Lower Extremity Gait and Posture Analysis

The following article is taken from the Syllabus authored by Dr. Young for The Chicago National College of Naprapathy Curriculum for Naprapathic Therapeutics

The following factors can be revealed by a simple exercise of having the patient walk down a hallway two or three times and by having the patient stand in front of the Doctor as he examines the affected areas by vision and touch.

The source of Foot Pain or Ankle Pain:
Is the foot pain due to a tendinosis such as Plantar Fasciitis, or is it
due to ptosis (dropped) metatarsal heads causing Metatarsalgia, or is it
due to ankle hypermobility as a result of Ankle Ligament Microtear, or
due to arch failure as in the case of Foot Hyperpronation, or is it
secondary to short calves causing Foot Hypersupination, or is it
a combination of some of the above or other factors related to the hip or knee?

The source of the Knee Pain:
Does this pain arise from one of the above foot/ankle issues which can cause
Patellar Misalignment and resulting Patellar Tendonitis, or
Genu Varum deformity which can result in the above and is hereditary, or
from tendon and collateral ligament strain due to Short Leg Syndrome, or
Meniscus Strain/Tear from previous injury causing a straddle gait, or
due to hip anteversion causing Patellar Untracking, or due to
knee internal rotation resulting from Iliotibial Band Syndrome?

So, as you can see, we can get a lot of information from watching the posture and gait.

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