Issue 2-84, 2018

Backward Walking as a Technique for Neurorehabilitation

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1 Klemenov A.V.

1 City Clinical Hospital №30, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia


ABSTRACT

Walking is the most natural and habitual form of exercise for a person of any age and gender. It has beneficial effectson musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, respiratory and nervous systems. In recent years, backward locomotion (backwardwalking and running) is increasingly used in sports and medicine. Kinetic and kinematic analysis during backward walkingshowed a number of advantages over the usual method of movement, that can be successfully used in the process of athletictraining and for treatment and rehabilitation of various diseases. Backward walking leads to a more cardiovascular andrespiratory load and a more significant aerobic and anaerobic capacity of the organism compared with forward walking atsimilar parameters of physical activity. Backward walking is associated with less overload on knee joints. It is also one of thefew natural ways of strengthening the quadriceps.Backward walking training has found its application in rehabilitation programs for different categories of neurologicalpatients with the aim of restoring sustainable body position and gait. Backward walking is used to elaborate the correctpattern of gait in children with cerebral palsy, in persons with hemiplegia after stroke, in patients suffering from Parkinson’sdisease and multiple sclerosis, in spinal cord injured patients. Regular backward walking training improves spatial-temporalparameters of walking and balance, increases muscle strength of the lower limbs in these diseases. Tests with backwardwalking are used for diagnostic purposes – to assess the severity of impaired coordination and motor skills in post-strokepatients and in Parkinson's disease, to identify the minimal walking impairment in persons with multiple sclerosis and forprobability of falling prediction in elderly individuals and patients with dizziness.


KEYWORDS: backward walking, backward running, rehabilitation, neurorehabilitation, cerebral palsy, cerebral stroke, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis


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This is an open article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Published by the National Medical Research Center for Rehabilitation and Balneology.