Gilmore, MO

Gilmore, MO

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

Injury Prevention in Gilmore, MO. Whether you’re an athlete and want to improve your performance, or are entering your golden years and want to spend more time camping, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the happy, healthy lifestyle you desire. While our licensed Gilmore, 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 movement, muscle and joint strength, and flexibility to teach out exercises that are proven to reduce the risk of injury by preparing your body for the stressors of your desired activity. Make an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or contact the location nearest you.

Physical activity is vitally important to many Gilmore, MO residents. We love activities such as playing sports, hiking, and more. Additionally, pursuing an active lifestyle reduces the risk of chronic conditions including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, degenerative brain diseases, mental health issues, and certain cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Gilmore, MO physical therapists help you come back even stronger after an injury, but our injury prevention professionals can help keep you active by optimizing your overall movement health. All of our methods, both when helping restore motion health and when looking to improve it, are based on evidence-backed techniques 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 won’t heal on its own, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location nearest you in Gilmore, MO for a free injury screening. To reduce your chance of an injury and protect your active lifestyle, keep reading or inquire about an appointment today.

Injuries Axes PT Can Help Prevent in Gilmore, MO

Most injuries happen for one of two reasons:

  1. Repetitive demand 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 tennis or soccer goalies, with joint pain usually being the first symptom.
  2. Acute injuries are sudden and spontaneous. Examples include falling or a sudden impact by an object or another person. 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 either develop over time or occur suddenly. Other injuries, like ACL tears, almost always occur spontaneously, with a sudden impact to the knee.

Injury Prevention Gilmore, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Gilmore

What Causes Injuries? | Injury Prevention in Gilmore, MO

While anyone can suffer an injury almost at any time and for numerous different reasons, they generally happen because your muscles, ligaments, tendons, 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 crucial to maintaining healthy joints and staving off injury. Imbalance can cause an overreliance on one set of muscles, causing it to perform actions it cannot do safely. It can also lead to poor posture, and one set of muscles becoming fatigued faster, making them more susceptible to injuries. Muscle imbalance can refer to inadequate muscle balance in relation to other muscle groups, such as having a strong chest and weak back, or in the same muscle group, such as an imbalance between the four muscles of the rotator cuff. Symptoms include:

Tailored injury prevention with our licensed physical therapists in Gilmore, MO will ensure that your muscles are at optimal proportional strength.

Movement Dysfunction

Movement dysfunction can result in poor balance and impede your body’s ability to naturally perform functional movements, increasing your risk of injury. It can be caused by many different musculoskeletal issues. It can lead to:

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

When you first see our injury prevention professionals in Gilmore, MO, we’ll evaluate your medical records and perform a base evaluation to identify the root causes of your movement dysfunction. Then, in tandem with with your physician or any other providers involved in your treatment, we’ll devise a personalized game plan based on empirically-backed research and studies to get your body moving as it should.

Posture Dysfunction

Bad posture doesn’t just affect people with slouched shoulders. Athletes and other physically active people can be affected by postural dysfunction when lying down, sitting, or in specific stances they need to be in for a given activity. Good posture refers to proper positioning of the different joints and muscles of your body in a way that does not remove the spine from its natural curves. Poor posture can bring the vertebrae closer together, which disrupts your nervous system and makes it harder to reach optimal motion health. Symptoms include:

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

Good posture is a necessary part of injury prevention because it ensures you are using your muscles equally, your flexibility can be improved and maintained, and your nervous system can communicate as its intended to.



How to Prevent Injury in Gilmore, MO

You can still suffer an injury even if you did everything possible to reduce that risk. No one safety tip is 100% foolproof in injury prevention. However, there are things you can do to make sure your body is prepared for your desired activity level:

  • Take a rest — Injuries are more common when you do not give your body time to restore itself. 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, take it easy for the few hours after an activity so your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints become too fatigued.
  • Wear protective equipment — Helmets, chin straps, protective eyewear, and other recommended equipment in many sports can help prevent injuries such as rashes or head injuries. If you’re returning to activity after an injury, your Gilmore, MO doctor or injury prevention expert may recommend braces or Kinesio Taping® to stabilize the injured area. Other techniques like making sure all the equipment is snug offers further stabilization.
  • Improve muscle strength — Strengthening soft tissue helps it stand up to the force and torque necessary for in sports and other activities. In your personalized injury prevention program with our certified Gilmore, MO physical therapists, we’ll work to achieve ideal muscle balance and strengthen the often forgotten muscles needed to safely participate in the activities you love.
  • Enhance flexibility — Stretching accomplishes three critical things for injury prevention:
    1. It increases your range of motion, which lets for your tendons and ligaments to handle more drastic movements.
    2. It boosts blood flow, which allows for protein-rich blood to flow to your soft tissue, eliminating waste byproduct and encouraging the muscles to heal.
    3. It increases your posture, which, as we’ve discussed, is is one of the most important factors of injury prevention.

    According to studies, sports like soccer that necessitate sudden twists and movements require soft tissue compliant enough to perform those movements. Stretching and warm up exercises before games or training further helps prevent injuries.

  • 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 player you can be but help prevent injuries. Football players are taught 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 slow down your movement and educate you on how to both be a better athlete and prevent injury.
  • Listen to your body — 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 withdraw from the activity and seek proportional medical care. If your body does not feel well enough for an intense training session, don’t force it.
  • Don’t play through an injury — While gritting 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 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 an emergency room, and a series of physical therapy sessions to ensure your body heals properly and can withstand a return to physical activity.
  • 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 targeting in football, rules against head-first sliding in baseball, and even the presence of bike lanes are examples of rules that were adopted to prevent injuries to ourselves and others. 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 a good idea to get a physical before another season begins or committing yourself to any strenuous activity or training regimen. While there, ask your doctor if injury prevention with a professional physical therapist in Gilmore, MO is something you should consider. All of our techniques have been demonstrated to reduce the risk of injury, and we’ll personalize your program to how old you are, your injury history, and how physically active you wish to be.

Injury Prevention Gilmore, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Gilmore

Injury Prevention for Senior Citizens in Gilmore, MO

Falls in adults over 65 were responsible for more than 3 million emergency room visits and more than 34,000 deaths. Studies show that being physical active can go a long way in preventing falls. Other conditions like arthritis that develop over the course of several years can be effectively managed with physical therapy exercises that keep your soft tissue and joints healthy. While the physical demands for older adults may not be as high as an athlete, healthy strength, stability, flexibility, and good posture are great agents in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Gilmore, MO include:

Gilmore, 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 freedom. The experienced Gilmore, MO physical therapists at Axes are here to design for you a 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 do not want to lose. Request an appointment online or reach out to the location nearest you to find out more about what our Gilmore, MO injury prevention experts can do for you.

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.