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What
is limp/difficulty walking?
A limp is simply the inability to walk normally due to a disease or injury.
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How
do you know if a patient has a limp/difficulty walking?
Doctors can observe a patient’s ability to walk during a physical exam. During the exam the doctor will be evaluating the patient’s gait or manner of walking. Two kinds of gaits commonly found in patients with hip problems are an antalgic gait and Trendelenberg gait.
An antalgic gait, a step that demonstrates the patient is trying to avoid pain, is evidence of disease or injury. An antalgic gait is characterized by quick, short, soft footsteps.
Trendelenberg gait may be caused by a number of different hip injuries. To assess Trendelenburg gait in a patient a doctor will observe the patient from behind and ask him/her to stand on one foot. Patients will keep the hip of the foot they are standing on raised. Trendelenburg gait results from weakness in the gluteus medius muscle. The weakness causes the hip to drop. When walking a patient with a Trendelenburg gait will lean to the opposite side of the injury to keep the leg from falling.
Click here
for a detailed description of Trendelenburg gait and a drawing of how it looks in a patient.
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Possible Causes
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Science Links
Demonstrations of Gait Exams
This link offers several video clips that demonstrate how a doctor would assess a patient’s gait. The clips are presented side-by-side so you can compare normal and abnormal gait.
Demonstration of Trendelenburg Gait
This link offers an example of Trendelenburg gait. This link is incomplete so as you watch it, don’t worry about the narration just focus on how the patient looks.
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