What is gait training?
Gait training is a type of therapy to help you walk properly. The exercises involved improve the range of motion, balance and strength in your legs. The goal is to restore your normal movement so that you can walk safely and without a risk of falls or injury.
What is crutch training?
Crutch training also teaches you to walk — but with a mobility aid like crutches, canes, walking sticks and walkers (wheeled or standard). These walking aids help you when you lack the strength, balance, endurance or mobility to walk unassisted. You may need them temporarily while you regain your ability to walk or permanently for support if you’ve lost gait function.
Why would I need help with my gait or using a walking aid?
The biggest training for gait or crutch training are age and injury. As you get older, you lose muscle tone and don’t move as well as you used to. After an injury, accident or surgery, you may have to rely on a walking aid until you’re healthy or relearn how to properly move your lower body. If you experience any of these gait abnormalities, you could benefit from gait re-education or crutch training:
- Dragging or shuffling your feet
- Loss of balance as you walk
- Stiff hips, knees or legs
- Swaying or waddling
- Stooped posture with your head and neck bending toward the ground
- Foot drop (difficulty lifting the front of the foot)
- Pain when walking
- Taking small steps
These gait abnormalities can be caused by many different things. They may be small, easily correctable issues like calluses, corns, ingrown toenails, ill-fitting shoes or plantar warts. Or it could be a serious or chronic condition:
- Joint pain or arthritis
- Joint replacement
- Vestibular issues[1]
- Nerve damage
- Multiple sclerosis
- Stroke
- Spinal stenosis, herniated disks, sciatica or other back problems
- Cerebral palsy
- Broken bones, fractures or severe sprains
What can I expect from each type of training?
Gait training focuses on the natural, repetitive motion of your walk. There may be one or many different abnormalities or restrictions in your gait, preventing you from walking normally. The specific training exercises will target the dysfunction and may include lifting and stepping, landing and balancing on one foot, or rolling over and pushing off the stepping foot.
You may rely on parallel bars, walking devices, machines — or even your PT — initially so that you are supported while you focus on your lower body movements. You may also practice climbing stairs, shifting between sitting and standing, stepping over objects or navigating around obstacles to mimic the real-world environments you’ll face outside the clinic.
Similarly, crutch training teaches you to perform these movements with the help of a device. But first, you must find the right walking aid. Your physical therapist can help you find the right one for your needs — short-term or long-term. They’ll make sure the mobility device is the proper fit and that you can use it correctly and comfortably. During training, you’ll work on your strength and endurance to walk with your device well enough to meet your everyday needs.
What results will I see from gait or crutch training?
The goal of both gait and crutch training is to help you walk again. If you’ve been immobile, there is no greater benefit. The number one goal is that you can move efficiently and safely on your own. If you do require a walking aid, training ensures you can get around with as little assistance as necessary. In both types of training, you will have more strength, better balance, greater endurance, improved posture and increased mobility.