Injury Prevention in Jefferson Barracks, MO. Whether you’re an athlete hoping for an opportunity at the next stage, or a recent retiree who wants to dedicate your time to hiking, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the activities you love. While our professional Jefferson Barracks, MO physical therapists spend much of their time helping athletes and others heal after an injury, we are complete movement health specialists who can evaluate your body’s current condition and how you move to guide you through measures that are proven to reduce the risk of injury. Request an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or reach out to the location nearest you.

Physical activity is an essential part of many Jefferson Barracks, MO people’s lives. We love active endeavors like playing sports, playing golf, or other physical activities. Furthermore, pursuing an active lifestyle reduces the risk of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, degenerative brain diseases, anxiety, and certain cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Jefferson Barracks, MO physical therapists allow you to return to action and perform even better than before, but our injury prevention specialists can help you reduce the risk of further injury by improving your overall strength, flexibility, and posture. All of our methods, for both healing from and preventing injury, are based on evidence-backed techniques and are customized for each client and the activities they want to return to.

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 most convenient for you in Jefferson Barracks, MO for a no-risk, no-obligation injury screening. To reduce your chance of an injury and ensure that you can continue with your sport or hobby, keep reading or inquire about an appointment at your earliest convenience.

Types of Injuries We Prevent Prevent in Jefferson Barracks, MO

Most injuries fall into two categories:

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 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, 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, for example ACL tears, almost always occur spontaneously, such as receiving a direct blow to the knee.

Why Do Injuries Happen? | Injury Prevention in Jefferson Barracks, MO

While anyone can suffer an injury almost at any time and for numerous different reasons, 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 cause dependency on one set of muscles, causing it to perform actions it cannot do safely. It also causes posture dysfunction, and the weaker set of muscles will be pushed past its limit, resulting in failure and a higher likelihood of injury. Muscle imbalance can refer to inadequate muscle balance between muscle groups, such as having a strong hamstring and weak quadriceps, or in the same muscle group, such as the four muscles in the rotator cuff not having proportionate strength. Symptoms include:

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

Personalized injury prevention with our licensed physical therapists in Jefferson Barracks, 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 limitations
• Muscle imbalance
• Poor coordination
• Reduced balance

At our initial injury prevention appointment in Jefferson Barracks, MO, we’ll evaluate your medical records and analyze your current movement health, strength, and flexibility. Then, alongside with your doctor or any additional providers treating you, we’ll create a customized plan of attack 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 others with active lifestyles can suffer from postural dysfunction when resting, sitting, or in specific body positions necessary for their sport. Good posture refers to correct positioning of the different joints and muscles of your body in a way that keeps the spine within its natural curves. Poor posture can compact the joints in the spine, which has a negative affect on our body’s ability to communicate with itself and attain 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 helping you understand correct posture, we’ll aid in your injury prevention by ensuring muscle balance, flexibility, and that your vertebrae remain in place.

Keys to Injury Prevention in Jefferson Barracks, MO

All sports and physical activities can potentially lead to an injury. We cannot promise that our injury prevention program completely negates the risk of injury. However, there are things you can do to greatly reduce the risk of injury:

• Take breaks — Injuries are more common in overworked bodies. 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.
• Use the right equipment — Helmets, shin guards, safety pads and guards, and other equipment necessary in many sports helps you avoid injuries such as lacerations or brain injuries. If you’re returning to activity after an injury, your Jefferson Barracks, MO physician or physical therapist may suggest stabilizing braces or Kinesio Taping®. Other measures like making sure all the equipment is snug offers further stabilization.
• Strengthen muscles — Strengthening your muscles, tendons, and ligaments helps them stand up to the force and torque of heavy activity. In your tailored injury prevention program with our professional Jefferson Barracks, MO physical therapists, we’ll work to build up your body to safely participate in the activities you love.
• Boost flexibility — Increasing your flexibility contributes to injury prevention in three way:
  1. It boosts which movements you can make and how far you can extend them, which lets for your tendons and ligaments to adjust to more dramatic positions.
  2. It improves circulation, which allows for nourishing blood to flow to your soft tissue, removing waste byproduct and encouraging the muscles to restore themselves.
  3. It encourages good posture, which, as you read earlier, is an essential 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. Stretching and warm up exercises before games or training further helps prevent injuries.

• Use proper technique — In every sport, there are accepted techniques to use. These techniques not only help you get be the best player you can be but help reduce the risk of injury. Football players are taught to tackle a certain way to avoid a concussion, and swimmers learn the proper strokes to use the appropriate muscles. We use DorsaVi video motion analysis to capture how you move and analyze how to improve it.
• Listen to your body — If a part of your body is bothering you, that’s your body’s way of telling you something isn’t right. If you feel something suddenly that doesn’t feel right, immediately withdraw from the activity and get the appropriate medical treatment. If your body isn’t holing up well in an intense workout, don’t force it.
• Don’t play through an injury — Even though playing through pain is often viewed as a courageous act among competitors, forcing your body to perform with soft tissue or structural damage could aggravate a current injury and put you out of commission for longer than it originally would have. Depending on the severity of your injury, recommended actions may be using R.I.C.E. method, visiting urgent care, and a series of physical therapy sessions to make sure your body heals naturally and can handle the activity you want to return to.
• Follow the rules — Most sports have special rules at different levels to help prevent injury. Penalties for targeting in football, rules against coming from behind in soccer, and even the presence of bike lanes are all rules that were adopted to keep participants safe. There’s a reason those rules exist, and a reason that violations of those rules are punished.
• Speak a professional physical therapist — It’s in your best interest to get a physical before another season begins or starting up a new physical activity. During your physical, inquire with your doctor if injury prevention with a expert physical therapist in Jefferson Barracks, MO is right for you. Every treatment plan we employ has been demonstrated to prevent injury, and we’ll personalize your program to your age, any previous injuries, and which activities you want to participate in.

Injury Prevention for Older Jefferson Barracks, MO Adults

Falls in adults over 65 accounted for more than 3 million urgent care visits and more than 34,000 fatalities. Studies show that being physical active can go a long way in reducing the risk of falls. Other conditions like arthritis that develop over the course of several years 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, appropriate strength, stability, flexibility, and proper posture can greatly aid in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Jefferson Barracks, MO include:

• 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
• Hip Replacement Physical Therapy

Jefferson Barracks, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Being injured in in an activity you prepare and train for and love causes a mental block that keeps us from experiencing the same joy. The knowledgeable Jefferson Barracks, 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 confident that you can safely return to the activities you love. We will aid you in feeling the physical and mental health benefits of doing what you do best. Make an appointment online or reach out to the location nearest you to find out more about what our Jefferson Barracks, MO injury prevention experts can do for you.