Gait & Postural Analysis in Tustin, 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.

The 55 south to the 73 is the usual path to La Alameda. About 16 miles. Twenty-five minutes is a good day. Forty is a 55 that is not cooperating. Address: 26400 La Alameda, Suite 100, Mission Viejo, CA 92691. Parking at the building. Monday through Thursday, 9 to 6.

Do not book the visit as a gap between school pickup in Old Town and a meeting. The exam needs you present, not halfway back on the freeway in your head. Call (949) 312-1754. A complimentary 20-minute consultation is available if you want to meet the doctors before an evaluation.

McKenzie Method work is a strong fit when back or neck pain has a direction that makes it better or worse. Corrective exercise is the homework. Adjustments are used when a specific joint is restricted, after the screen that says a thrust is appropriate.

Functional medicine visits cover thyroid, sleep, and gut health when those are the actual complaint. The Tustin chiropractor page collects the local routes into the three pillars.

Out of network. Superbill. HSA and FSA. No referral required. We will not change a prescription from your physician. Emergency symptoms, including sudden neurologic loss, go to the ER rather than to La Alameda.

Drs. Sani and Tara Kohen practice at FRI. Their backgrounds are on the about page. The suite and gym are on the office page.

Tustin has three different weeks. Old Town is walkable, with short blocks and a lot of sitting in cafes and small offices. Tustin Legacy, on the old base, is wide, new, and built around a car. North Tustin and the hills toward Foothill are grades, older homes, and a drive down to the 55. A low back from Legacy commuting is not a knee from a North Tustin hill. We ask which one you live in before we guess at a load.

The District and the shopping around the Legacy add standing errands on top of desk jobs. Neck pain and headaches often belong to the screen. Knee pain and hip pain show up when hill residents add steps without a plan. Plantar fasciitis shows up in people whose walking is almost all concrete between the car and a door.