Whole-body vibration results in short-term improvement in the gait of children with idiopathic toe walking

This study aimed to determine the impact of multiple doses of whole-body vibration on heel strike, spatial and temporal gait parameters, and ankle range of motion of children with idiopathic toe walking. Whole-body vibration was applied for 5 sets of 1 minute vibration/1 minute rest. Gait measures were collected pre intervention, 1, 5, 10, and 20 minutes postintervention with the GaitRite^® electronic walkway. Ankle range of motion was measured preintervention, immediately postintervention, and 20 minutes postintervention. The mean (SD) age of the 15 children (n = 10 males) was 5.93 (1.83) years. An immediate increase in heel contact (P =.041) and ankle range of motion (P =.001 and P =.016) was observed. These changes were unsustained 20 minutes postvibration (P >.05). The gait improvement from whole-body vibration could potentially be due to a rapid increase in ankle range of motion or a neuromodulation response.