Bloomsdale, MO

Bloomsdale, MO

Don't let a mental block over reinjury keep you from the activities you love.

Injury Prevention in Bloomsdale, MO. Whether you’re an athlete and want to improve your performance, or are entering your golden years and want to spend more time camping, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the happy, healthy lifestyle you deserve. While our certified Bloomsdale, MO physical therapists spend much of their time helping athletes and others heal after an injury, we are complete movement health specialists who can evaluate your movement, muscle and joint strength, and flexibility to show you measures that are proven to reduce the risk of injury. Make an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or contact the location most convenient for you.

Being physically active is an essential part of many Bloomsdale, MO people’s lives. Many of us participate in active endeavors like playing sports, playing golf, and more. Additionally, pursuing an active lifestyle helps stave off significant health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, eurodegenerative disease, mental health issues, and many types of cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Bloomsdale, MO physical therapists help you come back even stronger after an injury, but our injury prevention experts can help you reduce the risk of further injury by improving your overall strength, flexibility, and posture. All of our treatment plans, for both recovery and injury prevention, are based on evidence-backed techniques and are personalized to each client and the activities they want to return to.

If you’ve recently suffered an injury, or have a persistent injury that won’t heal on its own, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location most convenient for you in Bloomsdale, MO for a no-risk, no-obligation injury screening. To reduce your chance of an injury and protect your sport or hobby, read on below or call to speak to a physical therapist at your earliest convenience.

Injuries Axes PT Can Help Prevent in Bloomsdale, MO

Most injuries happen for one of two reasons:

  1. Overuse injuries are injuries happen gradually as a body part degrades because of repetitive movements. They are common in overhead athletes athletes who use throwing or striking motions, with joint pain usually being the first warning sign.
  2. Acute injuries are injuries that happen because of a specific and sudden trauma. Examples include falling or receiving a blow. These can result in bruises, twisting joints, fractures, and dislocations.

Some of the injuries we see most frequently, like rotator cuff tears, can either develop over time or occur suddenly. Other injuries, like ACL tears, almost always occur spontaneously, with an immediate impact to or twisting of the knee.

Injury Prevention Bloomsdale, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Bloomsdale

What Causes Injuries? | Injury Prevention in Bloomsdale, MO

While anyone can suffer an injury almost at any time and for numerous different reasons, they generally happen because of dysfunction or instability and your body and between body parts. There are three chief causes of why your body cannot handle an activity:

Muscle Imbalance

Muscle balance is essential to supporting joints and reducing injury. Imbalance can lead to an overreliance on one muscle group, which may cause your body to force it to participate in an activity it shouldn’t. It also prevents you from having good posture, and one set of muscles becoming fatigued faster, making them more susceptible to injuries. Muscle imbalance can refer to inadequate muscle balance in relation to other muscle groups, such as having a strong chest and weak back, or in the same muscle group, such as an imbalance between the four muscles of the rotator cuff. Muscle imbalance can lead to:

Customized injury prevention with our certified physical therapists in Bloomsdale, MO will bring balance to your muscles.

Movement Dysfunction

Movement dysfunction can impact your stability and lead to your body moving in unnatural ways, increasing your risk of injury. It can be caused by many different musculoskeletal issues. It can lead to:

  • Joint mobility limitations
  • Muscle imbalance
  • Poor coordination
  • Reduced balance

When you first visit our injury prevention professionals in Bloomsdale, MO, we’ll discuss your medical history and analyze your current movement health, strength, and flexibility. Then, together with your doctor or any other providers treating you, we’ll devise a customized plan of attack based on empirically-backed research and studies to get your movement back on track.

Posture Dysfunction

Bad posture doesn’t just affect people who sit a lot. People who play sports and others with active lifestyles can suffer from postural dysfunction when at lest, using the computer, or in certain stances necessary for a given activity. Good posture means proper positioning of the neck, torso, pelvis, and extremities in a way that encourages our spine to stay in its natural curves. Poor posture can compress the vertebrae, which has a negative affect on our body’s ability to communicate with itself and reach the strength and range of motion you need to achieve. It can also lead to:

  • Muscle weakness
  • Muscle imbalance
  • Poor positioning
  • Joint mobility limitations
  • Poor muscle recruitment

Good posture is a vital part of injury prevention because it ensures muscle balance, flexibility, and that your spine is in its natural position.



How to Prevent Injury in Bloomsdale, MO

You can still suffer an injury even if you did everything you could to prevent one. No one technique is guaranteed to be effective in injury prevention. However, there are several steps you can take to greatly reduce the risk of injury:

  • Take a rest — Your body needs time to rest and recover after any moderate to intense activity. If you have a very high activity level, one or two rest days a week will allow your body to naturally heal any mild pain or soreness. If you have a more modest activity level, relax for the rest of the day after an activity so your body doesn’t become too fatigued.
  • Wear the right equipment — Helmets, chin straps, elbow pads, and other equipment necessary in sports and other activities can help prevent injuries like cuts or concussions. If you’ve had a previous injury, your Bloomsdale, MO physician or physical therapist may fit you for stabilizing braces or Kinesio Taping®. Other measures like making sure all the equipment is snug can further help injury prevention by stabilizing your joints.
  • Boost muscle strength — Strengthening your muscles, tendons, and ligaments helps them stand up to the rigors necessary for in sports and other activities. Our Bloomsdale, MO injury prevention professionals will work to achieve optimal muscle balance and strengthen the often forgotten muscles needed to be able to avoid injury in the activities you love.
  • Increase flexibility — Increasing your flexibility accomplishes three critical things for injury prevention:
    1. It boosts your range of motion, which allows for your tendons and ligaments to handle more extreme movements.
    2. It improves circulation, which carries nutrient-rich blood to your soft tissue, eliminating waste byproduct and encouraging the muscles to recover.
    3. It boosts your posture, which, as we’ve discussed, is an important part of injury prevention.

    According to studies, sports like soccer that necessitate bouncing and jumping require muscles and tendons with sufficient flexibility to perform those movements. Stretching and warm up exercises before activities further helps prevent injuries.

  • Use correct technique — Through the years, each sport and physical activity develops a consensus of the best techniques to use. These techniques not only improve performance but help reduce the risk of injury. Football players learn to tackle a certain way to avoid a head injury, and swimmers learn the proper strokes to make sure their muscles are moving unnaturally. We utilize DorsaVi video motion analysis to break down your movement and educate you on how to both be a better athlete and prevent injury.
  • Listen to your body — If a part of your body is sore, your body is trying to send you a message. If you feel a sudden pop or grinding sensation, immediately stop all physical activity and get the appropriate medical treatment. If your body does not feel well enough for an intense workout, don’t force it.
  • Don’t play through an injury — Even though teammates, competitors, and fans appreciate a player that guts it out through pain, forcing your body to perform with soft tissue or structural damage could exacerbate an existing injury and put you out of commission for much longer than you would have been sitting out. Depending on what caused your injury and how severe it is, you may use methods like the R.I.C.E. method, seeing urgent care, and a series of physical therapy sessions to make sure your recovery and return to action go as well as possible.
  • Play by the rules — Depending on the sport or activity and age level of the participants, it likely has special rules to reduce the risk of injury. Penalties for targeting in football, rules against head-first sliding in baseball, and even the existence of special lanes on the street and sidewalk for bikers are examples of rules put in place to keep participants safe. Those were enacted for a reason, and there’s a reason that violations of those rules are punished.
  • Consult a professional physical therapist — It’s in your best interest to get a physical before another season begins or committing yourself to any strenuous activity or training regimen. While there, ask your doctor if injury prevention with a experienced physical therapist in Bloomsdale, MO is a good idea for you. Every treatment plan we employ has been demonstrated to help athletes remain healthy, and we’ll personalize your program to how old you are, your injury history, and how physically active you wish to be.

Injury Prevention Bloomsdale, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Bloomsdale

Injury Prevention for Older Bloomsdale, MO Adults

Falls in senior citizens were responsible for more than 3 million urgent care visits and over 34,000 deaths. Research demonstrates that physical activity is invaluable in preventing falls. Other conditions that limit mobility such as arthritis that are wear and tear injuries can be effectively managed with physical therapy exercises that keep your soft tissue and joints active. While older adults typically do not exert themselves as much as an athlete does, appropriate strength, stability, flexibility, and ideal posture can greatly aid in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Bloomsdale, MO include:

Bloomsdale, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Suffering in injury in something you love doing can lead to a mental block that won’t allow us to experience the same euphoria. The professional Bloomsdale, MO physical therapists at Axes are here to design for you a personalized injury prevention program that will keep your body as safe and healthy as can be, and your mind at ease that you do not have to fear going back to what you love. You deserve to feel the physical and mental health benefits that you do not want to lose. Request an appointment online or call the location nearest you to get started with one of our injury prevention professionals in Bloomsdale, MO.

Services Offered

Services Offered
  • Physical Therapy
    • Pre/Post Surgical Rehabilitation
    • Acute Injury Management
    • Chronic Injury Management
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Advanced Work Rehabilitation
  • Work Conditioning/Hardening
  • Functional Capacity Evaluations
  • Certified Hand Therapy
  • Vestibular Therapy/Concussion Management
  • Trigger Point Dry Needling
  • Sports Physical Therapy
  • Pediatric Orthopedic Physical Therapy
  • Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization
  • Spine Specialty – Certified Manual Therapy
  • Free Injury Screenings
  • Kinesio Taping®
  • Blood Flow Restriction Therapy

Our Team

Stephen Brunjes
OTR/L, CEAS
Mary McKinney
Front Office
Kaila Mikesch
Clinic Director, PT, DPT, CMPT
Eric Meyer
Assistant Clinic Director, PT, DPT, CMPT
Ernie Goddard
Partner, PT
Natalie Carter
PT, DPT, Astym. Cert.
Emma Witte
PTA, ASTYM Cert.
Kelly Barnes
Physical Therapist
Jennifer Zweigart
Front Office
Shannon Blum
PTA, ATC

Locations

Begin Your Recovery Today

Injuries and pain shouldn’t keep you from moving and doing the things you love.