Fitness Pain Free · Article

Empowering Patients to Walk Again: Gait Retraining Guide for Physical Therapists

By Dr. Dan Pope

· January 10, 2025

Empowering Patients to Walk Again: Gait Retraining Guide

To go along with today's episode I have a nice infographic to share...

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In today's video we go over, Empowering Patients to Walk Again: Gait Retraining Guide

Are you struggling to help patients fix walking after major knee surgery? This video breaks down cues, strategies and exercises for gait training, focusing on common compensations and how to fix them. Learn practical cues for hip, knee, and ankle mechanics, including tips for addressing stiffness, uneven strides, and the good old robotic arm swing. Explore exercises like cone stepovers, metronome-paced walking, and split-stance rocking to restore confidence and help to normalize gait. Perfect for physical therapists and patients aiming for optimal recovery!

Timeline:

  • 00:00 - Intro
  • 00:44 - Hip surgery compensation
  • 03:13 - Knee surgery compensation
  • 04:27 - Ankle surgery compensation
  • 04:58 - Using a metronome for cadence normalization
  • 06:06 - Fixing step length
  • 06:57 - Drills for stiff knees improvement
  • 07:37 - Cues for stiff arms
  • 08:04 - Rocking drills
  • 10:13 - Transitioning of crutches

Walking like a champion...

- Dan Pope DPT,OCS,CSCS

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Thank you!

Dan Pope DPT, OCS, CSCS

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