3 things

Its subtle, but hopefully you see these 3 things in this video.

I just LOVE the slow motion feature on my iPhone. It save me from having to drag the video into Quicktime, slow it down and rerecord it.

This gal has a healing left plantar plate lesion under the 2nd and 3rd mets. She has an anatomical leg length deficiency, short on the left, and bilateral internal tibial torsion, with no significant femoral version. Yes, there are plenty of other salient details, but this sketch will help.

1. 1st if all, do you see how the pelvis on her left dips WAY more when she lands on the right? There is a small amount of coronal plane shift to the right as well. This often happens in gluteus medius insufficiency on the stance phase leg (right in this case), or quadratus lumborum (QL) deficiency on the swing phase leg (left in this case) or both. Yes, there are other things that can cause this and the list is numerous, but lets stick to these 2 for now. In this case it was her left QL driving the bus.

2. Watch the left and right forefeet. can you see how she strikes more inverted on the left? this is a common finding, as the body often (but not always) tries to supinate the shorter extremity (dorsiflexion, eversion and adduction, remember?) in an attempt to “lengthen” it. Yes, there is usually anterior pelvic tilt accompanying it on the side, because I knew you were going to ask : )

3. Look how her knees are OUTSIDE the saggital plane and remain there in her running stride. This is commonly seen in folks with internal tibial torsion and is one of the reasons that in our opinion, these folks should not be put medially posted, torsionally rigid, motion control shoes as this usually drive the knees FURTHER outside the saggital plane and can macerate the meniscus.

Yep, lots more we could talk about on this video, but in my opinion, 3 is a good number.

Dr Ivo Waerlop, one of The Gait Guys

#thegaitguys #gaitanalysis #footpain #gaitproblem #internaltibialtorsion #quadratuslumborum #footstrike

https://vimeo.com/329212767

Do her hips get weak, fatigue, or both when she runs?

“ Both healthy and injured runners demonstrated decreased gluteus medius strength following the run to fatigue (p = 0.01), but there was no interaction between groups (p = 0.78). EMG onset activation timing did not differ between groups for the gluteus medius (P = 0.19) and tensor fascia latae muscles (P = 0.52). Injured runners demonstrated decreased gluteus medius initial median frequency values suggestive of fatigue (P = 0.01). These findings suggest that the gluteus medius muscle of female runners with ITBS does not demonstrate gross strength impairments but does demonstrate less resistance to fatigue. Clinicians should consider implementation of a gluteus medius endurance training regimen into a runner's rehabilitation program. “

Dr Ivo Waerlop, one of The Gait Guys

#gait, #gaitanalysis, #fatigue, #gluteusmedius, #gluteusminimus, ITB, #ITbandsyndrome, #thegaitguys

Brown AM, Zifchock RA, Lenhoff M, Song J, Hillstrom HJ. Hip muscle response to a fatiguing run in females with iliotibial band syndrome. Hum Mov Sci. 2019 Feb 8;64:181-190. doi: 10.1016/j.humov.2019.02.002. [Epub ahead of print]

So, what attaches to that hip capsule anyway....

I was trying to figure to which muscles attached to the labrum of the hip, as I see many folks where theres has gone south. I had always wondered if the iliopsoas attached, since many people with labral pathology have hip flexor dysfunction, where they use their psoas and iliacus as hip flexion initiators (or sometimes the rectus femoris, TFL and sartorius), instead of the abdominals. It turns out that NO MUSCLES attach to the labrum, but some attach to the capsule. 

Have you noticed that many of the muscles on the list below (not the obturator internus) are internal rotators AND work during the 1st part of stance phase? Remember "glide and roll"? With internal rotation of the hip comes posterior translation of the femoral head. If these are dysfunctional, you may get capsular "pinching". Think about it with the next patient with hip joint pain from initial contact to midstance. 

"An updated knowledge of the intricate relationship of the pericapsular and capsular structures is essential in guiding our treatment of the hip. Following dissection the authors were able to discern that the iliocapsularis, indirect head of the rectus, conjoint tendon (of the psoas and iliacus),  obturator externus and gluteus minimus all have consistent capsular contributions whereas the piriformis did not have a capsular attachment."

Walters BL, Cooper JH, Rodriguez JA New findings in hip capsular anatomy: dimensions of capsular thickness and pericapsular contributions.
Arthroscopy. 2014 Oct;30(10):1235-45. doi: 10.1016/j.arthro.2014.05.012. Epub 2014 Jul 23.

The Gluteus Medius: Its not just for abduction anymore...

It would logically follow that the gluteus medius is important for generating both forward progression and support, especially during single-limb stance suggesting that walking dynamics are influenced by non-sagittal muscles, such as the gluteus medius, even though walking is primarily a sagittal-plane task. After midstance, but before contralateral preswing, support is generated primarily by gluteus maximus, vasti, and posterior gluteus medius/minimus; these muscles are responsible for the first peak seen in the vertical ground-reaction force. The majority of support in midstance was provided by gluteus medius/minimus (NOT the maximus), with gravity assisting significantly as well. The gluteus medius has also been highlighted as an abductor of the pelvis, working in concert with the contralateral quadratus lumborum (2), involved with keeping the pelvis level and abducting the pelvis on the stance leg side, such as when ascending stairs. 

Seemingly, the gluteals appear important for extension of the thigh during gait. One of the most common scenarios appears to be a loss of ankle rocker and resultant weakness of the gluteals (personal observations). Lets look at an example. 

Have you ever sat at the airport and watched people walk? I travel a great deal and often find myself passing the time by observing others gait. It provides clues to a plethora of biomechanical faults in the lower kinetic chain, like a loss of ankle rocker with people who wear flip flops or any other open backed shoes.

What is ankle rocker, anyway? According to Jaqueline Perry (THE Matriarch of Gait Analysis) during normal gait, the stance phase (weight bearing) foot depends on 3 functional rockers (pivots or fulcrums) for forward progression (3).

• heel rocker: at heel strike, the calacaneus acts as the fulcrum as the foot rolls about the heel into plantar flexion of about 10 degrees . The pretibial muscles must contract eccentrically to slowly lower the foot and help, along with forward momentum, pull the tibia forward
• ankle rocker: next, the ankle acts as at fulcrum and the tibia rolls forward due to forwardmomentum, with a maximum excursion of approximately 15 degrees. The gastroc and soleus should eccentrically contract to decelerate the forward progression of the lower leg.
• forefoot rocker: the metatarso-phalangeal joints act at the finalfulcrum in the stance phase of gait. Note that the 1st metatrso-phalangeal joint must dorsiflex65 degrees for normal forward progression, otherwise the individual will usually roll off he inside of the great toe. Tibial progression continues forward and the gastroc/soleus groups concentrically contract to decelerate the rate of forward limb movement. This, along with passive tension in the posterior compartment muscles, forward momentum , and the windlass effect of the plantar fascia result in heel lift.

Now watch someone walking in flip flops or open back shoes. There is no pivot past 90 degrees at the ankle (i.e. the tibia never goes beyond 90 degrees vertical). At this point the heel comes up (premature heel rise) and the motion must occur at the metatarso-phalalgeal joint. The only problem is that this joint usually has a maximum of 65 degrees extension, with 50 degrees needed for "normal" ambulation. Since more is now needed, the body borrows from an adjacent joints, namely the knee (which increases flexion) and the interphalangeal joints (which should be remaining flat and now must claw to “create” more available extension at the middle joint, as the proximal is nearly fully extended, through overactivity of the flexor digitorum longus. The tibialis posterior, flexor hallicus longus, and gastroc soleus groups also contract in an attempt to help stabilize the foot . Overactivity of these groups causes reciprocal inhibition of the long toe extensors and ankle dorsiflexors (tibialis anterior for example), causing the toes to buckle further and a loss of ankle dorsiflexion; in short, diminished ankle rocker function.

So there you have it. Glutes. They are a beautiful thing! Now get out there and improve their function!

1. Presswood L, Cronin J, Keogh J, Whatman C (2008). Gluteus Medius: Applied Anatomy, Dysfunction, Assessment, and Progressive Strengthening. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 30 (5), 41-53

2. J. Porterfield, C. DeRosa (Eds.) Mechanical low back pain. 2nd ed. WB Saunders, Philadelphia; 1991

3. Perry J, Burnfield JM, eds. Gait Analysis: Normal and Pathological Function. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine. 2010;9(2):353.

A cool paper on taping and reciprocal inhibition. 

“Hip extension increased significantly with gluteal taping (p < 0.05) for both walking speeds at late stance phase of walk compared to sham taping and control. The mean absolute difference between gluteal and control conditions for self-selected velocity was 14.2 degrees (95% CI 8.6 to 19.8) whereas the difference between sham and control conditions was 2.0 degrees (95% CI –2.0 to 6.0). Also, for both speeds, step length on the unaffected side increased significantly with gluteal taping compared with either the control or placebo” conditions. 

link to full text: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0004951406700629

Aust J Physiother. 2006;52(1):53-6.Gluteal taping improves hip extension during stance phase of walking following stroke.Kilbreath SL, Perkins S, Crosbie J, McConnell J.

Welcome to Monday folks and news you can use! Have a patient with weak hip abductors? Here is another great closed chain gluteus medius/ Maximus/minimums exercise we utilize all the time called “"hip helicopters” Try it in yourself, then try it on your patients and clients, then teach others : )

Have a patient with weak hip abductors? Here is a great closed chain gluteus medius exercise called “"hip airplanes” we utilize all the time. Try it in yourself, then try it on your patients and clients, then teach others : )

How do your gluteus maximus and gluteus medius exercises stack up?

Looks like side planks (DL=dominant leg) and single leg squats scored big, as did front planks and good old “glute squeezes”

Check out this free full text articlehttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3201064/

Yes, we know it was surface emg; yes we know they are not necessarily testing functional movements. The EMG does not lie and offers objective data. Note that the one graph is labelled wrong and is the G max, not medius.

Kristen Boren, DPT,1 Cara Conrey, DPT,1 Jennifer Le Coguic, DPT,1 Lindsey Paprocki, DPT,1 Michael Voight, PT, DHSc, SCS, OCS, ATC, CSCS,1 and T. Kevin Robinson, PT, DSc, OCS1 ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF GLUTEUS MEDIUS AND GLUTEUS MAXIMUS DURING REHABILITATION EXERCISES Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2011 Sep; 6(3): 206–223.

GOT GLUTE MEDS?

Want to strengthen that gluteus medius we were talking about Monday? Have you considered walking lunges with dumbbells? These seem to activate the side contralateral to a better extent than split squats.

We wonder if you get the same effect with a medicine ball. Anyone out there have some data or experience with that?

Stastny P1, Lehnert M, Zaatar Zaki AM, Svoboda Z, Xaverova Z. DOES THE DUMBBELL CARRYING POSITION CHANGE THE MUSCLE ACTIVITY DURING SPLIT SQUATS AND WALKING LUNGES? J Strength Cond Res. 2015 May 8. [Epub ahead of print]

The mighty Gluteus Medius, in all its glory!

Perhaps the delayed action of the gluteus medius allows an adductory moment of the pelvis, moving the center of gravity medially. This could conceivably place additional stress on the achilles tendon  (via the lateral gastroc) to create more eversion of the foot from midstance on

“The results of the study demonstrate altered neuromuscular control of the GMED and GMED in runners with Achilles Tendonitis. During running, GMED typically activates before heel strike so as to stabilize the hip and the pelvis. In runners with Achilles Tendonitis, GMED is activated with a delay, which consequently might affect the kinematics of knee and ankle resulting in rear foot inversion. Similarly, GMAX is activated with a delay and for a shorter duration in runners with Achilles Tendonitis. GMAX is the primary hip extensor and via a kinetic chain, a decreased hip extension moment might be compensated by an increased ankle plantarflexion moment which could potentially increase the load on the Achilles tendon.”

Franettovich Smith MM1, Honeywill C, Wyndow N, Crossley KM, Creaby MW. : Neuromotor control of gluteal muscles in runners with achilles tendinopathy.
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2014 Mar;46(3):594-9.

Does this guy have a short leg or what? How good are your eyes?

One again, we had the gait cam, investigating gait on the east coast. What do we see in this gent?

• heel strike on out side of left foot with increased progression angle

he appears to be stabilizing the left side during stance phase. notice the upper torso shift to the left during left stance phase

• abbreviated arm swing on right

note that ankle rocker is adequate on the left

• body lean to right on right stance phase

gluteus medius weakness on right? short leg on right?

Good.

• Did you also notice the loss of ankle rocker on the right, compared to the left? This results in less hip extension on that side as well.

• He flexes his right thigh less than his right during pre swing and swing

external obliques should be firing to initiate hip flexion, perpetuated by the psoas, iliacus and rectus femoris. This does not appear to be happening.

All of this is great BUT nothing like being able to actually examine your patients is there? You can see how gait analysis can tell us many things, but they need to be confirmed by a physical exam.

The Gait Guys. Educating (and hopefully enlightening) with each post. Keep your eyes open and your thinking from the ground up : )

Subtle clues often provide the answers.

We like yoga as much as anyone else. We saw this picture on the latest cover and couldn’t resist making a few comments on this pose.

Yoga has many benefits. Our understanding is that in addition to the cognitive and spiritual effects of yoga, is that it helps to build your core.

 At first look you may say that this woman has a few issues:

• she has a right pelvic shift and a left body lean
• She has slight head rotation to the right and a slight left head tilt
• you may have noticed that she appears to have more tone in the musculature on the right side of her face than on the left.   Just look at the nasolabial fold as well as the corner of her mouth any area of wrinkling underneath her left orbit.
•  You may have also noticed the subtle flexion and lack of external rotation of the right hip.

 You may go on and think that she has a week right gluteus medius as well as an overactive quadratus lumborum on the left-hand side which may be causing the pelvic shift. The head tilt may be in compensation for the right side gluteus medius weakness and the subtle rotation may be an attempt to engage a tonic neck response. ( a tonic neck response is  ipsilateral extension of the upper and lower extremity to the side of head rotation with contralateral flexion of the same counterparts.

 You may have also noticed that the toes of the right foot are not dorsiflexed and that her hair appears to be flowing on the right side, and this is not the case at all, but rather she is either standing on a sloped surface or on the downward phase of a jump. According to the magazine it is the latter.  If you caught this at first then congratulations: you are sharper than most. If not remember to always look for subtle clues.

 Like Sir Topham Hat says in Thomas the Train: “  You didn’t get the whole story. What really happened is what really matters.

So why the mild facial ptosis on the left side? She could have had an old Bells palsy, or other form of facial paresis. Note that mostly the lower portions of the (left) face are affected (ie, below the eye). We remember that the upper portions of the face receive bilateral innervation but lower portions of the face unilateral innervation, from the contra lateral facial motor nucleus; this is why it could be a mild upper motor neuron lesion (micro infact, lack of cortical afferent input) and not an lower motor neuron lesion (like Bells Palsy). Why is this germane? Or is it not?

Stand in front of a mirror. Jump up in the air trying to assume the same pose as this woman does and what do you see.  Make sure that you jump up from both legs and then bring one leg over and your hands in front of you in the "praying position”. You may want to have a friend take a snapshot of you performing this. You will notice that you have contralateral head rotation,  a pelvic hike on the side opposite the leg that’s extended and a head tilt to the side that is flexed.  You are attempting to stabilize your core as you’re going up and coming down.

What we are witnessing is a normal neurological phenomena.  This gal merely seems to have some limited external rotation of her left hip. Now perform the same maneuver again but this time don’t externally rotate your leg as far as this woman does and what do you see. You should’ve seen an increase in the aforementioned body postures.

Subtle clues are often the key. Keep your eyes and ears open. 

The Gait Guys. Helping the subtle to become everyday for you, with each and every post.

Go ahead and try this at home.

remember last mondays post? (if not, click here). Here is one way of telling whether your (or someone else’s) vestibular system is working. It will also give you an idea of how some people compensate.

Ready?

• Stand up (barefoot or shoes does not matter).

• place your hands resting on the top of your hips with your thumbs to the back (like your Mom used to, when you were in trouble). Your thumbs should be resting on your quadratus lumborum (QL) muscle.

• tilt your HEAD to the LEFT

• you should feel the muscle (ie the QL) under your RIGHT thumb contract

• come back upright

repeat, but this time lean your BODY to the LEFT

• same thing right? Now check the other side.

Everything OK? Everything fire as it should?

Now lets add another dimension.

• slide your fingers down so they are just below the crest of the hip, resting above the greater trochanter (the bump on the side of your upper thigh). This should place your fingers on the middle fibers of the gluteus medius.

• tilt your head (or body ) to the LEFT.

• You should feel the LEFT gluteus medius and the RIGHT QL contract. These muscles should be paired neurologically. When walking, during stance phase on the LEFT: the LEFT gluteus medius helps to maintain the pelvis level, while the RIGHT QL, assists in hiking the RIGHT side.

If everything works OK, then your vestibulospinal spinal system is intact and your QL and gluteus medius seem to be firing and appropriately paired. If not? That is the subject for another post.

The Gait Guys. Helping you to understand the concepts of WHY compensations occur.

One simple hip screen that gives you lots of information.

This is the one leg standing test. We use it as a hip function (abduction) screen(as well as an exercise), to see if a person’s gluteus medius is working in a functional situation (as opposed to manual muscle testing).

As you may remember (don’t remember? Click here), the gluteus medius fires throughout stance phase (ie; when the foot is on the ground). It keeps the pelvis level while the foot is on the ground and works in conjunction with the opposite quadratus lumborum muscle (if you have not read up on this, please see our groundbreaking work on the problematic cross over gait, found here, here and here).

The test is simple; try it on yourself while watching yourself in a mirror. Stand on one leg on your foot tripod (the heel, base of big toe and base of little toe). Raise the opposite foot off the ground by flexing the thigh. Observe.

You should see the pelvis remaining level with no shift of the torso or hips. 

Watch for:

• ·      Pelvic drift to the side you are standing on
• ·      Pelvis drop on the side opposite you are standing on
• ·      Body lean to the side you are standing on
• ·      Excessive hiking of the opposite, non weight bearing hip
• ·      Any combination of the above

Seeing any (or all) of these means the gluteus medius is probably having some trouble.  The reason we say probably is that a person with a hip problem (like arthritis) or an anatomically short leg may do some of these things in compensation.

The question you are hopefully asking is why do they drift, lean, hike, etc? Not everything you see is muscle weakness per se.

• ·      Maybe they have a balance issue
• ·      Maybe they have a disc injury
• ·      Maybe they have injury to the nerve going to the gluteus medius
• ·      Maybe they have a knee/ankle/foot issue
• ·      And the list goes on…

So, if it were a muscle weakness, how could you fix it? Determine the cause. Begin at the bottom with foot exercises: tripod standing, lift/spead/reach with the toes etc. Then have them repeat the exercise IN A MIRROR, maintaining a level pelvis. Yes, it is that simple. Now see if they can translate that to their gait cycle. If so, great. If not, start again and repeat till they can.

The Gait Guys. Making it real, each and every day.

all material copyright 2013 The Gait Guys/ The Homunculus Group. All rights reserved. Please ask before using!