Gait Analysis &
Custom Orthotics
Optimise running & walking, & resolve injury through Gait Analysis & Custom Orthotics in Warwickshire.
Promoting a standard of clinical excellence in Biomechanical Podiatry within Henley In Arden, Warwickshire. Our Biomechanical Podiatric Faculty is run by Henley In Arden based Specialist Podiatrist, Heidi Murfin.
What is Gait Analysis in Warwickshire?
Gait describes the way a person moves their body from one place to another. Most commonly this involves walking, although it can also include running, hopping, or skipping.
Gait analysis is a detailed assessment of the way you walk or run, used to identify biomechanical abnormalities that may contribute to pain, injury, or inefficient movement. At our clinic, gait analysis in Warwickshire is performed by an experienced Biomechanical Podiatrist who carefully evaluates your walking or running pattern.
During a gait analysis assessment, you may be asked to walk or run on a treadmill while your foot position, stride, and lower-limb movement are analysed. This allows us to identify abnormal biomechanics that may be contributing to conditions affecting the feet, ankles, knees, hips, or lower back, and helps guide treatment such as custom orthotic insoles.
Biomechanical Podiatry in Warwickshire.
Biomechanical podiatry is a specialist area of podiatry that focuses on how the feet, ankles, and lower limbs function during standing, walking, and running.
A biomechanical podiatrist assesses the way your body moves and how forces are distributed through the feet and lower limbs. Small abnormalities in foot posture or movement can place excessive strain on joints, muscles, and tendons, which may lead to pain or injury.
Through a detailed biomechanical assessment, a podiatrist can identify problems with foot mechanics and gait. Treatment may include advice on footwear, rehabilitation exercises, and custom orthotic insoles designed to improve foot function and reduce strain on the feet, knees, hips, and lower back.
Biomechanical podiatry is commonly used to help manage conditions such as:
Heel pain and plantar fasciitis
Achilles tendon pain
Shin splints
Knee pain related to running or walking
Foot pain caused by abnormal biomechanics
Recurrent sports injuries
At our clinic, biomechanical podiatry in Warwickshire is often combined with gait analysis to provide a detailed understanding of how your feet move and how treatment can best improve your biomechanics.
Watch Our Gait Analysis Video.
Custom Orthotics In Warwickshire.
Custom orthotics are designed to improve the way your feet function during standing, walking, and running. By supporting the foot and improving alignment, orthotic insoles can reduce abnormal stresses on the feet and lower limbs and help address the underlying biomechanical causes of pain.
When prescribed following a detailed biomechanical assessment and gait analysis in Warwickshire, custom orthotics can help manage a wide range of musculoskeletal conditions.
Custom Orthotics May Help With:
Plantar fasciitis and heel pain
Achilles tendon pain (Achilles tendinopathy)
Shin splints (medial tibial stress syndrome)
Knee pain related to abnormal foot mechanics
Flat feet or excessively pronated feet
High arches and poor shock absorption
Metatarsalgia (pain in the ball of the foot)
Bunions (hallux valgus)
Foot fatigue during walking or running
Recurrent sports injuries related to poor biomechanics
By improving foot posture and distributing pressure more evenly, orthotics can also help reduce strain on the knees, hips, and lower back, as these joints are closely linked to foot mechanics during movement.
When combined with advanced gait analysis, custom orthotics provide a personalised treatment approach that addresses the mechanical causes of pain and helps improve long-term movement efficiency and injury prevention.
The cost of an orthotic can vary, and following your Gait Analysis appointment we will be able to advise you of the options available to you, and any associated costs.
Our Cutting-edge Approach to Gait Analysis in Warwickshire.
Step 1: Detailed History & Orthopaedic Assessment
The first stage of a biomechanical podiatric assessment involves a comprehensive clinical evaluation to understand the underlying cause of your symptoms and how your lower limbs function during movement. This stage forms the foundation for further investigation, including gait analysis in Warwickshire and the prescription of custom orthotics in Warwickshire where appropriate.
Your Biomechanical Podiatrist will begin by taking a detailed patient history, discussing your current symptoms, when they started, what activities aggravate or relieve them, and how the problem affects your daily activities, work, or sport. A past medical history is also reviewed to identify any previous injuries, medical conditions, medications, or surgeries that may influence your biomechanics or recovery.
Following this, a thorough orthopaedic, biomechanical, and functional examination of the lower limbs is performed. This assessment may include evaluation of joint mobility, muscle strength, limb alignment, foot posture, and flexibility. The clinician will also assess how the feet, ankles, knees, hips, and lower back interact as part of the overall kinetic chain.
Functional tests may be used to assess balance, stability, and movement control. This detailed assessment helps identify biomechanical abnormalities, muscle imbalances, or structural factors that may contribute to pain, inefficient movement, or recurrent injury.
Step 2: Optogait Digital Gait Analysis System.
Our clinic uses OptoGait, an advanced system for gait analysis in Warwickshire, designed to provide precise, objective measurement of how you walk or run. This innovative technology allows our clinicians to accurately assess movement patterns and identify biomechanical abnormalities that may contribute to lower-limb pain or injury.
The OptoGait system uses an array of high-speed optical sensors operating at 1000 Hz, capturing detailed spatial and temporal data during walking, running, or functional movement tests. By removing reliance on visual estimation alone, the system provides a highly accurate and objective evaluation of your gait.
This data is combined with integrated video analysis, allowing us to monitor your movement patterns in detail and identify mechanical inefficiencies, areas of excessive stress, and asymmetries between the left and right legs.
Using this information, our clinicians can develop a targeted treatment plan which may include rehabilitation strategies and custom orthotics in Warwickshire, designed to improve foot biomechanics, reduce strain on the lower limbs, and support more efficient movement.
Objective gait analysis allows us to:
Identify abnormal foot mechanics and gait patterns
Detect asymmetries between the left and right legs
Pinpoint mechanical causes of recurring injuries
Monitor progress throughout treatment
Design custom orthotic insoles tailored to your biomechanics
This detailed assessment helps ensure that any custom orthotics prescribed are precisely matched to your individual biomechanics, improving comfort, performance, and long-term injury prevention.
It allows the Biomechanical Podiatrist to conduct slow motion analysis, pausing, splitting, angle finding, zooming in, digitising and synchronising two separate videos are amongst its qualities. Its function is to improve the accuracy of the orthotic prescription to you.
Step 3: IQube 3D Infrared Foot Scanner.
To create truly accurate custom orthotics in Warwickshire, we use the iQube 3D foot scanner, an advanced system that captures a precise three-dimensional image of your feet.
The iQube uses a series of infrared beams to generate a highly detailed 3D scan of foot shape and posture in just a few seconds. Originally developed using technology from the aerospace industry, the system produces high-resolution, full-colour images with an accuracy of up to 0.4 mm.
This level of precision allows our clinicians to obtain an exact digital model of your feet, ensuring that your custom orthotic insoles are manufactured accurately and designed specifically for your biomechanics.
The scanner can capture weight-bearing, non-weight-bearing and semi-weight-bearing scans, which is essential for the accurate assessment of foot posture and function. When combined with gait analysis in Warwickshire, this technology allows us to fully evaluate how your feet function both statically and during movement.
This detailed data enables our laboratory to manufacture right-first-time custom orthotics, helping patients begin their recovery and return to comfortable movement as quickly as possible.
Step 4: Custom Orthotic Prescription.
Following your clinical examination and gait analysis, your Biomechanical Podiatrist may recommend custom orthotics if abnormal foot mechanics or gait patterns are identified.
Custom orthotics (also known as bespoke orthotic insoles or foot orthoses) are specially designed shoe inserts that support the feet, improve foot posture, and help correct biomechanical imbalances. Unlike over-the-counter insoles, custom orthotics in Warwickshire are individually prescribed based on the detailed findings of your biomechanical assessment.
Using information gathered from your clinical examination, gait analysis, OptoGait assessment, and iQube 3D foot scan, your clinician develops a precise understanding of how your feet function both statically and during movement. This data allows the orthotic device to be tailored specifically to your foot structure, gait pattern, and individual biomechanics.
The collected data is then sent to a specialist CAD/CAM orthotic laboratory, where your orthotics are manufactured using advanced milling or 3D-printing technology. This process ensures a high level of precision and consistency, producing orthotics designed to optimise foot function and improve overall lower limb biomechanics.
orthotics aim to help...
- Reduce pain
- Provide support
- Prevent or halt the development of foot deformity
- Provide better positioning
- Relieve pressure on a certain area of the foot
- Improve the overall biomechanical function of the foot
- Improve pelvic alignment
- Reduce lower limb torsion and knee stress
- This allows joints to be aligned correctly and promotes efficient transmission of biomechanical forces.
Many lower limb injuries are caused, at least in part, by poor biomechanics. Through the utilisation of our comprehensive and objective assessment protocol, we’re able to design and prescribe a pair of orthotics perfectly tailored to your feet.
It’s our pleasure to look after a range of podiatry patients from the local areas of Henley in Arden, Stratford Upon Avon, Warwick, Solihull, Redditch, Leamington Spa, Birmingham, Wootton Wawen, Claverdon, Knowle, Dorridge, Shirley, Hatton, Lapworth, and Hockey Heath etc.
Contact us in order to enquire as to whether a pair of custom orthotics may be suitable in the management of your pain, improvement of your gait, or optimisation of your sporting performance. If you wish to see one of our expert biomechanical podiatrists, or would like further information about our services here at The Pain and Injury Clinic, Henley In Arden, Warwickshire, please click the button below.
