Keep Digging

We are often asked by coaches, trainers, runners, therapists or folks on the internet sending us video clips “What is wrong with this gait?” or “Why do I have pain?”. Sometimes, we are able to provide an explanation which seems too simple, but is often correct. Things usually are more simple than one makes them out to be.  It often corrects the immediate problem, only to have another crop up a few weeks later.

Why?

To paraphrase from the words of SHREK; peoples compensations are like onions; they have layers. It is not that you were incorrect, not at all.  You may have been correct for “that” issue.  But, uncovering and remedying one problem often leads us to the next weakest link in the chain.

We still have fond memories of Dr Ted Carrick grilling us in the post graduate neurology program “What is the longitudinal level of the lesion? Most pathologies occur at one locus; if you diagnose more than one, it is usually due to metastasis, multiple vascular occlusions, or clinical incompetence. Is the lesion at the receptor, the effector, the peripheral nerve, the spinal cord, the brainstem, the thalamus, the cerebellum or cerebrum”.

The information to glean here is that often we need to establish and limit our focus to ONE area where the problem could be, and sort out that issue first. This necessitates us thinking through the problem and coming up with ONE problem which could cause all the problems you are seeing. This applies to gait and motion assessment as well.

Think of the patient with right sided knee pain caused by patellar tracking issues. Is the retro patellar inflammation the cause? Not usually (unless there has been direct trauma), it is often the symptom (or compensation). Maybe the cause is a forefoot varus deformity causing abnormal knee mechanics because they cannot descend the 1st ray adequately. Maybe this is due to insufficient extensor hallicus brevis function, or is it the peroneus longus? Maybe it is due to a congenital deformity of the foot. Maybe it is due to a functional (or anatomical) leg length discrepancy. Or maybe it is a problem with the left shoulder affecting tandem arm swing with that leg ? … you get the idea.

Keep looking and digging until you have found the 1 THING that can explain what is going on. Maybe it’s the individual; maybe it’s their footwear. maybe it is remnants of unresolved factors from an old ankle sprain, old fracture maybe something else. Maybe a c-section scar disabling the abdominal wall and reducing the anchoring capacity of the abdominals into the hip thus impairing the quadriceps and thus knee tracking ? The possibilities are endless. If you can’t explain it by a single problem or fault, maybe it is time to run some blood work, send them for a vascular flow analysis, or more often than not; expand our knowledge base.

We are The Gait Guys… Two guys digging deeper and looking for the cause.