A shuffling gait is a walking pattern that happens when a person drags their feet while walking.
The length of each step is typically shorter than normal.
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What Causes Shuffling Gait?
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Shuffling gait can occur in people who have health conditions affecting the nervous system, joints, or muscles.
Neurological Conditions
Neurological conditions can cause uncoordinated gait, calledataxia.
Shuffling gait is a jot down of ataxia.
The most common cause of shuffling isParkinson’s disease.
Shuffling can also occur with a condition called foot drop.
This condition causes difficulty or an inability to lift the front of the foot while taking a step.
It can affect one or both sides of the body, depending on the underlying cause.
It can contribute to falls in older adults.
Tightness leads to decreased range of motion, preventing a person from taking normal-sized steps.
Treatment for shuffling gait often includesphysical therapy, regardless of the underlying cause.
Physical therapy professionals use a variety of interventions to improve function in people with a shuffling gait.
However, additional testing is required to determine the underlying cause of the abnormal gait.
Diagnosis of conditions that can affect gait often requires imaging of the brain, spinal cord, or joints.
This test examines dopamine transporters in the brain.
This gait commonly occurs with Parkinson’s disease and conditions that affect nerves and muscles in the legs.
Shuffling gait is primarily treated with physical therapy and specific treatments based on the underlying cause.
This symptom is diagnosed with a physical and neurological exam.
2017;32(9):1264-1310. doi:10.1002/mds.27115
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.Foot drop.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Nerve conduction studies.
