Injury Prevention in Howell, MO. Whether you’re an athlete trying to get an opportunity at the next stage, or are entering your golden years and want to dedicate your time to taking ski vacations, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the happy, healthy lifestyle you desire. While our professional Howell, 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 show you methods that are proven to reduce the risk of injury. Make an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or contact the location most convenient for you.

Being physically active is an essential part of many Howell, MO people’s lives. Many of us participate in active endeavors such as playing sports, biking, or other physical activities. Furthermore, pursuing an active lifestyle helps prevent chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, degenerative brain diseases, mental health issues, and certain cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Howell, MO physical therapists help you come back as fierce as ever, but our injury prevention experts can help keep you active by optimizing your overall movement health. All of our methods, for both recovery and injury prevention, are based on evidence-backed techniques and are personalized to each client and the level of activity they want to reach.

If you’ve recently sustained an injury, or have a nagging injury that won’t heal on its own, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location nearest you in Howell, MO for a no-risk, no-obligation injury screening. To reduce your chance of an injury and protect your sport or hobby, read on below or inquire about an appointment today.

Injuries Axes PT Can Help Prevent in Howell, MO

Injuries generally fall into two categories:

1. Chronic injuries are injuries happen gradually as a body part degrades because of repetitive movements. They are common in overhead athletes athletes who are required to repeat throwing or striking motions, 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, such as rotator cuff tears, can result from either overuse or acute trauma. Other injuries, such as ACL tears, almost always occur spontaneously, such as receiving a direct blow to the knee.

What Causes Injuries? | Injury Prevention in Howell, MO

While anyone can suffer an injury almost at any time and for numerous different reasons, they generally occur 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 primary causes of why your body cannot adjust to an activity:

Muscle Imbalance

Muscle balance is essential to supporting joints and preventing injury. Imbalance can lead to overemphasis for one muscle group, which may cause your body to use it in a way it shouldn’t. It can also lead to poor posture, and the weaker set of muscles will be pushed past its limit, resulting in failure and a higher probability of injury. Injuries can be caused by insufficient muscle balance between muscle groups, such as having a strong hamstring and weak quadriceps, or in the same muscle group, such as an imbalance between the four muscles of the rotator cuff. Muscle imbalance can result in:

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

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

Movement Dysfunction

Movement dysfunction can result in poor balance and lead to your body moving in unnatural ways, increasing your risk of injury. Problems in your nervous system, swelling, previous injuries, and muscle imbalance call all contribute to movement dysfunction. Symptoms include:

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

When you first see our injury prevention experts in Howell, MO, we’ll go over your medical history and perform a base evaluation to identify the root causes of your movement dysfunction. Then, alongside with your physician or any additional medical professionals treating you, we’ll develop a personalized treatment plan been proven to work by research and studies to get your movement health to the level you need it to to do what you love.

Posture Dysfunction

Bad posture doesn’t just affect people with desk jobs. Athletes and others with active lifestyles can have postural dysfunction when at lest, sitting, or in certain stances they need to be in for their sport. Good posture means proper alignments 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 compress the bones of the spine, which disrupts our body’s internal communications and makes it challenging to reach 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

By teaching you correct posture, we’ll aid in your injury prevention by ensuring muscle balance, flexibility, and that your spine is in its natural position.

How to Prevent Injury in Howell, MO

You can still suffer an injury even if you did everything you could to prevent one. No one safety tip is guaranteed to be effective in injury prevention. However, there are several steps you can take to make sure your body is strong and flexible enough for your desired activity level:

• Take a rest — Your body needs time to rest and recover after any moderate to intense activity. 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 you don’t overwork your muscles and joints.
• Wear the correct equipment — Helmets, chin straps, protective eyewear, and other equipment necessary in sports and other activities helps you avoid injuries like contusions or concussions. If you’ve already suffered an injury to a joint or muscle, tendon, or ligament, your Howell, MO physician or physical therapist may suggest stabilizing braces or Kinesio Taping®. Other measures like making sure all the equipment is snug offers further protection.
• Strengthen muscles — Strengthening your muscles, tendons, and ligaments helps them stand up to the rigors your body is put through in sports and other activities. Our Howell, MO injury prevention specialists will work to build up your body to safely participate in the activities you want to participate in.
• Enhance flexibility — Increasing your flexibility contributes to injury prevention in three way:
  1. It enhances which movements you can make and how far you can extend them, which allows for your tendons and ligaments to handle more dramatic positions.
  2. It increases blood flow, which carries nutrient-rich blood to your muscles, eliminating waste byproduct and encouraging the muscles to heal.
  3. It encourages good posture, which we already know is an is one of the most important factors of injury prevention.

  According to research, sports like soccer that include dynamic activities require muscles and tendons compliant enough to perform those movements. Stretching and warm up exercises before games or training further helps prevent injuries.

• Use accepted technique — Through the years, each sport and physical activity develops a consensus of the best techniques to use. These techniques not only help you perform better but help reduce the risk of injury. Football players are taught to tackle with the shoulder in order to reduce the risk of brain damage, and rotational athletes like golfers and baseball players learn how to best rotate their 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.
• 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 get the appropriate medical treatment. If your body does not feel well enough for a particularly rigorous workout, save it for another day.
• Don’t play through an injury — Even though teammates, competitors, and fans appreciate an athlete that guts it out through pain, forcing your body to perform with soft tissue or structural damage could make that injury worse and leave you off the field or court for much longer than if you had sat out at the time of the injury. Depending on what caused your injury and how severe it is, recommended actions may be using R.I.C.E. method, seeing urgent care, and rehab with a physical therapist to make sure your recovery and return to action go as well as possible.
• Play by the rules — Many sports have special rules at different levels to reduce the risk of injury. Penalties for helmet to helmet hits in football, rules against slide-tackling in soccer, and even the presence of bike lanes are examples of rules put in place to prevent injuries to ourselves and others. Those were enacted for a reason, and there’s a reason that violations of those rules are punished.
• Speak a licensed physical therapist — It’s in your best interest to see a doctor before a new season or committing yourself to any strenuous physical activity. During your appointment, inquire with your doctor if injury prevention with a licensed physical therapist in Howell, MO is something you should consider. All of our techniques have been demonstrated to prevent injury, and we’ll personalize your program to your age, your injury history, and which activities you want to participate in.

Injury Prevention for Senior Citizens in Howell, MO

Falls in senior citizens were responsible for over 3 million emergency room admissions and over 34,000 fatalities. Studies show that physical activity is a great method for preventing falls. Other conditions such as arthritis that accumulate over time can be more bearable and take longer to progress with physical therapy exercises that keep your soft tissue and joints active. While the physical demands for seniors may not be as high as an athlete, appropriate strength, balance, flexibility, and good posture are great agents in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Howell, MO include:

• Shoulder Pain
• Mobility
• Knee Injury
• Joint Pain
• Sciatica
• Dry Needling
• ACL Tear
• Pain Management
• Rotator Cuff Tear

Howell, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Being injured in something you love doing can create a mental block that won’t allow us to experience the same happiness. The experienced Howell, 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 doing most. We will aid you in feeling the physical and mental health benefits of doing what you do best. Make an appointment online or contact the location nearest you to start your program with one of our injury prevention specialists in Howell, MO.