Injury Prevention in Innsbrook, MO. Whether you play a sport and are trying to get a shot at the next level, or a recent retiree who wants to spend more time camping, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the happy, healthy lifestyle you desire. While our licensed Innsbrook, MO physical therapists spend much of their time helping athletes and others recover from injury, we are complete movement health specialists who can evaluate your body’s current condition and how you move to teach out methods that are proven to reduce the risk of injury. Make an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or reach out to the location nearest you.
Physical activity is vitally important to many Innsbrook, MO residents. Many of us participate in activities such as playing sports, playing golf, or other physical activities. Furthermore, pursuing an active lifestyle reduces the risk of significant health problems like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, depression, and many types of cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Innsbrook, MO physical therapists allow you to come back and perform even better than before, but our injury prevention experts 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 customized for each client and the level of activity they want to reach.
If you’ve recently sustained an injury, or have a nagging injury that just won’t go away, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location most convenient for you in Innsbrook, MO for a complimentary injury screening. To reduce your chance of an injury and protect your sport or hobby, keep reading or call to speak to a physical therapist at your earliest convenience.
Injuries Axes PT Can Help Prevent in Innsbrook, MO
Injuries typically happen for one of two reasons:
- Chronic 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 athletes who use throwing or striking motions and commonly manifest themselves as joint pain.
- Acute injuries are injuries that happen in an instant. Examples include falling or receiving a blow. These can result in bruises, sprains and strains, fractures, and dislocations.
Some of the injuries we see most frequently, for example rotator cuff tears, can either develop over time or occur suddenly. Other injuries, like ACL tears, almost always occur spontaneously, with an immediate impact to or twisting of the knee.
What Causes Injuries? | Injury Prevention in Innsbrook, MO
While injuries occur for many different reasons, and are sometimes unpreventable, they generally occur because of dysfunction or instability and your body and between body parts. There are three common dysfunctions that lead to injury:
Muscle Imbalance
Muscle balance is crucial to maintaining healthy joints and preventing injury. Imbalance can lead to overemphasis for one set of muscles, causing it to perform actions it cannot do safely. It also prevents you from having ideal posture, and one set of muscles becoming tired sooner, making them more susceptible to injuries. Muscle imbalance applies to inadequate muscle balance between 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:
- Muscle weakness
- Muscle inflexibility
- Poor muscle recruitment
- Coordination deficits
Personalized injury prevention with our certified physical therapists in Innsbrook, MO will ensure that different muscles and muscle groups are equally strong.
Movement Dysfunction
Movement dysfunction can impact your stability and lead to your body bending in ways it is not designed to, causing injury. Neurological issues, swelling, previous injuries, and muscle imbalance call all contribute to movement dysfunction. It can lead to:
- Joint mobility restrictions
- Muscle imbalance
- Coordination deficits
- Decreased balance
At our first injury prevention appointment in Innsbrook, MO, we’ll evaluate your medical history and perform a base evaluation to identify the root causes of your movement dysfunction. Then, in concert with with your doctor or any additional providers treating you, we’ll design 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 with desk jobs. Athletes and others with active lifestyles can suffer from postural dysfunction when at lest, sitting, or in certain poses they need to be in for their sport. Healthy posture refers to proper alignments of your body from your head to your toes in a way that does not remove the spine from its natural curves. Poor posture can bring the vertebrae closer together, which disrupts communication between your brain and body and makes it difficult to reach the strength and range of motion you need to achieve. It causes injuries through:
- 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 is not jeopardized, and your vertebrae remain in place.
How to Prevent Injury in Innsbrook, MO
All sports and physical activities can potentially lead to an injury. No one precaution is 100% foolproof in injury prevention. However, there are precautions to make sure your body is strong and flexible enough for your intended activity:
- Take a rest — 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 signal to 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.
- Wear the correct equipment — Helmets, chest guards, elbow pads, and other required equipment in many sports can help prevent injuries like bruises or brain injuries. If you’ve already suffered an injury to a joint or muscle, tendon, or ligament, your Innsbrook, MO doctor or injury prevention expert may fit you for stabilizing braces or Kinesio Taping®. Other methods like tying your shoes tightly offers further stabilization.
- Improve muscle strength — Strengthening soft tissue helps it withstand the force and torque necessary for in sports and other activities. Our Innsbrook, MO injury prevention professionals will work to build up your body to safely participate in the activities you want to participate in.
- Boost flexibility — Increasing your flexibility contributes to injury prevention in three way:
- It improves which movements you can make and how far you can extend them, which lets for the tendons and ligaments connecting your muscles to your bones to adjust to more pronounced positions.
- It enhances blood flow, which allows for nutrient-rich blood to flow to your muscles, removing waste byproduct and reinvigorating the muscles.
- It increases your 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 basketball that include sudden twists and movements require muscles and tendons compliant enough to store and expel the high levels of energy required. Also, remember 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 prevent injuries. Football players learn 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 apply torque to your body. We utilize DorsaVi video motion analysis to break down your movement and analyze how to improve it.
- Listen to your body — If a part of your body is bothering you, that means that body part is telling your brain that something isn’t right. If you feel sudden pain, stop immediately and get the appropriate medical treatment. If your body isn’t feeling up to a particularly rigorous training session, save it for another day.
- 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 aggravate a current injury and leave you on the sidelines for much longer than if you had sat out at the time of the injury. Depending on the nature of your injury, you may use methods like the R.I.C.E. method, seeing your doctor, and scheduling appointments with a physical therapist to ensure your body heals naturally and can withstand a return to physical activity.
- Play by the rules — Most 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 presence of special lanes on the street and sidewalk for bikers are all rules put in place 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.
- Speak a professional physical therapist — It’s a good idea to see a doctor before another season begins or committing yourself to any strenuous physical activity. While there, ask your doctor if injury prevention with a expert physical therapist in Innsbrook, 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 your age, any previous injuries, and how physically active you wish to be.
Injury Prevention for Older Innsbrook, MO Adults
Falls in adults over 65 accounted for more than 3 million urgent care admissions and more than 34,000 deaths. Studies show that physical activity is a great method for preventing falls. Other conditions like arthritis that develop over the course of several years can be slowed down by physical therapy exercises that keep your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints healthy. While seniors typically do not exert themselves as much as an athlete does, appropriate strength, stability, flexibility, and correct posture are great agents in injury prevention.
Other services we offer in Innsbrook, MO include:
- Total Knee Replacement Physical Therapy
- Vestibular Therapy
- Concussion Treatment
- Soft Tissue Mobilization
- Post Surgical Rehabilitation
- Shin Splint Treatment
- Direct Access Physical Therapy
- Gait Analysis
- Pelvic Floor Therapy
- Dry Needling Near Me
Innsbrook, 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 keeps us from experiencing the same freedom. The licensed Innsbrook, 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 can safely return to the activities you love. You deserve to feel the physical and mental health benefits of doing what you do best. Request an appointment online or reach out to the location nearest you to discover what our Innsbrook, MO injury prevention specialists can do for you.