What are the risk factors associated with gait abnormalities?
You could be at a higher risk of developing an abnormal gait if you:
-Are over 60 years old.
-Experience an injury.
-Have a condition that affects your movement, bones, muscles, joints, brain, or spinal cord.
… Continue reading about 8 types of abnormal gaits!
Parkinsonian gait
A Parkinsonian gait is caused by bradykinesia and rigidity as a result of a loss of dopaminergic neurons in the basal ganglia region. Features of a Parkinsonian gait include:
-Arm swing: A decreased arm swing on one or both sides.
-Tremor: A resting tremor can be seen when the patient is distracted by walking.
-Initiation: Generally slow to start walking due to hesitancy and failure of gait ignition.
-Step length: Decreased stride length with short steps is standard, also known as as a shuffling gait.
-Turning: Having impaired balance on turning or hesitancy is expected when one has postural instability.
-Posture: flexed neck and trunk, causing a stooped appearance.
I am surprised that your list of reasons for gait abnormalities did not include normal pressure hydrocephalus. I started involuntarily shuffling my feet and had diminished stride In my early seventies. When I took Anatomy and Physiology in college, the instructor told us that some people with brain injuries could not stride more than 12 inches when walking. In addition to stride changes, I found it increasingly difficult to organize and reason. I couldn’t put together a report for my work. A CT scan revealed a significantly enlarged third ventricle. I had an ETV performed by image-guided surgery to form a drainage path through scar tissue that blocked the flow of CNS in my third ventricle at OHSU in Portland. I got immediate relief and have no gait or mental confusion symptoms for the last 10 years.