Gait training is an often overlooked aspect of early post operative rehab. I’m guilty as charged and early on I breezed through gait training and went straight after what I believed to be were bigger impairments like increasing range of motion or more “functional” exercises like squats and steps. But how much more functional does it get than walking!?! It doesn't matter what range of motion you may get in your session, or what muscles you are striving to get stronger if the person doesn’t know how to use them in day to day function ie walking around!.Shown in the videos are a variety of different gait training tasks I put my patients through. I'd focus on either swing or stance separately first, then choose to combine them. Retro walking is a favorite of mine to work on closed chain terminal knee extension..It may seem weird, but it's extremely hard to walk with a 'normal' gait pattern after surgery. Your range of motion may be limited, your strength diminishing, your volitional muscle activation gone, and on top of all that, you're in pain! Pain is the biggest culprit when it comes to altering movement..Spend time with your patient's making sure their gait is CRISP and CLEAN. Every step is a step to work on that range of motion or activation patterns. It may seem a bit surface level and boring at times, but you will get the most bang for your buck starting here!.We are proud to partner with @WebPT, the leading EMR provider for physical therapists around the world! Exercise Library
