Gait & Postural Analysis in Laguna Niguel, CA

Standing is the first pass. Weight on one foot, a hip hitched, ribs shifted off the pelvis, a head that lives forward of the chest, knees that face different directions. They matter when they match a symptom. A posture that looks uneven and feels fine may be noted and left alone.

Gait and postural analysis does not require a force plate or a motion-capture suit. The doctor watches, may use a phone video so you can see the same thing in slow motion, and may palpate a landmark to confirm what the eye thought. If a fancier lab would be useful, that is a referral conversation. It is not pretended in the treatment room.

You walk a short path, turn, and walk back, more than once. The look is at foot strike, whether the arch collapses, whether the knee stays over the foot, whether the hip drops as the other leg swings, and whether the trunk sways or stays rigid. Arm swing is part of it. A trunk that refuses to rotate often shows up here before it shows up in a story about stiffness.

Shoes change the picture, so the walk may happen in your usual shoes and briefly without them. Plantar fasciitis that is blamed only on the heel often looks different when the hip drop and the foot collapse are seen in the same stride. Knee pain on one side is compared with the other side's step, not with a textbook drawing.

Treating the foot and ignoring the hip, or treating the low back and never watching a step, is how plans get stuck. The pass is one chain. A stiff big toe can change the knee. A hip that will not extend can keep the low back working overtime at the end of the stride. The note says which link is loudest, and the first treatment goes there.

Dr. Sani Kohen will say the link out loud and show it on the video if video was used. You should be able to see your own hip drop or your own rigid trunk. Hip and sacroiliac joint pain during the stance phase is a reason to test that hip on the table next, not a reason to hand you generic posture cues. Cues without a finding do not stick.

The analysis is finished when it changes a decision. A collapsed arch may lead to a foot drill, a shoe question, or a look at the hip that is driving the collapse. A rigid trunk may lead to a walking drill with a little rotation, or to dynamic neuromuscular stabilization if the trunk cannot organize even lying down. The exercise has to resemble the fault that was seen.

Reassessment is another walk, not only a question about pain. If the hip still drops, the drill did not transfer. Visits often run 30 to 60 minutes depending on the plan, and the walking portion is a slice of that time, repeated after treatment. A free 20-minute consultation can cover whether a walking look is the right start. The office is out of network and can provide a superbill. HSA and FSA cards are accepted.

Wear shorts or pants you can move in, and bring the shoes you actually walk or run in, including orthotics if you use them. You will stand, walk, and possibly try a small single-leg task. Expect to watch a replay if video is used. The commentary is specific: this hip, this part of the step, this shoe.

You should leave knowing one fault and one thing the plan will do about it. Mild awkwardness on camera is normal. The visit is not a posture grade. FRI does not rank your stance against an ideal statue. The question is whether the way you load matches the pain you have.

Out of network, superbill, HSA and FSA. Same policy as the rest of the county. We recheck findings instead of assuming a standing weekly visit. If you are better, the gap between visits should grow. If you are not, we change the plan or we say that someone else should see you.

Drs. Sani and Tara Kohen run the practice together. Read about them on the about page. The rooms, including the rehab space, are on the office page. No referral is required from a Laguna Niguel physician, and we will coordinate if you have one.

Laguna Niguel is hills and planned neighborhoods: Bear Brand, Kite Hill, the streets above Crown Valley, and the parks along Salt Creek. The walking is rarely flat. Youth sports and weekend rounds of golf share the calendar with freeway jobs north of here. Knees notice the downhills. Low backs notice the car. Necks notice the laptop that follows the commute. We use those specifics in the exam instead of a checkbox that says active.

Salt Creek and the regional park give people a place to walk that is not a treadmill. If walking helps your pain or provokes it, we want to know which path. A loop that is fine on the flat portion and painful on the return grade is a clue, especially for spinal stenosis patterns and for hip pain.

From most of Laguna Niguel you reach La Alameda by Crown Valley Parkway or Alicia Parkway. About 8 miles, often 15 to 25 minutes outside the Crown Valley rush. The address is 26400 La Alameda, Suite 100, Mission Viejo, CA 92691. Park at the building. Hours are Monday through Thursday, 9 to 6. Being close is an advantage. It also makes it easy to treat the clinic like a drop-in chiropractic stop. That is not how this office works.

Book enough time for an exam, not a crack on the way to an errand. The complimentary 20-minute consultation exists so you can meet the doctors before a longer visit. Call (949) 312-1754. If you are coming from the south end of town near the 73, say so when you schedule. The return toward the toll road in the afternoon is the slow direction.