop of many that you need to complete.
Copyright 2012 Runner
Runner Enterprise