High Ridge, MO

High Ridge, MO

Don't let the fear of reinjury prevent you from participating in the activities you love.

Injury Prevention in High Ridge, MO. Whether you’re an athlete trying to get a shot at the next stage, or you just retired and want to spend more time camping, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the activities you love. While our licensed High Ridge, MO physical therapists work extensively with athletes and others to heal after an injury, we are complete movement health specialists who can evaluate your movement, muscle and joint strength, and flexibility to teach out techniques that are proven to reduce the risk of injury by preparing your body for the stressors of your desired activity. Schedule an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or reach out to the location nearest you.

Being physically active is an essential part of many High Ridge, MO people’s lives. We love active endeavors such as playing sports, biking, and more. Furthermore, keeping an active lifestyle helps prevent significant health problems like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, anxiety, and many types of cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed High Ridge, MO physical therapists allow you to come back and perform even better than before, but our injury prevention experts can help keep you active by improving your overall strength, flexibility, and posture. All of our methods, for both healing from and preventing injury, have been prove to work and are personalized to each client and the lifestyle they desire.

If you’ve recently suffered an injury, or have a nagging injury that is not getting better with time, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location nearest you in High Ridge, MO for a no-risk, no-obligation 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 High Ridge, MO

Most injuries happen for one of two reasons:

  1. Chronic 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 athletes who are required to repeat throwing or striking motions, with joint pain usually being the first symptom.
  2. Acute injuries are injuries that happen suddenly. Examples include falling or receiving a blow. These can result in bruises, sprains and strains, broken bones, and dislocations.

Some common injuries, like rotator cuff tears, can either develop over time or occur suddenly. Other injuries, for example ACL tears, are almost always the result of trauma, with a sudden impact to the knee.

Injury Prevention High Ridge, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near High Ridge

What Causes Injuries? | Injury Prevention in High Ridge, 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 handle the force, torque, or stretching that they are subjected to in a given movement or collision. There are three common dysfunctions that lead to injury:

Muscle Imbalance

Muscle balance is essential to maintaining healthy joints and reducing injury. Imbalance can lead to an overreliance on one muscle group, which may cause your body to force it to participate in an activity it shouldn’t. It also prevents you from having ideal posture, and the weaker muscles will become tired faster, making them more susceptible to injuries. Injuries can be caused by 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 an imbalance between the four muscles of the rotator cuff. Muscle imbalance can lead to:

Customized injury prevention with our certified physical therapists in High Ridge, MO will bring balance to your muscles.

Movement Dysfunction

Movement dysfunction can result in poor balance and lead to your body bending in unnatural ways, increasing your risk of injury. It can be caused by numerous musculoskeletal issues. It can lead to:

  • Joint mobility restrictions
  • Muscle imbalance
  • Coordination deficiency
  • Lessened balance

When you first visit our injury prevention specialists in High Ridge, MO, we’ll discuss your medical history and perform a base evaluation to identify the root causes of your movement dysfunction. Then, together with your doctor or any additional providers treating you, we’ll develop a tailored plan of attack based on empirically-backed research and studies to get your movement back on track.

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 at lest, driving, or in certain poses necessary for their sport. Healthy posture refers to proper positioning of the neck, torso, pelvis, and extremities in a way that encourages our spine to stay in its natural curves. Poor posture can compress the vertebrae, which disrupts communication between your brain and body and makes it harder to achieve 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 a vital part of injury prevention because it ensures muscle balance, flexibility, and that your spine is in its natural position.



Injury Prevention Techniques in High Ridge, 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 several steps you can take to make sure your body is strong and flexible enough for your intended activity:

  • Take breaks — Injuries are more common in overworked bodies. If you have a very high activity level, make sure to take one or two days off per week to encourage 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 body doesn’t become too fatigued.
  • Use the correct equipment — Helmets, mouth guards, elbow pads, and other recommended equipment in sports and other activities helps you avoid injuries such as contusions or head injuries. If you’re returning to activity after an injury, your High Ridge, MO physician or physical therapist may advise stabilizing braces or Kinesio Taping®. Other techniques like tying your athletic footwear tightly can further help injury prevention by stabilizing your joints.
  • Improve muscle strength — Strengthening soft tissue helps it withstand the force and torque of heavy activity. In your customized injury prevention program with our experienced High Ridge, MO physical therapists, we’ll work to build up your body to safely participate in the activities you want to participate in.
  • Enhance flexibility — Stretching accomplishes three important things for injury prevention:
    1. It boosts your range of motion, which allows for your soft tissue to adapt to more drastic movements.
    2. It improves blood flow, which carries nutrient-rich blood to your muscles, eliminating waste byproduct and encouraging the muscles to restore themselves.
    3. It encourages good posture, which, as you read earlier, is is one of the most important factors of injury prevention.

    According to a peer-reviewed sports medicine paper, sports like football that include bouncing and jumping require muscles and tendons with sufficient flexibility to perform those movements. Also, don’t forget to stretch and warm up before games or training to further reduce the risk of injury.

  • Use proper technique — Through the years, each sport and physical activity develops a consensus of the best ways to position and move your body. These techniques not only help you perform better but help reduce the risk of injury. Football players learn to tackle a certain way to avoid a head injury, and swimmers learn the proper strokes to make sure their muscles are moving unnaturally. We utilize DorsaVi video motion analysis to break down your movement and evaluate how to both be a better athlete and prevent injury.
  • Don’t ignore what your body is telling you — 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 something suddenly that doesn’t feel right, stop immediately and get the appropriate medical treatment. If your body isn’t feeling up to a particularly rigorous training session, don’t force it.
  • Don’t play through an injury — Even though teammates, competitors, and fans appreciate a player that guts it out through pain, playing with soft tissue or structural damage could make that injury worse and put you out of commission for longer than it originally would have. Depending on the nature of your injury, recommended actions may be using R.I.C.E. method, seeing urgent care, and a series of physical therapy sessions to ensure your body heals properly and can withstand the activity you want to return to.
  • Follow 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 bike lanes are all rules that were adopted to keep players safe. 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 get a physical before another season begins or starting up a new activity or training regimen. While there, ask your doctor if injury prevention with a knowledgeable physical therapist in High Ridge, 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 High Ridge, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near High Ridge

Injury Prevention for Senior Citizens in High Ridge, MO

Falls in the elderly were responsible for more than 3 million emergency room admissions and more than 34,000 fatalities. Research demonstrates that physical activity can go a long way in reducing the risk of falls. Other conditions like arthritis that accumulate over time can be more bearable and take longer to progress with physical therapy exercises that keep your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints strong. While older adults typically do not exert themselves as much as an athlete does, healthy strength, balance, flexibility, and optimal posture can greatly aid in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in High Ridge, MO include:

High Ridge, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Suffering in injury in in an activity you prepare and train for and love causes a mental block that won’t allow us to experience the same happiness. The knowledgeable High Ridge, MO physical therapists at Axes are here to design for you a personalized injury prevention program that will keep your body as safe and healthy as can be, and your mind confident 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 see what our High Ridge, MO injury prevention specialists 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
  • Sports Physical Therapy
  • Pediatric Orthopedic Physical Therapy
  • Geriatric Physical Therapy
  • Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization
  • DorsaVi Video Motion Analysis
  • Vestibular Therapy and Post-Concussion Rehabilitation
  • Trigger Point Dry Needling
  • Free Injury Screenings
  • Kinesio Taping®
  • Blood Flow Restriction Therapy

Our Team

Stephen Brunjes
OTR/L, CEAS
Lauren Huckstep
Clinic Director, PT, DPT, CSCS, Astym Cert.
Annmarie Koenen
Front Office

Locations

Begin Your Recovery Today

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