Why do people waddle when they walk

In addition to relaxin, downward pressure from the growing fetus can also widen your pelvis. In the later stages of pregnancy, your stomach starts to jut out significantly, which can throw off your center of gravity and make it harder to balance, especially while walking. Your spine and pelvis may also start to curve in to support your growing stomach, causing you to lean back slightly while standing or walking. Both of these factors can also cause a waddling gait. Having a waddling gait while pregnant is normal and nothing to be concerned about.

In fact, it can even reduce your risk of falling. Waddling gaits tend to go away after you give birth, but you may continue to have one for several months. It takes time to perfect the mechanics of walking and balance. In children aged 2 and under, short steps and waddling gait are normal. Some of these conditions, such as lumbar lordosis, often go away on their own. In some cases, your child may just need to work with a physical therapist.

Muscular dystrophy MD refers to a group of rare diseases that weaken muscles, causing them to break down over time. A waddling gait is a symptom of several types of MD, including:. These include:. This results in shallow hip sockets that make hip dislocation much more likely.

People with this problem are likely to fall because they have poor balance and are always trying to catch up. Provide walking assistance for safety reasons, especially on uneven ground. See a physical therapist for exercise therapy and walking retraining. For a scissors gait: People with a scissors gait often lose skin sensation.

Skin care should be used to avoid skin sores. Leg braces and in-shoe splints can help keep the foot in the right position for standing and walking. A physical therapist can supply these and provide exercise therapy, if needed. Medicines muscle relaxers, anti-spasticity medicines can reduce the muscle overactivity. For a spastic gait: Exercises are encouraged. A cane or a walker is recommended for those with poor balance. For a steppage gait: Get enough rest.

Fatigue can often cause a person to stub a toe and fall. Patients will just say they're slowing down or not walking as well. After diagnosis, Pauline started treatment with the drug sinemet, which increases dopamine levels, and this has helped to control her symptoms. However, she wishes the cause of her lop-sided walk had been recognised earlier.

Health secrets of your walk. This is because in dementia the higher brain functions that govern thought and action become impaired. This includes lifting the legs in a timely manner to clear the ground. Other clues would be a slower gait, shorter steps and variability in gait - making you more prone to falls. Some muscle groups become stiffer and weaker. This makes the knees cross during walking. Walking with a limp - bearing weight on only one side of the body momentarily - can be a sign of arthritis in the hip, knee, toe or feet.

Of course, it could also be due to injury to one of the lower limbs on one side. Someone with joint pain may unconsciously avoid bearing weight on these joints. When they walk they tend to lift their knee up more to stop their foot dragging.

Read what these gaits can reveal: 1. Waddling — Back Disease Waddlers shift their upper body from side to side with each step. Swaying — Brain Damage If a patient looks like they might be drunk while walking, this can alert the doctor to possible damage to the cerebellum , the area of the brain that controls voluntary muscle movement and coordination. Scissor Gait — Damage to the Spinal Cord A patient whose knees cross over each other while walking may signal damage to the spinal cord.

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