Dr. Allen’s Quiz question of the week. See if you can get this one.

Reference point is the Girl in the middle, big sister. Choose all that apply. Note: there is something deeper than the obvious going on here, it doesn’t make sense. Can you see it ? 

a. she (big sister) is out of phase with her little sister 

b. she is in phase with her little sister

c. she is out of phase with her little brother

d. she is in phase with her little brother

e.  A and C

f.  B and C

g. B and D

h. A and D

i. AC~DC rules

Yes, Answer  “i” is always right.

otherwise the answer is … . scroll down

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F. she is in phase with her sister to her left and out of phase with her brother (at least if you are referencing her leg swing).  With her little sister, left feet are both forward in swing at the same time.

However, there is something deeper and requires some true critical thinking. IF you got the answer correct, congratulations. IF you did not, type in “in phase gait” or “arm swing” into the blog search engine and you will be able to read more about “in phase” and “out of phase” gaits.  

Now, look at the picture again. If she is “in phase” with her little sister to the left big sister should technically have her left arm in anterior/forward swing to meet little sister’s right arm swing. But, big sister’s left foot is forward, which technically means her left arm swing should be posterior to match her normal Anti-phasic gait.  But this does not pair with little sister. Can you see that this is a conflict in synchrony ? 

In phase and phasic are not the same thing, nor are out of phase and anti-phasic. Search our blog for these differences.  

Obviously you should glean by now that “In and out of phase” gait refers to the leg swing. Whereas, phasic and anti phasic gait refers to the synchrony of the upper and lower limbs in an individual.  The lower limb spinal cord motor neuron pools are more dominant than the upper arm pools (except in climbing, which is why I spent so much time last week talking about climbing and crawling here on the blog). Thus the lower legs often run the protocols and thus why arm swing changes should not be primarily or initially coached or amended in an athlete, they are very adaptive and accommodating.  The legs need to run the show, we need our arms free to be able to carry things while walking or running (water bottle, babies, spears, rifle, brief case etc) without disrupting the normal leg swing gait mechanics.  

Big sister is “out of phase” with her brother when it comes to the legs, but their arm swings are matching in phase so that there is no conflict. When people walk “out of phase” their arm swings will always match. Thus, it would seem that this is the more harmonious way to walk with a partner. 

So how are they all walking together ? Certainly not in harmony.

Obviously the little sister is not in sync with big sister. She is much shorter, and thus her step length is going to be different and that is the likely answer. She will have to pick up cadence to keep up and that will mean much of the time she will not synchronize with her big sister. As I mentioned in a prior post on these topics, often the larger or more dominant person’s arm swing will dictate the arm swing pattern of the other partner, and this will in turn, dictate how the lower limbs synchronize to the dominant partner. It would make sense that perfect harmony would bring about “out of phase” leg swing, but it does not always occur. Why? There are many reasons I discussed here today, things like differing arm and leg lengths and step lengths come to mind.

* There is one more option, none of them are in anti-phasic gait. Maybe they all have back pain :) Back pain patients tend to shift towards phasic gait to reduce spinal torsion and shear. If they all are anti-phasic then arm and leg swing matter very little in terms of full limb swing propulsive gait. This is quite possible as well, perhaps this is just a still photo representing a very slow strolling gait and thus little need for anti phasic gaits from all 3 of them. 

Neat points if you are a true gait nerd. Did you catch it ? A picture is worth a thousand words.

Hope this little quiz helped you to put some pieces together.

One more thing, here is a clinical pearl. By walking hand in hand with someone, you can help a person learn arm swing and leg swing and how to create a clean cadence, the normal anti-phasic gait, and learn how to dual task as well as add audible, visual and tactile queues to one’s gait. It is a great tool for helping neurologic gait pathologies, post stroke gait training and helping someone who has joint replacements or back pain regain normal anti-phasic gait traits where gait has become phasic and apropulsive. 

Dr. Shawn Allen

The 5 Point Turn (in a human).  Do you know this gait problem ?

Here is a video link for the full video case study with diagnosis and more details on this client’s gait but our point here today is to look at the uniquely pathologic turning motor pattern deployed by this patient.

Gait analysis is so much more than watching someone move on a treadmill. Forward momentum at a normal speed can blur out many of a person’s gait pathologies.  We discussed this in detail in this blog post on slowing things down with the “3 second gait challenge”.  Furthermore, most gait analysis assessments do not start seated, then watching the client progress to standing, and then initiating movement.  Watching these intervals can show things that simple “gait analysis” will not.  Finding stability over one’s feet and then initiating forward motion can be a problem for many.  Those first moments after attaining the standing position afford momentum to carry the person sideways just as easily as carrying them forward. In other words, once momentum forward begins, a normal paced gait can make it difficult to see frontal plane deficits.  Our point here, transitional movements can show clues to gait problems and turning to change direction is no different.

Typically when we turn we use a classic “plant and pivot” strategy.  We step forward on a foot (right foot for example here), transfer a majority load on that forward right foot, we then pivot the left foot in the next anticipated direction of movement, and then push off the right foot directionally while spinning our body mass onto that left foot before initiating the right limb swing through to continue in the new direction.  This is not what this patient does. Go ahead, stand up and feel these transitions, if you are healthy and normal they are subconscious weight bearing transitions but for some one who is old and losing strength and proprioception/balance or some one with neurologic decline for one reason or another, these directional changes can be extremely difficult as you see in this video here. A full 180 degree progression is often the most difficult when things get really bad.  And more so, if one leg is more compromised than the other, turning one way a quarter turn (a 90 degree directional change) might be met with an alternative 270 degree multiple-point turn in the opposite direction over the more trusted limb to get to the same directional change. When there is posterior column disease or damage this seemingly simple “plant/weight shift/ pivot and push off” cannot be trusted. So a 5 point (or more) turn is deployed to be sure that small choppy steps maximize minimal loss of feel and maximal ground contact feel. This can be seen clearly in this video above.

Full video case link here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYmzQL_NSeI

Just some more things to think about in  your gait education.  Watch your clients move from sit to stand, from stand to initiating gait, and then watch closely their turning strategies. At the very least, have them make several passes making their about-face turns both to the right and the left. You will often see a difference.  Watch for unsteadiness, arm swing changes, cross over steps, reaching for stability (walls, furniture etc), moving of the arms into abduction for a ballast effect and the like. Then correlate your examination findings to your gait analysis.  Then, intervene with treatment and rehab, and review their gait again. Remember, explaining their deficiencies is a huge part of the learning process. Make them aware of their 5 point turns, troubles pivoting to the right or the left, and make them understand why they are doing the goofy one-sided rehab exercises. Understanding what is wrong is a huge part of fixing your client’s problems.

* Remember: if your client is having troubles on a stable surface (ie. the ground) then they should engage some rehab challenges on the ground. Giving them a tilt board or bosu or foam pad (ie. making the ground more unstable) will make things near impossible.  This is not a logical progression, we like to say, “if you can’t juggle one chainsaw we won’t give you 3”. Improve their function on a stable surface first, then once improvements are seen, then progress them to unstable surfaces.  

Shawn and Ivo

The gait guys.