Gait Analysis

Physiotherapist reviewing slow-motion video during gait analysis.

Improving Walking and Running Patterns

Gait analysis assesses how you walk or run. It helps a physiotherapist identify movement patterns that may contribute to pain, stiffness, weakness, reduced balance, or poor movement efficiency.

Gait changes often occur with knee pain, hip pain, lower back pain, foot and ankle problems, or running injuries. A gait assessment can also support decisions about footwear, orthotics, strength work, balance training, or movement retraining.

Even a mild injury can change the way you move. Over time, altered loading can place extra stress on nearby joints, muscles, tendons, and nerves. Gait analysis helps explain why this happens and guides a more targeted plan.

Gait Analysis Quick Summary

What it checks: walking or running pattern, loading, balance, foot strike, stride, and control.
Who it may help: people with recurring pain, trips, limping, running injuries, or footwear concerns.
What it guides: treatment, exercise, footwear advice, orthotic discussion, and return-to-activity planning.
How it works: your physiotherapist combines observation, clinical testing, and video or force data where useful.

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Why Does Gait Analysis Matter?

A poor gait pattern can reduce movement efficiency and increase stress on other body parts. For example, an irritated knee may change the way you load your foot, hip, or lower back. During walking and running, these altered forces can build up and contribute to recurring pain or overload.

Gait analysis does not look at your feet alone. It also considers how your hips, knees, ankles, feet, trunk, balance, strength, footwear, and training load work together.

What Gait Problems Can Be Identified?

Several movement faults may affect your gait. Some are linked to injury. Others may develop after pain, surgery, weakness, fatigue, ageing, or changes in activity.

Gait finding	What it may suggest	Common next step
Hip drop or Trendelenburg gait	Reduced hip control or side-hip load sensitivity, sometimes linked with trochanteric bursitis.	Hip strength, pelvic control, and walking retraining.
Reduced ground clearance	Stiffness, weakness, fatigue, or reduced swing-phase control.	Strength, mobility, balance, and safety screening.
Reduced weight support	Pain avoidance, poor confidence, weakness, or balance concerns.	Fall prevention strategies and graded loading.
Foot drop or toe catching	Reduced ankle lift or nerve-related control changes.	Prompt assessment, strength testing, and referral if needed.
Overstride or heavy landing	Increased braking force during running or poor load control.	Cadence, load, footwear, and running technique review.

How Do Physiotherapists Assess Gait?

Physiotherapists assess your walking or running pattern and combine this with your clinical examination. They consider your pain pattern, strength, joint mobility, balance, foot posture, footwear, training load, and activity goals.

This matters because the same visible gait pattern can have different causes. For example, a limp may come from pain, weakness, joint stiffness, balance loss, poor confidence, or a mix of factors.

What Happens During a Gait Analysis Appointment?

Your physiotherapist will usually ask about your symptoms, goals, footwear, training load, work duties, and injury history. They may then watch you walk, jog, squat, step, balance, or run, depending on your main problem.

They may also test strength, flexibility, joint movement, balance, and control. If needed, video analysis can slow the movement down and make subtle timing or loading issues easier to explain.

How To Prepare for a Gait Analysis Appointment

Bring the shoes you walk or run in most often. If you use orthotics, bring them too. It also helps to bring a short note about when symptoms appear, how long they last, and what activities make them better or worse.

Bring These If Relevant

Your usual walking or running shoes.
Any orthotics, braces, or walking aids you currently use.
Recent training notes, step count changes, or running volume changes.
Previous imaging or medical reports if they relate to your symptoms.

Methods of Gait Analysis

There are several ways to analyse gait. Your physiotherapist will choose the method that suits your symptoms, activity, and goals.

Method	What it helps show
Visual observation	Step length, limp, trunk shift, foot position, balance, and control.
Video analysis	Slow-motion review of walking or running mechanics.
Force plates	How force moves through the foot and lower limb.
Functional testing	How walking links with balance, strength, step control, and fatigue.

Recent Advances in Gait Analysis

Modern gait analysis may include pressure mats, force plates, video review, wearable sensors, and motion analysis systems. These tools can provide more detail about load distribution, timing, stride, and joint movement.

Technology is useful, but it should not replace clinical reasoning. The main value comes from matching the data to your symptoms, goals, footwear, strength, balance, and activity demands.

Practical point: Gait data is most helpful when it changes the plan. Useful findings should guide clear action, such as strength work, balance training, footwear advice, running load changes, or movement cues.

The Physiotherapy Approach to Gait Correction

A tailored physiotherapy program can address the factors contributing to your gait pattern. This may include strength training, balance training, mobility work, movement retraining, or advice about walking aids where appropriate.

The goal is not just to change how you walk. The aim is to improve function, reduce unnecessary load, and help you move with more comfort and confidence in daily life, exercise, or sport.

Gait Analysis for Running Injuries

Running gait analysis may help when symptoms keep returning despite rest, footwear changes, or general exercises. It can help identify training errors, stride changes, cadence issues, heavy landing, overstriding, poor hip control, or other load patterns.

For runners, gait analysis should sit beside a full review of training history, recovery, strength, footwear, running goals, and injury timing. You may also find our running analysis page useful if your main goal is running performance or injury prevention.

Working With Your Podiatrist

Gait analysis often benefits from a shared approach. Physiotherapists frequently work with podiatrists to assess foot mechanics, footwear, and orthotic needs. If you already have a podiatrist, we are happy to work with your preferred provider to coordinate care.

This approach can be useful for problems involving the foot, ankle, knee, hip, lower back, or running-related injuries. It can also help when symptoms change after new shoes, orthotics, training changes, or increased walking load.

Is Gait Analysis Right for You?

Gait analysis may be useful if walking, running, stairs, balance, or sport no longer feels normal. It may also help if symptoms keep returning and you are unsure whether the main driver is strength, mobility, footwear, balance, training load, or technique.

You may benefit from an assessment if you notice limping, repeated trips, one-sided loading, shoe wear changes, recurring running injuries, or pain that appears after longer walks.

Gait analysis walking retraining coaching step length and foot clearance

Walking retraining after gait assessment.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is gait analysis?

Gait analysis is the assessment of how you walk or run. A physiotherapist looks at movement patterns, timing, balance, loading, and technique to identify factors that may contribute to pain, reduced efficiency, or repeated injury.

Can gait analysis help running injuries?

Gait analysis may help identify movement patterns that increase load during running. It is often useful for people with recurring running injuries, especially when symptoms involve the foot, ankle, knee, hip, or lower back.

What happens during a gait assessment?

A physiotherapist will usually assess your walking or running pattern, review your symptoms, and examine strength, mobility, balance, control, footwear, and training load. Video, pressure, or force data may also be used when it adds useful information.

Do physiotherapists work with podiatrists?

Yes. Physiotherapists often work with podiatrists when foot mechanics, footwear, or orthotics may influence gait. If you already have a preferred podiatrist, coordinated care can support a more complete management plan.

Do I need video analysis?

Not always. Many gait problems can be assessed by observation and clinical testing. Video analysis can help when timing, stride, landing, or running technique needs slower review.

Can gait analysis help if I keep tripping?

Yes, it may help identify factors such as reduced foot clearance, balance problems, weakness, fatigue, or poor confidence. If tripping is new, worsening, or linked with weakness or numbness, prompt medical or physiotherapy review is important.

What To Do Next

If you feel discomfort while walking or running, or you think your movement pattern has changed, a physiotherapist can assess your gait and explain what may be contributing. Personalised guidance and targeted exercises may help restore a more efficient walking pattern and improve mobility.

Early assessment can be helpful if symptoms keep returning or if walking and running no longer feel efficient. A clear plan can help you move forward with more confidence.

Feet Products

These feet products are commonly used by our physiotherapists to improve support, comfort, strength, balance, flexibility, and home exercise programs.