I recently posted a research journal that stated that after an injury patient’s gait might need to be retrained. Here is an example of a patient with a dysfunctional gait:

Take a look at this patient’s gait. Watch her left leg and then watch the right leg. The left knee tracks outward. Look at the patient’s knee. It points outward right instead of pointing forward. Look at the patient’s foot. This patient is towing off laterally and not getting into her big toe.

The second video is after treatment of adjustment to her foot, ankle and lower back, plus a week of home exercises along with some mental corrections. Patient was cued on the changes in her gait and how to improve the lower extremity function. We practiced in the office and the patient was sent home with some homework.

This is an example of how gait retraining can help improve a patient’s function. Strengthening the body is very important but strengthening dysfunctional movements will not progress the patient towards optimal.