Dardenne Prairie, MO

Dardenne Prairie, MO

Don't let the fear of reinjury keep you from the things what you do best.

Injury Prevention in Dardenne Prairie, MO. Whether you’re an athlete hoping for an opportunity at the next stage, or a recent retiree who wants to dedicate your time to hiking, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the activities you love. While our certified Dardenne Prairie, MO physical therapists work extensively with athletes and others to recover from injury, we are complete movement health specialists who can evaluate your body’s current condition and how you move to teach out techniques that are proven to reduce the risk of injury. Request an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or call the location most convenient for you.

Being physically active is vitally important to many Dardenne Prairie, MO residents. Many of us participate in active endeavors such as playing sports, biking, or other physical activities. Additionally, committing to an active lifestyle helps prevent serious health problems like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, eurodegenerative disease, depression, and many types of cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Dardenne Prairie, MO physical therapists allow you to come back even stronger after an injury, but our injury prevention specialists can help preserve your active lifestyle 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 sustained an injury, or have a persistent injury that just won’t go away, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location most convenient for you in Dardenne Prairie, MO for a free injury screening. To reduce your chance of an injury and ensure that you can continue with your sport or hobby, keep reading or inquire about an appointment today.

Injuries Axes PT Can Help Prevent in Dardenne Prairie, MO

Most injuries happen for one of two reasons:

  1. Wear-and-tear injuries are injuries happen gradually as a body part degrades because of repetitive movements. They are common in overhead athletes such as water polo or basketball players and typically reveal themselves with joint pain.
  2. Acute injuries are injuries that happen suddenly. 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, such as ACL tears, are almost always the result of trauma, with a sudden impact to the knee.

Injury Prevention Dardenne Prairie, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Dardenne Prairie

Why Do Injuries Happen? | Injury Prevention in Dardenne Prairie, MO

While injuries can happen in a variety of circumstances, and some are inescapable, they generally occur because of dysfunction or imbalance and your body and between body parts. There are three main causes of why your body cannot handle an activity:

Muscle Imbalance

Muscle balance is essential to supporting joints and staving off injury. Imbalance can result in overemphasis for one set of muscles, which may cause your body to use it in a way it shouldn’t. It can also lead to poor posture, and the weaker muscles will become fatigued sooner, increasing the risk of injury. Injuries can be caused by inadequate 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. Symptoms include:

Customized injury prevention with our certified physical therapists in Dardenne Prairie, MO will ensure that your muscles are at optimal proportional strength.

Movement Dysfunction

Movement dysfunction can impact your stability and lead to your body bending in ways it is not designed to, causing injury. Neurological issues, inflammation, previous injuries, and muscle imbalance call all contribute to movement dysfunction. It can lead to:

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

When you initially visit our injury prevention specialists in Dardenne Prairie, MO, we’ll go through your medical history and analyze your current movement health, strength, and flexibility. Then, alongside with your physician or any other providers involved in your care, we’ll design a personalized treatment plan been proven to work by research and studies to get your movement back on track.

Posture Dysfunction

Bad posture is not just an issue for people with desk jobs. Athletes and others with active lifestyles can suffer from postural dysfunction when at lest, using the computer, or in specific body positions they need to be in for their sport. Good posture refers to correct positioning when both static and moving in a way that keeps the spine within its natural curves. Poor posture can compress the bones of the spine, which disrupts communication between your brain and body and makes it harder to attain 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 an important part of injury prevention because it ensures muscle balance, flexibility, and that your vertebrae remain in place.



How to Prevent Injury in Dardenne Prairie, MO

All sports and physical activities carry an inherent risk of injury. No one technique is 100% foolproof in injury prevention. However, there are things you can do 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’re heavily active, one or two rest days a week will 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, protective eyewear, and other equipment necessary in sports and other activities can help prevent injuries like contusions or brain injuries. If you’ve had a previous injury, your Dardenne Prairie, MO physician or physical therapist may advise stabilizing braces or Kinesio Taping®. Other techniques like tying your athletic footwear tightly offers further protection.
  • Boost muscle strength — Strengthening soft tissue helps it withstand the force and torque of heavy activity. Our Dardenne Prairie, MO injury prevention experts will work to achieve optimal muscle balance and strengthen the smaller muscles needed to safely participate in the activities you love.
  • Boost flexibility — Increasing your flexibility contributes to injury prevention in three way:
    1. It improves your range of motion, which lets for your soft tissue to handle more drastic positions.
    2. It increases blood flow, which allows for nutrient-rich blood to flow to your muscles, removing waste byproduct and encouraging the muscles to heal.
    3. It boosts your posture, which, as we’ve discussed, is an essential part of injury prevention.

    According to a peer-reviewed sports medicine paper, sports like soccer that require dynamic movements require muscles and tendons compliant enough to perform those movements. Also, remember to stretch and warm up before any physical activity to further reduce the risk of injury.

  • Use proper technique — In every sport, there is an accepted way to position and move your body. These techniques not only help you get be the best player you can be but help prevent injuries. Football players learn to tackle with the shoulder in order to reduce the risk of brain damage, and swimmers learn the proper strokes to use the appropriate muscles. We utilize DorsaVi video motion analysis to slow down your movement and analyze how to both improve your performance and reduce your risk of 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 sudden pain, stop immediately and seek proportional medical care. If your body does not feel well enough for an intense workout, don’t force it.
  • Don’t play through an injury — While teammates, competitors, and fans appreciate a player that guts it out through pain, forcing your body to perform with an injury to a muscle, joint, tendon, or ligament could make that injury worse and put you out of commission for much longer than if you had sat out at the time of the injury. Depending on the nature of your injury, you may use methods like the R.I.C.E. method, visiting an emergency room, and scheduling appointments with a physical therapist to make sure your body heals naturally and can withstand the activity you want to return to.
  • Follow the rules — Depending on the sport or activity and age level of the participants, it likely has special rules in the interest of safety. Penalties for helmet to helmet hits in football, rules against slide-tackling in soccer, and even the existence of special lanes on the street and sidewalk for bikers are all rules that were adopted to keep participants 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 in your best interest to see a doctor before starting another season or starting up a new activity or training regimen. While there, inquire with your doctor if injury prevention with a experienced physical therapist in Dardenne Prairie, MO is a good idea for you. Every treatment plan we employ has been proven to reduce the risk of injury, 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 Dardenne Prairie, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Dardenne Prairie

Injury Prevention for Senior Citizens in Dardenne Prairie, MO

Falls in adults over 65 accounted for over 3 million urgent care admissions and over 34,000 deaths. Research demonstrates that physical activity is a great method for preventing falls. Other conditions that limit mobility like arthritis that accumulate over time can be more bearable and take longer to progress with physical therapy exercises that keep your soft tissue and joints healthy. While older adults typically do not exert themselves as much as an athlete does, the same principles of strength, balance, flexibility, and ideal posture can greatly aid in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Dardenne Prairie, MO include:

Dardenne Prairie, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Suffering in injury in something you love doing can create a mental block that keeps us from experiencing the same happiness. The knowledgeable Dardenne Prairie, MO physical therapists at Axes are here to develop your personalized injury prevention program that will keep your body prepared for the rigors of physical activity, and your mind confident that you can safely return to the activities you love. We will aid you in feeling the physical and mental health benefits of doing what you do best. Schedule an appointment online or call the location nearest you to get started with one of our injury prevention professionals in Dardenne Prairie, MO.

Services Offered

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

Our Team

Sara Crain
PT, CEAS, Astym Cert.
Julie Freiner
OTR/L, CHT
Matt Williams
MS, OTR/L, ATC/L, CHT
Brian Freund
Partner, DPT, CMPT, TPS, MBA
Kaysie Cope
Front Office
Lauren Vaughn
PT, DPT, CMPT, Astym Cert.
Kelly Thornton
Clinic Director, PT, DPT
Justin Bridwell
Front Office

Locations

Begin Your Recovery Today

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