Ten Second Step Test

Cervical Myelopathy

The Ten Second Step Test has been designed for people with neck pain and stiffness which they think could be disturbing their gait. The way they walk. Cervical myelopathy, pressure on the spinal cord in the neck is very uncommon, so it's most unlikely... but it does happen.

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Surprising as it may seem, a neck injury can seriously affect the way the legs work. This is known a Cervical Myelopathy, in which a lesion in the neck (could be any one of many conditions), presses not on the nerves that go to the arm, but on the spinal cord. There may be weakness and tingling in the legs, and lack of coordination of the legs. Unexpectedly bumping into a doorway as you walk through, for example.

Can you see the difference?

The Ten second Step Test

Stand near to, but not holding onto, a rail or chair, if you think you might fall.

Look at your watch. Raise each leg as fast as you can, so that the thigh is parallel to the ground, and your knee is at ninety degrees. March on the spot. How many times can you do it?

Healthy strong young people can do about 16-23 steps in ten seconds.

If your lower back, hips, knees and ankles are in otherwise good order, and you can only raise your knee less than fifteen times, and you know you have a neck condition, then an assessment of your neck is in order.

Obviously even a healthy eighty-year old would have difficulty raising their knee 15 times. And an obese forty year old probably couldn’t either.

If concerned, talk to your chiropractor.

Go from Ten Second Step Test to WALKING BENEFITS ...

STIFF NECK EXERCISES FOR NECK PAIN