How Walking Asymmetry Affects Your Health

Symmetry is the natural state of our bodies. Walking symmetrically aligns our muscles and is a big part of staying healthy and avoiding falls. But there are plenty of everyday activities that throw off our natural balance, like carrying heavy bags on one shoulder, using one hand for texting, and countless others.

And sometimes, your phone lets you know. Health apps can track walking asymmetry and may ping you if you’re off-center. But is this actually helpful? We asked Elan Goldwaser, DO, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at Columbia, for his insights.

What is walking asymmetry?

Walking asymmetry occurs when the length of the step you take with one leg differs slightly from the step you take with the other. It can happen because your legs are different lengths, your feet strike the ground differently, or you’re dealing with other issues (such as back or hip problems, neurologic conditions, or other biomechanical discrepancies).

What is walking steadiness?

Walking steadiness is the sensation of balance and symmetry in your gait (the way a person walks in terms of pace and steps). When your steadiness is off, your brain senses that your body's stability, coordination, and balance are out of sync, and you feel “off-centered” or “wobbly.”

Why is it important to have a symmetrical, steady walk?

When you walk symmetrically, your muscles work in even harmony, minimizing stress on the bones. Symmetrical, steady walking is important to decrease the risk of falling.

How can you tell if you’re walking asymmetrically?

You can tell if your gait is asymmetrical and unsteady if you find yourself wobbling and catching your balance often or if you feel like you're off-center or swaying while you walk.

Asymmetric walking also creates biomechanical stress, as muscles work too hard on one side of your body (compared to the other side). You'll feel muscle pains and aches or pains in the joints from too much pressure or stress.

Who should be most concerned about how they walk?

Anyone in pain or who notices they are limping, swaying, or off balance.

Correcting your walking mechanics starts with identifying the source of the problems. That’s where a medical professional comes in.

People often see me or other sports doctors because they have aches and pains in their joints. They usually notice them when they’re trying to increase their exercise. So, the pains are generally traced back to poor biomechanics and bad habits.

My phone can measure my walking and notify me if I might fall. Should I activate this?

Yes. If your phone has this feature, I encourage everyone to turn it on. Paying attention to the way we walk is very important.

In addition to identifying heightened fall risk, detecting gait problems early can help identify neurological disorders or other diseases before more obvious symptoms develop. Walking is something we do every day. Changes in our biomechanics are gradual and develop so slowly that we may not even notice our gait is off.

Can I trust my phone or other tech to tell me I am not walking steadily?

Yes. Paying attention to what your phone or other wearable tech tells you helps most people identify poor gait mechanics, which leads to discussion with a doctor to identify causes and solutions to prevent falls and other issues.

Overall, technological advances have consistently been shown to accurately identify risk factors in people's health. But no health technology is perfect. As with all technology, there will be hiccups along the way, and updates will be needed.

Health monitoring applications should be used as a source of data that is discussed with a healthcare professional.

What do you wish everyone knew about gait?

Walking is a skill often taken for granted. Gait is a good assessor of health.

Be aware of your gait and use health technology to your advantage to know when to contact a healthcare professional, like a sports doctor, physical therapist, orthopedist, or primary care physician.