How The Innovative PhysioGait Device Helps Improve Your Gait Disorder

For many of us, the day begins by getting out of bed and walking to the bathroom to brush our teeth, walking to the kitchen to brew coffee in the morning, or perhaps walking to our home office to do the first of many virtual meetings.

Every day, the average person takes about 7,500 steps. If you live to be 80, that’s 216,262,500 steps or about 110,000 miles. We take all those steps without a thought. That is, not until something happens. Then suddenly, that simple act of walking, which we take for granted, becomes challenging.

In this blog, the highly skilled therapists at High Quality Home Therapy unpack gait disorders and how the dynamic PhysioGait Unweighting System can help get your stride back, literally.

Gait disorders explained

Let’s start with this discussion by explaining what gait is. Gait refers to the style or pattern of walking. While we rarely think about the mechanics of walking, each of us has a unique stride that gets carefully choreographed and coordinated, combining muscles from your legs and feet and signals from your spinal cord to your brain.

Illness, disease, injuries, neurological issues, movement disorders, balance issues, and even problems with our feet and vision can change our gait, creating an abnormal gait, also known as a gait disorder.

Common symptoms of gait disorders include shuffling your feet, limping, dragging your feet or toes, or having problems with balance or coordination. Conditions like trauma, a stroke, arthritis of knees, hips, ankles, or feet, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and balance and coordination issues can cause a gait disorder.

Not surprisingly, gait disorders are more prevalent as you get older. Although about 15% of the general population suffers a gait issue by age 60, surprisingly, 80% of older Americans aged 85 and above have a gait disorder. But that’s not where the impact ends for older Americans. Gait disorders are a leading cause of falls for this population. 

Physical therapy addresses gait disorders

The promising news is that physical therapy can help patients with gait disorders. Physical therapy is a quintessential treatment modality based on the premise that targeted, strategic exercises build strength, enhance flexibility and agility, and foster balance and coordination.

But that’s not where the benefits of physical therapy end. Physical therapy heals, enhances overall health, and boosts a patient’s quality of life.

At High Quality Home Therapy, our experienced, compassionate therapists design personalized programs. We know gait disorders affect patients in differing degrees and vastly different ways. Our therapists tap into their neurology and psychology training to create a customized treatment program for you.

Game-changing PhysioGait Unweighting System

We may augment an innovative training system called PhysioGait in our gait disorder physical therapy treatment programs for patients who can’t walk independently or have mobility issues.

This game-changing training device features a harness for dynamic unweighting. The proprietary design comfortably and safely suspends the patient, liberating them from carrying most of their body weight so they can easily engage in the exercises despite their mobility issues.

PhysioGait is a versatile device that helps our therapists perform gait training to help our less mobile patients with proper walking mechanics. With PhysioGait, our therapists can re-train patients on the finer points of motor coordination training and posture and address balance problems  – without the fear of falling.

If you have problems walking and want to learn if PhysioGait is right for you, contact High Quality Home Therapy in Stamford, Connecticut, for an evaluation. Call today or use our online tool to schedule an appointment and get back to living your best life.

The Physio Gait system is highly beneficial for neuro patients such as those with Parkinson's disease, stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI), spinal cord injury (SCI), and multiple sclerosis (MS), as it provides crucial support for their rehabilitation, while our occupational therapists (OTs) incorporate it into functional training to enhance patient mobility and independence.