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	Next to Red Lobster on North Academy
	5014 El Camino Drive
	Colorado Springs, CO 80918-2106
	Telephone:	719.635.7700
	Facsimile:	717.635.1794
Center For Gait & Posture Pathomechanics

GAITLAB®

Although the picture on the right is an extreme example, a limp is just a difference between the left and right sides of the body during function (gait). It's functional asymmetry. It can be very obvious like the lady on the right or it can be very subtle. In fact, most of us have a pattern of subtle asymmetries in our gait style that our friends and family can recognize. What they really recognize is our pattern of asymmetry...our limp. GAITLAB® was specifically invented to evaluate and treat the subtle gait abnormalities found to be a common yet untreated cause of chronic musculo-skeletal complaints.
						We've all seen an exaggerated limp. It's easy to imagine what this limp is doing to her skeleton.
						The development of the spine is a requirement for the development of gait. In the womb, the spine is a single curve to facilitate growth and birth. The infant spine develops the curve at the neck which allows for forward sight when crawling. Ultimately, the remainder of the spine develops its characteristic curves which finally allow for standing and walking.
Spinal development is required for the changes in locomotion from birth to crawling to walking.
In fact, the normal movement of our shoulders and pelvis is a good example of the relationship between walking and the spine. This motion is called shoulder-pelvis counter-rotation and studies have shown that when the arms, shoulders and torso are immobilized, subjects need 10% more oxygen to walk a given distance. Walking is an activity involving the lower extremities, upper extremities and torso. After years of walking asymmetrically, the effects can be found in the lower extremities, upper extremities and torso.
						How we use our normal shoulder-pelvis motion is a good example of the relationship between walking and the spine.
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