#asymmetries

[thegaitguys]

The next time they have gait asymmetry, try changing out the insole...

or putting a textured one in there...or maybe putting a some sand or dirt in their shoe...

Textured insoles change (we like to think for the better) proprioceptive input and can improve balance and gait performance, both statically and dynamically. We have seen this in folks with parkinsons (1) as well as stroke (2), though it can be used in the elderly (3), in diabetes and neuropathy (4), as well as healthy individuals (5,6). Changes from postural stability, to changes in anterior/posterior sway, to medial/lateral sway, to step length and height, the research is there.

These results support the hypothesis that enhanced somatosensory feedback to the sensory system, both through the spinocerebellar and dorsal column pathways, as well as the vestibular system, results in an improved motor output (and most likely coordination) of gait.

Qiu F, Cole MH, Davids KW, et al. Effects of textured insoles on balance in people with Parkinson's disease. PLoS One. 2013;8(12):e83309. Published 2013 Dec 12. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.00833

Ma CC1, Rao N2, Muthukrishnan S3, Aruin AS4. A textured insole improves gait symmetry in individuals with stroke. Disabil Rehabil. 2017 Aug 7:1-5. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2017.1362477. [Epub ahead of print]

Annino G1,2,3, Palazzo F2, Alwardat MS4, Manzi V5, Lebone P2, Tancredi V1,2,3, Sinibaldi Salimei P2,6,7, Caronti A2, Panzarino M2,3, Padua E2,3. Effects of long-term stimulation of textured insoles on postural control in health elderly. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2018 Apr;58(4):377-384. doi: 10.23736/S0022-4707.16.06705-0. Epub 2016 Sep 15.

Paton J, Glasser S, Collings R, Marsden J. Getting the right balance: insole design alters the static balance of people with diabetes and neuropathy. J Foot Ankle Res. 2016;9:40. Published 2016 Oct 5. doi:10.1186/s13047-016-0172-3

Steinberg N1, Tirosh O, Adams R, Karin J, Waddington G. Influence of Textured Insoles on Dynamic Postural Balance of Young Dancers. Med Probl Perform Art. 2017 Jun;32(2):63-70. doi: 10.21091/mppa.2017.2012.

Collings R1, Paton J2, Chockalingam N3, Gorst T2, Marsden J2. Effects of the site and extent of plantar cutaneous stimulation on dynamic balance and muscle activity while walking. Foot (Edinb). 2015 Sep;25(3):159-63. doi: 10.1016/j.foot.2015.05.003. Epub 2015 May 11.

[thegaitguys]

Want to bring out gait pathology? Add something new into the mix...

We have talked about bringing out compensations and asymmetries in gait patterns by adding a novel stimulus to the exam, like having the client/patient put their hands over their heads, or close their eyes. Here is yet another tool for your toolbox: having the client walk backwards.

Both forward and backward walking share pattern generation control circuits in the brainstem, providing similar (though reversed) kinematic patterns. Backward walking requires different muscle activation sequences which can highlight subtle gait asymmetries, particularly in individuals that have cortical impairment (like the kids with cerebral palsy in this paper) or perhaps people with more subtle cortical impairments, like cerebellar dysafferentation from abnormal joint and muscle mechanoreceptor input and integration. Don’t believe us or what the study says, try it on yourself! It can be a humbling experience : )

In part, the study concludes: “The observed spatiotemporal asymmetry assessments may reflect both impaired supraspinal control and impaired state of the spinal circuitry.”

The next time you are having a difficult time seeing something in an evaluation, or are trying to bring out an asymmetry, in addition to your other tricks, have them walk backwards.

Cappellini G, Sylos-Labini F, MacLellan MJ, Sacco A, Morelli D, Lacquaniti F, Ivanenko Y. Backward walking highlights gait asymmetries in children with cerebral palsy. J Neurophysiol. 2018 Mar 1;119(3):1153-1165. doi: 10.1152/jn.00679.2017. Epub 2017 Dec 20.

[valleyofdeaddandelions7]

I WISH I COULD DO THOSE DAMN SYMMETRICAL FACE EXCERCISE WITHOUT FEELING THE NEED TO CRY MY UNEVEN EYES OUT BECAUSE I'M BEING REMAINED THAT THE ONLY REASON I'M DOINT THEM IS BECAUSE WHATEVER HIGHER BEING IS THERE DIDN'T FAVOR ME ENOUGH TO MAKE ME PRETTY!

[techmaqofficial]

Why Are Only 10% of People Left-Handed? Here's What Scientists Know So Far

Why Are Only 10% of People Left-Handed? Here’s What Scientists Know So Far

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Are you a rightie or a leftie? No, we’re not talking politics here, we’re talking handedness. And unless you happen to have an abundance of left-handed friends, you might have noticed how rare they are. So why are just 1 in 10 of us left-handed?

  While no one’s been able to definitively explain this, there are plenty of hypotheses that have been building for more than a century, and the…

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[gooseandgoat]

Visit Original Link

Asymmetries

I’m thinking about you and you’re humming while cutting a piece of wood. I’m positive you aren’t thinking about me which is fine as long as you aren’t thinking about yourself. I know and love the way you inhabit this house and the occasions we mutually create. But I don’t know the man you picture when you see yourself walking around the world inside your head and I’m jealous of the attention you pay that person whom I suspect of being devious.

[thegaitguys]

Asymmetries can make all the difference…

Take a good look at these pictures of this gentleman’s feet. Can you see any differences from side to side? If you look closely, you’ll notice that his right foot is in and abducted position (4 foot adductus) and relatively normal. Asymmetries can make all the difference…

Take a good look at these pictures of this gentleman‘s feet. Can you see any differences from side to side? If you look closely, you will notice that his right foot is in an adducted position (forefoot adductus) and the left one relatively normal. If you bisect the heel, it should pass through the second or between the second and third metatarsal in his clearly falls laterally. So what you say? Well, putting a foot in relative supination with respect to the other causes certain biomechanical sequela. This forefoot adductus often leads to a forefoot supinatus, so he’s unable to get the head of his first ray down to the ground. Think that might make a difference in his gait cycle? Think about all the extra internal rotation that will have to occur in that lower extremity during a normal gait cycle. Now combine that with something like external tibial torsion or a leg length discrepancy and things can really stack up and make a big difference. Lastly, think about the asymmetrical mechanoreceptor input from the joint mechanoreceptors and muscle spindles traveling up the neuraxis. Do you think over time that that may cause some cortical remodeling and ultimately change the way he activates muscles? Look for asymmetries, they really do matter Dr Ivo Waerlop, one of The Gait Guys #asymmetriesmatter #gaitanalysis #thegaitguys #forefootadductus

[thegaitguys]

Thought experiment on symmetry: Does symmetry always matter?

the short answer is probably not. the long answer is maybe...

This study looked at gait variability asymmetry in small cohort of experienced distance runnners. They measured different variables at 1500, 3000, 5000, 7500 and 9500 m of a 10000 meter run (about 6.2 miles) on a treadmill. Generally speaking, variability was low and athletes were symmetrical for 5 of seven variables measured and assymetry, when present, was in flight time and impact forces Most aththletes were asymetrical for at least one variable as well.

Their conclusion basically said that being asymmetrical in a few variables is not abnormal and not indicative of asymmetrical gait and since many practitioners analyze symmetry (and variability) caution should be exercised when determining the need for intervention.

So what do we think this means?

most likely:

these folks were symmetrical with low variability. In other words, when asymmetry was present, it was small

some asymmetry, in some parameters, is probably normal...but,it is usually small if it doesn’t matter. Keep in mind these were expreienced, uninjured folks. th results could have been different with a bigger cohort and less experienced runners and thus...

The study does not talk about inexperienced runners. Symmetry and/or asymmetry may not be normal for inexperienced runners

Results may have been vastly different if the run had been longer. The study did show that variability increased the further along on the run the athlete was.

The study was performed on a treadmill, which may not exemplify or highlight asymmetry, as it creates artificial constraints which we have discussed in by us here, here, and here:

We think asymmetry matters, particularly when it comes to hard deformities like torsions and versions, which change the biomechanics of that individual extremity and can be a diagnostic tool for future problems

perhaps asymmetry is significant in his population of runners on a subclinical basis

Hanley B, Tucker CB. Gait variability and symmetry remain consistent during high-intensity 10,000 m treadmill running. J Biomech. 2018 Oct 5;79:129-134. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2018.08.008. Epub 2018 Aug 16.

[amateur-broken-signs-blog]

Liga family- a-symmetries

Intro

I would be tempted to say that what attracted my attention in this scene was the attempt of the four characters to stage a funny sausage-assault. Yet somehow in this scene, the sausage appears as an estranged object. Due to the way it is being held up and exhibited by the four people, the sausage appears as a decontextualized object, one that that has lost its functionality of sausage, to become something else.  

A-symmetries

What happened to our object of contemplation through this process of estrangement? Following the process of decontextualizing an everyday object (sausage) by taking it from its habitual environment (i.e the kitchen/plate/table) and placing it into a new situation (what Deleuze defines as de-territorialisation), we can start to notice how the sausage is losing its property as an object of survival (nutrition) in order to gain a stylistic meaning.

Exploring asymmetries

By being held and exhibited in front of the camera, put around the neck and swung around into the air, the sausage acquires a different position among everyday life objects: from a basic needs element to an object of style and symbolism. Yet this symbolic meaning generated through the estrangement process is not static, as we would expect from a decorative element. In fact it is the dynamic process of movement that enables the sausage to gain momentum and to become something else. The camera captures the sausages as it swings through the air, drops vertically towards the ground and rises up again with a balancing move. The reproduction of the sausage and its movement captured by the cinematic eye becomes a representation of a different object, one that does not intend to compete with the original but being able to evoke it. Therefore a fracture is being created between two visions: on the one side that of the contemplated object with its cultural and social determinacy and on the other side that of its evocation as a knowledge object freed from its cultural and social determinacy. I refer to this passage from one perspective to the other an asymmetry, as it is being able to offer a glimpse into the passage process from contemplation to knowledge.

Notes

The editing process was of high importance for me as it enabled me to grasp the concept of asymmetry. By re-filming the scene and positioning it in transparency over the original scene I was able to visualise how the two positions relate to one another: my evocative stand that minimised the distance between myself and filmed objects and the home moviemaker’s stand representing an enlarged space of contemplation.  The overlapping of the two visions determined a process of asymmetry between spaces: the space of knowledge and the space of contemplation. The asymmetry reveals the ‘latent life’ of the scene, containing those aspects, which are not talked about but rather shown.