Jefferson Barracks, MO

Jefferson Barracks, MO

Don't let a mental block over reinjury prevent you from participating in the things what you do best.

Injury Prevention in Jefferson Barracks, MO. Whether you’re an athlete hoping for a shot at the next stage, or you just retired and want to dedicate your time to being physical fit, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the activities you love. While our professional Jefferson Barracks, MO physical therapists work extensively with athletes and others to recover from injury, we are experts in the entire musculoskeletal system who can evaluate your movement, muscle and joint strength, and flexibility to guide you through exercises 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 activities such as playing sports, swimming, and more. Furthermore, keeping an active lifestyle reduces the risk of significant health problems such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, degenerative brain diseases, depression, and certain cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Jefferson Barracks, MO physical therapists help you return to action even stronger after an injury, 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, both when helping restore motion health and when looking to improve it, are based on evidence-backed techniques and are personalized to each client and the lifestyle they desire.

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 Jefferson Barracks, MO for a no-risk, no-obligation injury screening. To reduce your chance of an injury and ensure that you can keep up with your active lifestyle, read on below or call to speak to a physical therapist today.

Types of Injuries We Prevent Prevent in Jefferson Barracks, MO

Injuries typically happen for one of two reasons:

  1. Repetitive demand 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 such as tennis or lacrosse players and typically reveal themselves with joint pain.
  2. Acute injuries are injuries that happen because of a specific and sudden trauma. Examples include falling or receiving a blow. These can result in bruises, twisting joints, fractures, and dislocations.

Some common injuries, like rotator cuff tears, can result from either overuse or acute trauma. Other injuries, such as ACL tears, almost always occur spontaneously, with a sudden impact to the knee.

Injury Prevention Jefferson Barracks, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Jefferson Barracks

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 imbalance and your body and between body parts. There are three common dysfunctions that lead to injury:

Muscle Imbalance

Muscle balance is key to supporting joints and reducing injury. Imbalance can cause dependency on one set of muscles, causing it to perform actions it cannot do safely. It can also lead to poor posture, and one set of muscles becoming fatigued more quickly, making them more susceptible to injuries. Muscle imbalance can refer to inadequate 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 the four muscles in the rotator cuff not having proportionate strength. Symptoms include:

Tailored 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 impact your stability and impede your body’s ability to naturally perform functional movements, causing injury. Problems in your nervous system, inflammation, previous injuries, and muscle imbalance call all contribute to movement dysfunction. It can lead to:

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

At our first injury prevention appointment in Jefferson Barracks, 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 physician or any additional medical professionals treating you, we’ll devise 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 other physically active people can have postural dysfunction when at lest, using the computer, or in specific positions necessary for a given activity. Good posture means proper alignments of your body from your head to your toes in a way that encourages our spine to stay in its natural curves. Poor posture can bring the vertebrae closer together, which interferes with our body’s ability to communicate with itself and achieve the strength and range of motion you need to achieve. It causes injuries through:

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

Good posture is an important part of injury prevention because it ensures muscle balance, flexibility, and that your nervous system can communicate as its intended to.



Injury Prevention Methods in Jefferson Barracks, MO

You can still suffer an injury even if you did everything possible to prevent one. 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 prepared for your desired activity level:

  • 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 have a more modest activity level, take a break for the few hours after an activity so your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints become too fatigued.
  • Wear the right equipment — Helmets, chest guards, elbow pads, and other required equipment in many sports can help prevent injuries like bruises or concussions. 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 tying your cleats tightly offers further protection.
  • Increase muscle strength — Strengthening your muscles, tendons, and ligaments helps them stand up to the force and torque your body is put through in sports and other activities. In your customized injury prevention program with our professional Jefferson Barracks, MO physical therapists, we’ll work to achieve ideal muscle balance and strengthen the often forgotten muscles needed to be able to avoid injury in the activities you want to participate in.
  • Increase flexibility — Increasing your flexibility achieves three important things for injury prevention:
    1. It enhances 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 adapt to more drastic movements.
    2. It enhances circulation, which carries nourishing blood to your muscles, removing waste byproduct and encouraging the muscles to restore themselves.
    3. It encourages good posture, which, as we’ve discussed, is an important part of injury prevention.

    According to research, sports like basketball that include dynamic activities require muscles and tendons with sufficient flexibility to store and expel the high amount of energy required. Also, don’t forget 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 athlete you can be but help prevent injuries by not forcing your body into unnatural positions and movements. Football players are taught to tackle a certain way to avoid brain damage, and swimmers learn the proper strokes to use the appropriate muscles. We utilize DorsaVi video motion analysis to break down your movement and analyze how to both improve your performance and reduce your risk of injury.
  • Listen to your body — If a part of your body is bothering you, that’s your body’s way of telling you something is wrong. 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 training session, save it for another day.
  • Don’t play through an injury — Even though playing through pain is often viewed as a valiant act among competitors, playing with an injury to a muscle, joint, tendon, or ligament could exacerbate a current injury and put you out of commission for longer than it originally would have. Depending on the severity of your injury, you may use methods like the R.I.C.E. method, visiting 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 — Depending on the sport or activity and age level of the participants, it likely has special rules in the interest of safety. Penalties for helmet to helmet hits in football, rules against coming from behind in soccer, and even the presence of bike lanes are examples of rules that leagues enacted to prevent injuries to ourselves and others. Those are in place for a reason, and there’s 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 visit, 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 how old you are, any previous injuries, and how physically active you wish to be.

Injury Prevention Jefferson Barracks, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Jefferson Barracks

Injury Prevention for Senior Citizens in Jefferson Barracks, MO

Falls in senior citizens were responsible for over 3 million emergency room visits and more than 34,000 fatalities. Studies show that physical activity is a great method for reducing the risk of falls. Other conditions that limit mobility such as 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 healthy. While the physical demands for seniors may not be as high as an athlete, appropriate strength, balance, flexibility, and good posture can greatly aid in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Jefferson Barracks, MO include:

Jefferson Barracks, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Being injured in one of your favorite activities can create a mental block that won’t allow us to experience the same happiness. The experienced Jefferson Barracks, 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 doing most. You deserve to feel the physical and mental health benefits that you do not want to lose. Request an appointment online or contact the location nearest you to discover what our Jefferson Barracks, MO injury prevention professionals 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
  • Certified Hand Therapy
  • Sports Physical Therapy
  • Pediatric Orthopedic Physical Therapy
  • Geriatric Physical Therapy
  • Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization
  • Spine Specialty – Certified Manual Therapy
  • Trigger Point Dry Needling
  • Free Injury Screenings
  • Kinesio Taping®
  • Blood Flow Restriction Therapy
  • Certified Wellness Coaching

Our Team

Stephen Brunjes
OTR/L, CEAS
Brian Wahlig
Front Office Supervisor
Sarah Schroeder
MOTR/L, CHT, Astym Cert
Mandy Carter
MSPT, CMPT, ATC, CWC
Ray Bauer
Clinic Director, MSPT, CMPT

Locations

Begin Your Recovery Today

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