Injury Prevention in Clarkson Valley, MO. Whether you’re an athlete and want to up your game, or a recent retiree who wants to dedicate your time to taking ski vacations, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the happy, healthy lifestyle you desire. While our professional Clarkson Valley, MO physical therapists work extensively with athletes and others to heal after an injury, we are experts in the entire musculoskeletal system who can evaluate your body’s current condition and how you move to teach out methods that are proven to reduce the risk of injury by preparing your body for the stressors of your desired activity. Request an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or contact the location nearest you.

Being physically active is vitally important to many Clarkson Valley, MO residents. We love active endeavors such as playing sports, swimming, or other physical activities. Furthermore, pursuing an active lifestyle reduces the risk of serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dementia, anxiety, and certain cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Clarkson Valley, MO physical therapists allow you to come back even stronger after an injury, but our injury prevention experts can help keep you active by optimizing your overall movement health. All of our treatment plans, for both healing from and preventing injury, are proven to be effective and are customized for each client and the level of activity they want to reach.

If you’ve recently suffered an injury, or have a persistent injury that is not getting better with time, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location nearest you in Clarkson Valley, 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, read on below or call to speak to a physical therapist at your earliest convenience.

Types of Injuries We Prevent Prevent in Clarkson Valley, MO

Most injuries happen for one of two reasons:

1. Chronic injuries are injuries that are caused by repetitive movements over time. In sports, we see them the most in in overhead athletes such as tennis or quarterbacks and commonly manifest themselves as joint pain.
2. Acute injuries are injuries that happen in an instant. Examples include landing on uneven ground or receiving a blow. These can result in bruises, sprains and strains, broken bones, and dislocations.

Some of the injuries we see most frequently, like rotator cuff tears, can result from either overuse or acute trauma. Other injuries, such as ACL tears, almost always occur spontaneously, such as receiving a direct blow to the knee.

Why Do Injuries Happen? | Injury Prevention in Clarkson Valley, MO

While injuries occur for many different reasons, and some are inescapable, they generally occur because your soft tissue, bones, and joints cannot hold up under the force, torque, or stretching that are required or are possible in a given activity. There are three common dysfunctions that lead to injury:

Muscle Imbalance

Muscle balance is key to supporting joints and preventing injury. Imbalance can lead to an overreliance on one set of muscles, which may cause your body to force it to participate in an activity it shouldn’t. 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. Muscle imbalance applies to poor muscle balance between muscle groups, such as having a strong chest and weak back, or within muscle groups, such as the four muscles in the rotator cuff having different levels of strength. Muscle imbalance can lead to:

• Muscle weakness
• Muscle inflexibility
• Poor muscle recruitment
• Poor coordination

Tailored injury prevention with our professional physical therapists in Clarkson Valley, MO will ensure that different muscles and muscle groups are equally strong.

Movement Dysfunction

Movement dysfunction can result in poor balance and impede your body’s ability to naturally perform functional movements, causing injury. Problems in your nervous system, swelling, previous injuries, and muscle imbalance call all contribute to movement dysfunction. It can cause injury through:

• Joint mobility limitations
• Muscle imbalance
• Coordination deficiency
• Reduced balance

At our initial injury prevention appointment in Clarkson Valley, MO, we’ll go over your medical history and perform a base evaluation to identify the root causes of your movement dysfunction. Then, in tandem with with your doctor or any additional providers treating you, we’ll design a customized treatment plan based on empirically-backed research and studies to get your movement back on track.

Posture Dysfunction

Bad posture is not just an issue for people who sit a lot. People who play sports and others with active lifestyles can be affected by postural dysfunction when resting, sitting, or in specific body positions necessary for their sport. Good posture refers to correct alignments when both static and moving in a way that encourages our spine to stay in its natural curves. Poor posture can compact the bones of the spine, which disrupts our body’s internal communications and makes it challenging to reach optimal movement health. It can also lead to:

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

Good posture is a vital part of injury prevention because it ensures muscle balance, flexibility, and that your vertebrae remain in place.

How to Prevent Injury in Clarkson Valley, MO

You can still suffer an injury even if you did everything possible to prevent one. No one precaution is 100% foolproof in injury prevention. However, there are precautions 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 encourage your body to engage in its natural healing and recovery processes. If you have a more moderate activity level, relax for the rest of the day after an activity so you don’t overwork your muscles and joints.
• Use the right equipment — Helmets, chin straps, elbow pads, and other equipment necessary in sports and other activities helps you avoid injuries such as cuts or head injuries. If you’ve already suffered an injury to a joint or soft tissue, your Clarkson Valley, MO physician or physical therapist may advise stabilizing braces or Kinesio Taping®. Other measures like making sure all the equipment is snug offers further protection.
• Strengthen muscles — Strengthening soft tissue helps it withstand the force and torque necessary for in sports and other activities. Our Clarkson Valley, MO injury prevention specialists will work to build up your body to safely participate in the activities you love.
• Increase flexibility — Stretching accomplishes three important things for injury prevention:
  1. It enhances your range of motion, which lets for your soft tissue to adjust to more dramatic positions.
  2. It improves circulation, which carries nourishing blood to your muscles, removing waste byproduct and reinvigorating the muscles.
  3. It boosts your posture, which we already know is an is one of the most important aspects of injury prevention.

  According to research, sports like soccer that include bouncing and jumping require soft tissue compliant enough to store and expel the high amount of energy required. Stretching and warm up exercises before activities further helps prevent injuries.

• Use accepted technique — In every sport, there is an accepted way to position and move your body. These techniques not only improve performance but help reduce the risk of injury. Football players learn to tackle with the shoulder in order to reduce the risk of a head injury, and swimmers learn the proper strokes to use the appropriate muscles. We utilize DorsaVi video motion analysis to slow down your movement and evaluate how to both be a better athlete and prevent injury.
• Listen to your body — If a part of your body is bothering you, 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 isn’t feeling up to an intense training session, don’t force it.
• Don’t play through an injury — While playing through pain is often seen as a valiant act among competitors, playing with soft tissue or structural damage could make that injury worse and put you out of commission for much longer than you would have been sitting out. Depending on the nature of your injury, you may use methods like the R.I.C.E. method, visiting your doctor, and scheduling appointments with a physical therapist 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 help prevent injury. Penalties for leading with the helmet in football, rules against head-first sliding in baseball, and even the presence of bike lanes are examples of rules put in place to keep players safe. Those are in place for a reason, and there’s a reason that there are penalties for them.
• Consult a professional physical therapist — It’s always advisable to get a physical before a new season or starting up a new physical activity. While there, inquire with your doctor if injury prevention with a professional physical therapist in Clarkson Valley, MO is something you should consider. Every treatment plan we employ has been demonstrated to help athletes remain healthy, and we’ll personalize your program to how old you are, any previous injuries, and which activities you want to participate in.

Injury Prevention for Older Clarkson Valley, MO Adults

Falls in the elderly were responsible for more than 3 million emergency room visits and over 34,000 deaths. Studies show that physical activity is a great method for reducing the risk of falls. Other conditions that limit mobility such as arthritis that develop over the course of several years can be slowed down by physical therapy exercises that keep your soft tissue and joints active. While the physical demands for older adults may not be as high as an athlete, healthy strength, stability, flexibility, and proper posture can greatly aid in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Clarkson Valley, MO include:

• Physical Therapy Clinic
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment
• Sciatica Treatment
• Sports Medicine
• Hand Pain Physical Therapy
• Foot & Ankle Pain Treatment
• Hip Pain Treatment
• Plantar Fasciitis Treatment
• Stroke Rehabilitation
• Hip Replacement Physical Therapy

Clarkson Valley, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Being injured in in an activity you prepare and train for and love can create a mental block that won’t allow us to experience the same euphoria. The professional Clarkson Valley, MO physical therapists at Axes are here to guide you through your own personalized injury prevention program that will keep your body as safe and healthy as can be, and your mind confident that you do not have to fear going back to what you love. We will aid you in feeling the physical and mental health benefits that you do not want to lose. Request an appointment online or reach out to the location nearest you to get started with one of our injury prevention specialists in Clarkson Valley, MO.