In this article we will delve deeper into "All About Foot Drop" focusing on Normal Gait Cycle and how gait is broken down into its various phases.
In this article we will delve deeper into "All About Foot Drop" focusing on Normal Gait Cycle and how gait is broken down into its various phases.
Normal Gait cycle
First, let’s break down the gait cycle. For a better understanding, let's do the gait cycle for a single foot. The walking cycle can be broken down into two main phases: Stance phase and Swing phase (as shown in the figure below). Stance phase corresponds to the moment when the foot is on the ground. On the contrary, the swing phase corresponds to the moment when the foot is in air (and the other foot is on the ground)1.
Stance phase can be divided into 4 sub-phases:
Loading response,
Mid stance,
Terminal stance,
and Pre-swing.
The swing phase can also be divided into sub-phases:
Initial swing,
Mid-swing and
Terminal swing2,3,4.
What does each of these sub-phases correspond to?
Loading response: this phase begins when the heel of the foot makes contact with the ground and ends when the other foot leaves the ground, when all the weight is transferred.
Mid-stance: this phase starts when both heel and the forefoot start contacting the ground.
Terminal stance: as the center of body mass moves forward in the Terminal Stance phase, the heel starts taking off, as shown in Fig. 1. In this phase, only the forefoot part touches the ground.
Pre-swing: this phase begins when the heel of the other foot makes contact with the ground and ends when the foot leaves the ground, when all the weight is transferred on the other leg.
Initial swing corresponds to the period necessary to bring the foot of the swing limb to go next to the foot of the stance limb.
Mid-swing is from when the foot of the swing limb is next to the foot of the stance limb to when the tibia of the swing limb is vertical.
Terminal swing refers to the phase extending from the vertical positioning of the tibia to the moment when the heel makes contact. The event that follows the terminal swing is the start of a new cycle, but for the other foot.
A normal gait cycle enables regular, “normal” gait. On the other hand, gait can be impacted by disorders and imbalances. Abnormal gait may be due to foot drop. To find out more about the abnormal gait cycle due to foot drop and different methods of compensation, we recommend you read the article "Deepening on foot drop: Abnormal Gait Cycle due to Foot drop" and "Different methods of compensation: steppage, ..."
BANGA, Harish Kumar, BELOKAR, R. M., MADAN, R., et al. Three dimensional Gait assessments during walking of healthy people and drop foot patients. Defence Life Science Journal, 2017, vol. 2, no 1, p. 14-20.
DI GREGORIO, Raffaele et VOCENAS, Lucas. Identification of gait-cycle phases for prosthesis control. Biomimetics, 2021, vol. 6, no 2, p. 22.
MOHAMMED, Samer, SAME, Allou, OUKHELLOU, Latifa, et al. Recognition of gait cycle phases using wearable sensors. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 2016, vol. 75, p. 50-59.
NEUMANN, Donald A. Kinesiology of the musculoskeletal system-e-book: foundations for rehabilitation. Elsevier Health Sciences, 2016.
The nervous system is our body's regulatory and communication centre. It is made up of the brain, the spinal cord and nerves (a collection of neurons).
Deepening on foot drop: Abnormal Gait Cycle due to Foot drop and Different methods of compensation: steppage, …
Foot drop is characterised by a significant difficulty in lifting the front part of the foot, causing it to drag or delay when walking. This condition impedes the normal gait cycle, affecting mobility and increasing the risk of falls.
Six athletes who play sport at the highest level in the world with a foot drop
Playing sports with a foot drop is entirely possible. However, you must adapt the choice of sport according to your deficit and refer to the recommendations of the various health professionals consulted.
