Chain of Rocks, MO

Chain of Rocks, MO

Don't let a mental block over reinjury keep you from the things what you do best.

Injury Prevention in Chain of Rocks, MO. Whether you’re an athlete trying to get a shot at the next level, or you just retired and want to spend more time taking ski vacations, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the activities you love. While our licensed Chain of Rocks, MO physical therapists spend much of their time helping athletes and others recover from injury, we are experts in the entire musculoskeletal system who can evaluate your movement, muscle and joint strength, and flexibility to show you methods that are proven to reduce the risk of injury. Schedule an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or reach out to the location most convenient for you.

Physical activity is vitally important to many Chain of Rocks, MO residents. We love active endeavors such as playing sports, biking, or other physical activities. Additionally, committing to an active lifestyle helps prevent future health problems like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, degenerative brain diseases, depression, and many types of cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Chain of Rocks, MO physical therapists allow you to return to action even stronger after an injury, but our injury prevention specialists can help you reduce the risk of further injury by improving your overall strength, flexibility, and posture. All of our methods, for both recovery and injury prevention, are proven to be effective and are developed uniquely for each client and the level of activity they want to reach.

If you’ve recently suffered an injury, or have a lingering injury that just won’t go away, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location nearest you in Chain of Rocks, MO for a no-risk, no-obligation injury screening. To take preventative measures and ensure that you can keep up with your sport or hobby, keep reading or call to speak to a physical therapist at your earliest convenience.

Types of Injuries We Prevent Prevent in Chain of Rocks, MO

Injuries typically happen for one of two reasons:

  1. Repetitive motion injuries are injuries happen gradually as a body part degrades because of repetitive movements. In sports, we see them the most in in overhead athletes athletes who use throwing or striking motions and typically are accompanied by joint pain.
  2. Acute injuries are sudden and spontaneous. Examples include falling or receiving a blow. These can result in bruises, twisting joints, broken bones, and dislocations.

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

Injury Prevention Chain of Rocks, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Chain of Rocks

Why Do Injuries Happen? | Injury Prevention in Chain of Rocks, MO

While anyone can suffer an injury almost at any time and for numerous different reasons, they generally occur because of dysfunction or instability and your body and between body parts. There are three common dysfunctions that lead to injury:

Muscle Imbalance

Muscle balance is essential to maintaining healthy joints and preventing injury. Imbalance can result in overemphasis for one muscle group, causing it to perform actions it cannot do safely. It also prevents you from having ideal posture, and the weaker set of muscles will be pushed past its limit, resulting in failure and a higher likelihood of injury. Injuries can be caused by insufficient muscle balance in relation to other muscle groups, such as having a strong bicep and weak tricep, or in the same muscle group, such as an imbalance between the four muscles of the rotator cuff. Muscle imbalance can cause injury through:

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

Movement Dysfunction

Movement dysfunction can impact your stability and impede your body’s ability to naturally perform functional movements, causing injury. It can be caused by many different musculoskeletal issues. Symptoms include:

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

When you first visit our injury prevention experts in Chain of Rocks, MO, we’ll go through your medical history and analyze your current movement health, strength, and flexibility. Then, alongside with your doctor or any additional providers treating you, we’ll come up with a personalized game plan based on empirically-backed research and studies to get your body moving as it should.

Posture Dysfunction

Bad posture is not just an issue for people with slouched shoulders. People who play sports and other physically active people can be affected by postural dysfunction when resting, sitting, or in specific positions they need to be in for their sport. Correct posture means correct alignments of your body from your head to your toes in a way that does not remove the spine from its natural curves. Poor posture can compact the vertebrae, which interferes with 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

By guiding you to correct posture, we’ll aid in your injury prevention by ensuring you are using the right muscles for the right movements, your flexibility can be improved and maintained, and your spine is in its natural position.



Injury Prevention Techniques in Chain of Rocks, MO

All sports and physical activities carry an inherent risk of injury. We cannot promise that our injury prevention program completely negates the risk of injury. However, there are several steps you can take to make sure your body is strong and flexible enough for your intended activity:

  • Take breaks — Your body needs time to rest and recover after any moderate to intense activity. If you have a very high activity level, make sure to take one or two days off per week to allow your body to naturally heal any mild pain or soreness. If you’re moderately active, rest for the rest of the day after an activity so you don’t overwork your muscles and joints.
  • Wear the appropriate equipment — Helmets, mouth guards, safety pads and guards, and other required equipment in sports and other activities helps you avoid injuries like lacerations or head injuries. If you’re returning to activity after an injury, your Chain of Rocks, MO physician or injury prevention expert may advise stabilizing braces or Kinesio Taping®. Other methods like tying your athletic footwear tightly offers further stabilization.
  • Improve muscle strength — Strengthening soft tissue helps it stand up to the force and torque your body is put through in sports and other activities. In your tailored injury prevention program with our certified Chain of Rocks, MO physical therapists, we’ll work to build up your body to be able to stay healthy in the activities you love.
  • Improve flexibility — Increasing your flexibility contributes to injury prevention in three way:
    1. It improves which movements you can make and how far you can extend them, which lets for your tendons and ligaments to handle more dramatic movements.
    2. It enhances blood flow, which carries protein-rich blood to your muscles, eliminating waste byproduct and reinvigorating the muscles.
    3. It encourages good posture, which, as you read earlier, is is one of the most important factors of injury prevention.

    According to a peer-reviewed sports medicine paper, sports like basketball that require sudden twists and movements require muscles and tendons flexible enough to store and expel the high amount of energy required. Also, it’s important to stretch and warm up before games or training to further reduce the risk of injury.

  • Use accepted technique — Through the years, each sport and physical activity develops a consensus of the best ways to position and move your body. These techniques not only help you perform better but help reduce the risk of injury. Football players learn to tackle a certain way to reduce the risk of brain damage, and rotational athletes like golfers and baseball players learn how to best rotate their body. We utilize DorsaVi video motion analysis to break down your movement and educate you on how to both improve your performance and prevent injury.
  • Don’t ignore what your body is telling you — If you feel pain in a muscle or joint, your body is trying to send you a message. If you feel something suddenly that doesn’t feel right, immediately stop all physical activity and seek proportional medical care. If your body does not feel well enough for a particularly rigorous training session, don’t force it.
  • Don’t play through an injury — Even though teammates, competitors, and fans appreciate a player that plays through pain, playing with soft tissue or structural damage could make that injury worse and leave you on the sidelines for longer than it originally would have. Depending on the nature of your injury, you may use methods like the R.I.C.E. method, visiting an emergency room, and a series of physical therapy sessions to make sure your body heals naturally and can handle a return to physical activity.
  • Follow the rules — Many sports have special rules at different levels to reduce the risk of injury. Penalties for leading with the helmet in football, rules against coming from behind in soccer, and even the existence of special lanes on the street and sidewalk for bikers are examples of rules put in place to prevent injuries to ourselves and others. Those were enacted for a reason, and there’s a reason that violations of those rules are punished.
  • Speak a professional physical therapist — It’s always advisable to get a physical before a new season or starting up a new activity or training regimen. During your appointment, ask your doctor if injury prevention with a experienced physical therapist in Chain of Rocks, MO is a good idea for you. All of our techniques have been demonstrated to help athletes remain healthy, and you plan will be completely unique to you and catered to your age, any previous injuries, and which activities you want to participate in.

Injury Prevention Chain of Rocks, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Chain of Rocks

Injury Prevention for The Elderly in Chain of Rocks, MO

Falls in adults over 65 accounted for over 3 million emergency room visits and over 34,000 deaths. Studies show that physical activity is invaluable in preventing falls. Other conditions like arthritis that are wear and tear injuries can be effectively managed with physical therapy exercises that keep your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints strong. While the physical demands for seniors may not be as high as an athlete, healthy strength, stability, flexibility, and good posture can greatly aid in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Chain of Rocks, MO include:

Chain of Rocks, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Suffering in injury in one of your favorite activities can lead to a mental block that won’t allow us to experience the same elation. The professional Chain of Rocks, 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 of doing what you do best. Make an appointment online or call the location nearest you to start your program with one of our injury prevention specialists in Chain of Rocks, MO.

Services Offered

Services Offered
  • Physical Therapy
  • Pre/Post Surgical Rehabilitation
  • Acute Injury Management
  • Chronic Injury Management
  • Work Conditioning/Hardening
  • Functional Capacity Evaluations
  • Sports Physical Therapy
  • Pediatric Orthopedic Physical Therapy
  • Geriatric Physical Therapy
  • Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization
  • DorsaVi Video Motion Analysis
  • Vestibular Therapy and Post-Concussion Rehabilitation
  • Trigger Point Dry Needling
  • Free Injury Screenings
  • Kinesio Taping®
  • Blood Flow Restriction Therapy

Locations

Begin Your Recovery Today

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