Injury Prevention in Ferguson, MO. Whether you play a sport and are hoping for a shot at the next stage, or a recent retiree who wants to spend more time being physical fit, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the activities you love. While our certified Ferguson, MO physical therapists work extensively with athletes and others to heal after an injury, we are complete movement health specialists who can evaluate your body’s current condition and how you move to guide you through measures that are proven to reduce the risk of injury. Schedule an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or call the location most convenient for you.

Being physically active is vitally important to many Ferguson, MO residents. Many of us participate in activities like playing sports, kayaking, and more. Additionally, pursuing an active lifestyle reduces the risk of chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, degenerative brain diseases, mental health issues, and certain cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Ferguson, 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 optimizing your overall movement health. All of our methods, for both healing from and preventing injury, have been prove to work and are customized for each client and the lifestyle they desire.

If you’ve recently sustained an injury, or have a lingering injury that is not getting better with time, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location most convenient for you in Ferguson, MO for a complimentary injury screening. To take preventative measures and ensure that you can keep up with your active lifestyle, keep reading or inquire about an appointment at your earliest convenience.

Injuries Axes PT Can Help Prevent in Ferguson, MO

Injuries typically happen for one of two reasons:

1. Repetitive motion injuries are injuries that occur when a part of the body repeats the same motion time and time again. They are common in overhead athletes such as baseball or soccer goalies, with joint pain usually being the first symptom.
2. Acute injuries are injuries that happen because of a specific and sudden trauma. Examples include falling or a sudden impact by an object or another person. These can result in bruises, twisting joints, broken bones, and dislocations.

Some common injuries, like rotator cuff tears, can result from either overuse or acute trauma. Other injuries, such as ACL tears, are almost always the result of trauma, with an immediate impact to or twisting of the knee.

Why Do Injuries Happen? | Injury Prevention in Ferguson, MO

While injuries can happen in a variety of circumstances, and some are inescapable, they generally happen 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 crucial to maintaining healthy joints and staving off injury. Imbalance can result in dependency on 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 inadequate muscle balance between muscle groups, such as having a strong hamstring and weak quadriceps, or within muscle groups, such as an imbalance between the four muscles of the rotator cuff. Symptoms include:

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

Tailored injury prevention with our experienced physical therapists in Ferguson, MO will bring balance to your muscles.

Movement Dysfunction

Movement dysfunction can impact your stability and lead to your body bending in ways it is not designed to, causing injury. It can be caused by numerous musculoskeletal issues. Symptoms include:

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

At our first injury prevention appointment in Ferguson, MO, we’ll discuss 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 other medical professionals treating you, we’ll come up with a personalized plan of attack been proven to work by research and studies to get your movement health to reach its potential.

Posture Dysfunction

Bad posture is not just an issue for people with desk jobs. Athletes and other physically active people can have postural dysfunction when resting, driving, or in specific positions they need to be in for a given activity. Correct posture means proper alignments of your body from your head to your toes in a way that keeps the spine within its natural curves. Poor posture can bring the bones of the spine closer together, which has a negative affect on our body’s ability to communicate with itself and achieve the strength and range of motion you need to achieve. It causes injuries through:

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

By teaching you the best practices for 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.

Keys to Injury Prevention in Ferguson, MO

All sports and physical activities can potentially lead to an injury. We cannot promise that our injury prevention program completely negates the risk of injury. However, there are precautions to make sure your body is prepared for your intended activity:

• Take a rest — Injuries are more common when you do not give your body time to restore itself. If you have a very high activity level, one or two rest days a week will signal to your body to engage in its natural healing and recovery processes. If you’re moderately active, relax for the rest of the day after an activity so your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints become too fatigued.
• Use protective equipment — Helmets, mouth guards, elbow pads, and other equipment necessary in many sports can help prevent injuries such as rashes or brain injuries. If you’re returning to activity after an injury, your Ferguson, MO doctor or physical therapist may recommend braces or Kinesio Taping® to stabilize the injured area. Other methods like making sure all the equipment is snug can further help injury prevention by stabilizing your joints.
• Strengthen muscles — Strengthening soft tissue helps it stand up to the force and torque of heavy activity. In your personalized injury prevention program with our knowledgeable Ferguson, MO physical therapists, we’ll work to achieve optimal muscle balance and strengthen the often forgotten muscles needed to be able to avoid injury in the activities you love.
• Enhance flexibility — Stretching contributes to injury prevention in three way:
  1. It improves your range of motion, which lets for your soft tissue to adapt to more drastic positions.
  2. It increases circulation, which carries nourishing blood to your soft tissue, removing waste byproduct and encouraging the muscles to heal.
  3. It encourages good posture, which we already know is an an essential part of injury prevention.

  According to research, sports like basketball that include bouncing and jumping require muscles and tendons with sufficient flexibility to perform those movements. Also, remember to stretch and warm up before any physical activity to further reduce the risk of injury.

• Use correct technique — In every physical activity, there is an accepted way to position and move your body. These techniques not only help you get be the best athlete you can be but help prevent injuries by not forcing your body into unnatural positions and movements. Football players learn to tackle with the shoulder in order to avoid a head injury, 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 evaluate how to both improve your performance and reduce your risk of injury.
• Listen to your body — If you feel pain in a muscle or joint, that means that body part is telling your brain that something isn’t right. If you feel sudden pain, immediately withdraw from the activity and get the appropriate medical treatment. If your body does not feel well enough for an intense training session, save it for another day.
• Don’t play through an injury — Even though playing through pain is often viewed as commendable among competitors, playing with an injury to a muscle, joint, tendon, or ligament could make that injury worse and leave you off the field or court for longer than it originally would have. Depending on what caused your injury and how severe it is, you may use methods like the R.I.C.E. method, visiting urgent care, and a series of physical therapy sessions to make sure your recovery and return to action go as well as possible.
• Follow the rules — Many sports have special rules at different levels to reduce the risk of injury. Penalties for targeting in football, rules against coming from behind in soccer, and even the presence of special lanes on the street and sidewalk for bikers are all rules that leagues enacted to prevent injuries to ourselves and others. Those were enacted for a reason, and there’s a reason that there are penalties for them.
• Speak a licensed physical therapist — It’s a good idea to have a medical evaluation before another season begins or committing yourself to any strenuous activity or training regimen. During your physical, inquire with your doctor if injury prevention with a professional physical therapist in Ferguson, MO is something you should consider. All of our techniques have been demonstrated to help athletes remain healthy, and we’ll personalize your program to how old you are, your injury history, and which activities you want to participate in.

Injury Prevention for Older Ferguson, MO Adults

Falls in the elderly accounted for more than 3 million emergency room admissions and more than 34,000 fatalities. Research demonstrates that being physical active is invaluable in reducing the risk of falls. Other conditions that limit mobility like arthritis that develop over the course of several years can be more bearable and take longer to progress with physical therapy exercises that keep your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints healthy. While the physical demands for seniors may not be as high as an athlete, healthy strength, stability, flexibility, and correct posture can greatly aid in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Ferguson, 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

Ferguson, 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 joy. The professional Ferguson, 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 can safely return to the activities you love doing most. We will aid you in feeling the physical and mental health benefits that you do not want to lose. Schedule an appointment online or call the location nearest you to learn more about what our Ferguson, MO injury prevention professionals can do for you.