Foot & Gait

What is Foot and Gait therapy?

Basically, it’s pain relief through better body mechanics achieved through an individual program designed to improve your posture, balance, and functional movement. Live the life you want to live, pain-free! Whether you are rehabilitating after surgery or an injury or just wanting to be able to play with your kids; gait therapy can help you achieve and maintain a high quality of life, for the rest of your life. The pattern of how a person walks is called “gait” and your dynamic base of support is your feet. When a person suffers an injury, has surgery, or is having pain, they often have to relearn how to walk. Everyone has a pattern in their body, and if it is imbalanced can cause wear and tear on your joints and common pain syndromes. Then no matter what the activity, you strengthen and reinforce the imbalanced patterns. In order to re-pattern these movements that may be causing the pain, we design a program based on a client’s individual needs based on a sequence of Release-Stabilize-Strengthen for more efficient functioning of the body. The department is headed by foot and gait therapist, Nancy Myers, and her team. We start with awareness; the first step in correcting postural habits contributing to pain reduction and better alignment. We also use many different techniques and tools to help you quickly and safely achieve a more efficient movement pattern.

Philosophy:

Musculoskeletal pain affects many people of all ages, simple misalignment over many years can cause wear and tear on joints and discs, while ill-fitting footwear on hard flat surfaces can damage the feet. Many pain syndromes are a result of slight deviations in walking gait pattern and can be felt in the feet all the way up through the body into the neck and jaw. Remember the old song? The leg bone’s connected to the knee bone . . . yes, it’s all connected and was meant to work together in harmony. In our society, the average person takes 10,000 steps per day, so misalignment over time often becomes chronic pain. Chronic pain can affect every aspect of your quality of life and most often the symptoms are treated with pain management drugs rather than treating the cause; bad posture and inefficient movement patterns. Correcting misaligned patterns can produce a more efficient and functional seated, standing, walking, and overall movement patterns. Through your individually designed program, we work on core strength, improved joint mobility, and help the body to work more efficiently when moving or sitting. The increased strength and flexibility will help to reduce pain, increase balance, and lead to a better overall movement pattern. Rates