Antalgic is a manner of walking or even body posture, that is adopted to minimize pain or avoid pain.
Antalgic literally means "against pain".
Antalgic walking or body posture is often seen as an antalgic gait, which is where a person limps or reduces their time that is spent standing on a painful leg to alleviate any pain or discomfort.
The key characteristics and causes of antalgic include, antalgic gait and antalgic posture.
Antalgic gait, is a shortened stance phase, which is the time the foot is on the ground on the affected side.
Antalgic posture, is a hunched or leaned posture that is often seen in people with back pain.
Common causes of an antalgic posture and gait are acute injuries like strains and sprains, joint inflammation, arthritis, infections or even nerve compression like herniated discs.
Signs and symptoms of antalgic posture and gait are limping, favoring of one leg over the other, shifting weight away from a painful joint, or a classic antalgic stoop or bending forward.
Treatment for antalgic walking and gait or posture includes management at is directed at the underlying cause of the pain, often involving medication, rest and or physical therapy.
Antalgic is a protective mechanisms in which the body alters it's movement instinctively to protect a damaged or inflamed area.
Although antalgic lean looks serious, the good news is that antalgia is commonly not as severe as it feels or looks.
If you have had no major trauma and have no medical symptoms, antalgia, is not to be worried about.
And antalgia, usually settles fully once the back muscles have relaxed.
The most serious complication of an antalgic gait is the potential for missed pathology, such as septic arthritis, tumor, or severe vascular disease, which can be life or limb-threatening.