The Kinematic Patterns of Toe-Walkers

Classification of idiopathic toe walking based on gait analysis: Development and application of the ITW severity classification

“…A study by Armand et al identified three distinct patterns of toe walking but their classification could not distinguish between etiologies of toe walking (ITW, cerebral palsy, and clubfoot) and different patient populations were heterogeneously represented across the three patterns [8]. Kelly et al's description of toe walking patterns differentiated children with mild spastic diplegia and idiopathic toe walking using kinematic data [9]. The approach used by authors in these previous papers was to describe toe walking within the context of other diseases and differentiate toewalking patterns between different diagnoses.…”

Identification and classification of toe-walkers based on ankle kinematics, using a data-mining method

“…Firstly researchers have tried to distinguish between toe-walker groups, especially between idiopathic toewalkers and children with mild cerebral palsy [5][6][7][8]16]. Fifteen years ago, Hicks et al [8] identified different causes for toe-walking in CP and ITW: for CP, the cause was excessive knee flexion whereas for ITW, toe-walking was due to plantarflexion.…”

“…It is also associated with cerebral palsy (CP) [4][5][6][7][8][9][10], muscular dystrophy [11][12][13], neuropathy [14] and in bony deformities such as clubfoot [15]. In the absence of any known cause, idiopathic toe walking (ITW) is the term used to describe the toe-toe gait pattern.…”

The influence of foot posture on the cost of transport in humans

“…Lieberman et al (Lieberman et al, 2010) suggested that landing on the heels when running is a recent and artificial consequence of the thick-heel design of modern running shoes. Toe walking is common among young children and intermittent toe walking is considered normal up to the age of 7 years (Kelly et al, 1997;Kalen et al, 1986). It is also common for humans (and consequently, cartoon characters) to adopt a 'tiptoeing' foot posture when they wish to walk covertly and with stealth.…”