Injury Prevention in Herculaneum, MO. Whether you play a sport and are trying to get a shot at the next level, or you just retired and want to spend more time being physical fit, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the activities you love. While our licensed Herculaneum, MO physical therapists work extensively with athletes and others to recover from injury, we are complete movement health specialists who can evaluate your movement, muscle and joint strength, and flexibility to show you measures that are proven to reduce the risk of injury. Request an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or contact the location most convenient for you.

Physical activity is vitally important to many Herculaneum, MO residents. We love active endeavors such as playing sports, swimming, or other physical activities. Furthermore, pursuing an active lifestyle helps prevent significant health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, eurodegenerative disease, depression, and certain cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Herculaneum, MO physical therapists help you return to action and perform even better than before, but our injury prevention professionals can help keep you active by improving your overall strength, flexibility, and posture. All of our treatment plans, for both healing from and preventing injury, are based on evidence-backed techniques and are customized for each client and the lifestyle they desire.

If you’ve recently suffered an injury, or have a lingering injury that just won’t go away, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location nearest you in Herculaneum, MO for a complimentary injury screening. To take preventative measures and protect your active lifestyle, read on below or call to speak to a physical therapist at your earliest convenience.

Types of Injuries We Prevent Prevent in Herculaneum, 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. In sports, we see them the most in in overhead athletes such as baseball or lacrosse players, with joint pain usually being the first warning sign.
2. Acute injuries are sudden and spontaneous. Examples include landing on uneven ground or a sudden impact by an object or another person. These can result in bruises, twisting joints, fractures, and dislocations.

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

What Causes Injuries? | Injury Prevention in Herculaneum, MO

While anyone can suffer an injury almost at any time and for numerous different reasons, they generally happen because of dysfunction or imbalance and your body and between body parts. There are three chief causes of why your body cannot adjust to an activity:

Muscle Imbalance

Muscle balance is essential to supporting joints and reducing injury. Imbalance can lead to an overreliance on one set of muscles, causing it to perform actions it cannot do safely. It also prevents you from having good posture, and the weaker muscles will become tired more quickly, 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 within muscle groups, such as the four muscles in the rotator cuff not having proportionate strength. Symptoms include:

• Muscle weakness
• Muscle inflexibility
• Poor muscle recruitment
• Coordination deficiency

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

Movement Dysfunction

Movement dysfunction can result in poor balance and lead to your body bending in unnatural ways, causing injury. Problems in your nervous system, swelling, previous injuries, and muscle imbalance call all contribute to movement dysfunction. It can lead to:

• Joint mobility limitations
• Muscle imbalance
• Coordination deficits
• Lessened balance

When you initially visit our injury prevention specialists in Herculaneum, MO, we’ll go over your medical history and analyze your current movement health, strength, and flexibility. Then, in tandem with with your physician or any additional medical professionals treating you, we’ll come up with a tailored treatment plan based on empirically-backed research and studies to get your body moving as it should.

Posture Dysfunction

Bad posture is not just an issue for people who sit a lot. Athletes and others with active lifestyles can have postural dysfunction when at lest, driving, or in certain positions related to their sport. Good posture means correct positioning of the different joints and muscles of your body in a way that encourages our spine to stay in its natural curves. Poor posture can bring the vertebrae closer together, which disrupts your nervous system and makes it challenging to reach optimal motion health. Symptoms include:

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

Good posture is a vital 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.

Injury Prevention Methods in Herculaneum, MO

All sports and physical activities can potentially lead to an injury. 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 breaks — 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 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 your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints become too fatigued.
• Wear protective equipment — Helmets, chin straps, safety pads and guards, and other required equipment in sports and other activities helps you avoid injuries such as contusions or concussions. If you’ve had a previous injury, your Herculaneum, MO physician or physical therapist may fit you for braces or Kinesio Taping® to stabilize a joint. Other measures like making sure all the equipment is snug offers further stabilization.
• Boost muscle strength — Strengthening soft tissue helps it stand up to the rigors necessary for in sports and other activities. Our Herculaneum, MO injury prevention experts will work to build up your body to safely participate in the activities you love.
• Improve flexibility — Increasing your flexibility contributes to injury prevention in three way:
  1. It enhances your range of motion, which lets for the tendons and ligaments connecting your muscles to your bones to handle more forceful positions.
  2. It increases blood flow, which allows for nutrient-rich blood to flow to your soft tissue, removing waste byproduct and encouraging the muscles to recover.
  3. It increases your posture, which, as we’ve discussed, is an important part of injury prevention.

  According to studies, sports like basketball that necessitate bouncing and jumping require soft tissue with sufficient flexibility to perform those movements. Also, it’s important to stretch and warm up before games or training 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 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 rotational athletes like golfers and baseball players learn how to best apply torque to your body. We use DorsaVi video motion analysis to break down your movement and educate you on how to both improve your performance and prevent 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 something suddenly that doesn’t feel right, immediately withdraw from the activity and get the appropriate medical treatment. If your body does not feel well enough for an intense workout, save it for another day.
• Don’t play through an injury — While playing through pain is often viewed as commendable among competitors, forcing your body to perform 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 what caused your injury and how severe it is, you may use methods like the R.I.C.E. method, visiting your doctor, and a series of physical therapy sessions to ensure your recovery and return to action go as well as possible.
• Play by the rules — Many sports have special rules at different levels to help prevent injury. Penalties for targeting in football, rules against head-first sliding in baseball, and even the existence of special lanes on the street and sidewalk for bikers are examples of rules that leagues enacted to prevent injuries to ourselves and others. There’s a reason those rules exist, and a reason that violations of those rules are punished.
• Consult a professional physical therapist — It’s a good idea to get a physical before a new season or committing yourself to any strenuous physical activity. While there, inquire with your doctor if injury prevention with a licensed physical therapist in Herculaneum, MO is right for you. Every treatment plan we employ has been demonstrated to reduce the risk of injury, 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 The Elderly in Herculaneum, MO

Falls in senior citizens were responsible for more than 3 million urgent care admissions and over 34,000 fatalities. Studies show that physical activity is a great method for preventing falls. Other conditions that cause pain such as arthritis that accumulate over time can be effectively managed with physical therapy exercises that keep your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints active. While older adults typically do not exert themselves as much as an athlete does, the same principles of strength, stability, flexibility, and good posture can greatly aid in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Herculaneum, MO include:

• Neck Pain Treatment
• 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

Herculaneum, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Being injured in one of your favorite activities causes a mental block that won’t allow us to experience the same exhilaration. The knowledgeable Herculaneum, 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 that you do not want to lose. Request an appointment online or contact the location nearest you to start your program with one of our injury prevention professionals in Herculaneum, MO.