Injury Prevention in Festus, MO. Whether you play a sport and are trying to get 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 happy, healthy lifestyle you deserve. While our professional Festus, MO physical therapists work extensively with athletes and others to recover from injury, we are experts in the entire musculoskeletal system who can evaluate your body’s current condition and how you move to guide you through exercises 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 Festus, MO residents. We love activities such as playing sports, kayaking, or other physical activities. Additionally, pursuing an active lifestyle helps prevent chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, degenerative brain diseases, mental health issues, and certain cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Festus, MO physical therapists help you come back and perform even better than before, but our injury prevention specialists can help you reduce the risk of further injury by optimizing your overall movement health. 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 won’t heal on its own, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location most convenient for you in Festus, MO for a complimentary injury screening. To take preventative measures and protect your active lifestyle, read on below or inquire about an appointment at your earliest convenience.

Types of Injuries We Prevent Prevent in Festus, MO

Injuries typically happen for one of two reasons:

1. Overuse injuries are injuries that occur when a part of the body repeats the same motion time and time again. In sports, we see them the most in in overhead athletes such as baseball or quarterbacks, with joint pain usually being the first warning sign.
2. Acute injuries are injuries that happen suddenly. Examples include landing on uneven ground or a sudden impact by an object or another person. These can result in bruises, twisting joints, broken bones, and dislocations.

Some of the injuries we see most frequently, such as rotator cuff tears, can result from either overuse or acute trauma. Other injuries, like ACL tears, are almost always the result of trauma, with a sudden impact to the knee.

What Causes Injuries? | Injury Prevention in Festus, MO

While injuries occur for many different reasons, and are sometimes inescapable, they generally happen because your muscles, ligaments, tendons, bones, and joints cannot handle 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 maintaining healthy joints and reducing injury. Imbalance can cause overemphasis for one muscle group, which may cause your body to force it to participate in an activity it shouldn’t. It can also lead to poor posture, and the weaker muscles will become tired sooner, making them more susceptible to injuries. Muscle imbalance applies to poor 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 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

Personalized injury prevention with our licensed physical therapists in Festus, 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. Neurological issues, 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 first injury prevention appointment in Festus, MO, we’ll evaluate your medical history and perform a base evaluation to identify the root causes of your movement dysfunction. Then, together with your physician or any additional providers involved in your care, we’ll design a tailored treatment plan been proven to work through research and studies to get your movement back on track.

Posture Dysfunction

Bad posture doesn’t just affect people who sit a lot. Athletes and other physically active people can be affected by postural dysfunction when resting, sitting, or in specific positions related to their sport. Correct posture refers to proper positioning of the neck, torso, pelvis, and extremities in a way that keeps the spine within its natural curves. Poor posture can compact the joints in the spine, 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. Symptoms include:

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

By helping you understand good posture, we’ll aid in your injury prevention by ensuring muscle balance, flexibility, and that your vertebrae remain in place.

Keys to Injury Prevention in Festus, 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 things you can do to make sure your body is prepared for your desired activity level:

• Take breaks — Injuries are more common in overworked bodies. If you’re heavily active, one or two rest days a week will allow your body to engage in its natural healing processes. If you have a more modest activity level, relax for the rest of the day after an activity so you don’t overwork your muscles and joints.
• Wear the right equipment — Helmets, chin straps, elbow pads, and other recommended equipment in many sports can help prevent injuries such as cuts or head injuries. If you’ve had a previous injury, your Festus, 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.
• Improve muscle strength — Strengthening your muscles, tendons, and ligaments helps them stand up to the force and torque necessary for in sports and other activities. Our Festus, MO injury prevention experts will 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 your range of motion, which lets for your soft tissue to handle more drastic movements.
  2. It increases blood flow, which allows for nutrient-rich blood to flow to your muscles, eliminating waste byproduct and encouraging the muscles to recover.
  3. It improves your posture, which, as we’ve discussed, is an important part of injury prevention.

  According to a peer-reviewed sports medicine paper, sports like football that require sudden twists and movements require muscles and tendons compliant enough to perform those movements. Also, don’t forget to stretch and warm up before any physical activity to further reduce the risk of injury.

• Use correct technique — Through the years, each sport and physical activity develops a consensus of the best techniques to use. These techniques not only help you get be the best player you can be but help reduce the risk of injury. Football players are taught 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 use DorsaVi video motion analysis to break down your movement and analyze how to improve it.
• Listen to your body — If you feel pain in a muscle or joint, that means that body part is telling your brain that something is wrong. If you feel a sudden pop or grinding sensation, immediately withdraw from the activity and get the appropriate medical treatment. If your body does not feel well enough for an intense training session, don’t force it.
• Don’t play through an injury — Even though gutting it out through pain is often viewed as a courageous act among competitors, forcing your body to perform with an injury to a muscle, joint, tendon, or ligament could make that injury worse and leave you on the sidelines for longer than it originally would have. Depending on what caused your injury and how severe it is, recommended actions may be using R.I.C.E. method, visiting an emergency room, 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 in the interest of safety. Penalties for targeting 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 that leagues enacted to keep players safe. There’s a reason those rules exist, and a reason that there are penalties for them.
• Consult a licensed physical therapist — It’s in your best interest to have a medical evaluation before starting another season or committing yourself to any strenuous activity or training regimen. During your appointment, ask your doctor if injury prevention with a knowledgeable physical therapist in Festus, 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 for Older Festus, MO Adults

Falls in the elderly accounted for more than 3 million urgent care admissions and more than 34,000 deaths. Research demonstrates that being physical active can go a long way in preventing falls. Other conditions that cause pain like arthritis that are wear and tear injuries can be effectively managed with physical therapy exercises that keep your soft tissue and joints healthy. While seniors typically do not exert themselves as much as an athlete does, appropriate strength, balance, flexibility, and correct posture can greatly aid in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Festus, 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

Festus, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Suffering in injury in something you love doing causes a mental block that keeps us from experiencing the same happiness. The experienced Festus, MO physical therapists at Axes are here to develop your personalized injury prevention program that will keep your body strong and flexible, and your mind at ease that you do not have to fear going back to what you love doing most. We will aid you in feeling the physical and mental health benefits that you once valued so much. Request an appointment online or reach out to the location nearest you to discover what our Festus, MO injury prevention professionals can do for you.