Kimmswick, MO

Kimmswick, MO

Don't let the fear of reinjury prevent you from participating in the things what you do best.

Injury Prevention in Kimmswick, MO. Whether you’re an athlete hoping for an opportunity at the next level, or you just retired and want to dedicate your time to camping, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the happy, healthy lifestyle you desire. While our professional Kimmswick, MO physical therapists spend much of their time helping athletes and others heal after an injury, we are experts in the entire musculoskeletal system who can evaluate your movement, muscle and joint strength, and flexibility to show you exercises that are proven to prevent injury. Request an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or contact the location nearest you.

Physical activity is an essential part of many Kimmswick, MO people’s lives. We love active endeavors such as playing sports, biking, and more. Furthermore, committing to an active lifestyle reduces the risk of significant health problems including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, eurodegenerative disease, mental health issues, and certain cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Kimmswick, MO physical therapists help you return to action 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, 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 activities they want to return to.

If you’ve recently sustained an injury, or have a persistent injury that is not getting better with time, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location nearest you in Kimmswick, 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, read on below or call to speak to a physical therapist at your earliest convenience.

Injuries Axes PT Can Help Prevent in Kimmswick, MO

Most injuries happen for one of two reasons:

  1. Overuse injuries are injuries that are caused by repetitive movements over time. In sports, we see them the most in in overhead athletes athletes who are required to repeat throwing or striking motions and typically are accompanied by joint pain.
  2. Acute injuries are injuries that happen suddenly. Examples include landing on uneven ground or receiving a blow. These can result in bruises, sprains and strains, broken bones, and dislocations.

Some of the injuries we see most frequently, like rotator cuff tears, can either develop over time or occur suddenly. Other injuries, for example ACL tears, almost always occur spontaneously, with an immediate impact to or twisting of the knee.

Injury Prevention Kimmswick, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Kimmswick

What Causes Injuries? | Injury Prevention in Kimmswick, MO

While anyone can suffer an injury almost at any time and for numerous different reasons, they generally happen 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 supporting joints and staving off injury. Imbalance can result in overemphasis for one set of muscles, which may cause your body to use it in a way it shouldn’t. It also prevents you from having ideal posture, 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 in relation to other 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. Muscle imbalance can lead to:

Personalized injury prevention with our licensed physical therapists in Kimmswick, MO will ensure that different muscles and muscle groups are equally strong.

Movement Dysfunction

Movement dysfunction can result in poor balance and lead to your body moving in ways it is not designed to, increasing your risk of injury. It can be caused by a variety of musculoskeletal issues. Symptoms include:

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

At our initial injury prevention appointment in Kimmswick, MO, we’ll evaluate your medical history and analyze your current movement health, strength, and flexibility. Then, alongside with your doctor or any other providers involved in your care, we’ll design a tailored plan of attack been proven to work by research and studies to get your body moving as it should.

Posture Dysfunction

Bad posture is not just an issue for people who spend a lot of time doing the same activity. Athletes and other physically active people can be affected by postural dysfunction when resting, using the computer, or in specific body positions related to their sport. Good posture refers to correct positioning 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 bones of the spine 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. Symptoms include:

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

By teaching you good posture, we’ll aid in your injury prevention by ensuring you are using your muscles equally, your flexibility is not jeopardized, and your spine is in its natural position.



How to Prevent Injury in Kimmswick, MO

All sports and physical activities can potentially lead to an injury. No one safety tip is guaranteed to be effective in injury prevention. However, there are things you can do 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’re heavily active, one or two rest days a week will signal to your body to engage in its natural healing processes. If you have a more moderate activity level, relax for the rest of the day after an activity so you don’t overwork your muscles and joints.
  • Use protective equipment — Helmets, shin guards, elbow pads, and other equipment necessary in many sports helps you avoid injuries like rashes or head injuries. If you’re returning to activity after an injury, your Kimmswick, MO doctor or physical therapist may recommend stabilizing braces or Kinesio Taping®. Other methods like making sure all the equipment is snug offers further stabilization.
  • Improve muscle strength — Strengthening soft tissue helps it withstand the force and torque of heavy activity. Our Kimmswick, MO injury prevention specialists will work to build up your body to be able to stay healthy in the activities you love.
  • Enhance flexibility — Stretching contributes to injury prevention in three way:
    1. It enhances your range of motion, which lets for your soft tissue to adapt to more forceful movements.
    2. It boosts circulation, which carries nourishing blood to your soft tissue, removing waste byproduct and re-energizing the muscles.
    3. It boosts your posture, which we already know is an an important part of injury prevention.

    According to a peer-reviewed sports medicine paper, sports like basketball that require dynamic motions require soft tissue flexible enough to incorporate and release the high amount of energy required. Also, it’s important to stretch and warm up before games or training to further reduce the risk of injury.

  • 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 prevent injuries. Football players are taught to tackle with the shoulder in order to reduce the risk of a head injury, and swimmers learn the proper strokes to make sure their muscles are moving unnaturally. We use DorsaVi video motion analysis to slow down your movement and analyze how to improve it.
  • 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, immediately stop all physical activity and seek proportional medical care. If your body isn’t holing up well in an intense workout, don’t force it.
  • Don’t play through an injury — Even though gritting through pain is often viewed as a courageous 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 what caused your injury and how severe it is, recommended actions may be using R.I.C.E. method, seeing your doctor, and a series of physical therapy sessions to make sure your recovery and return to action go as well as possible.
  • Follow the rules — Many sports have special rules at different levels to help prevent injury. Penalties for helmet to helmet hits in football, rules against head-first sliding in baseball, and even the existence of bike lanes are all rules that leagues enacted to prevent injuries to ourselves and others. There’s a reason those rules exist, and a reason that violations of those rules are punished.
  • Speak a licensed physical therapist — It’s in your best interest to get a physical before a new season or committing yourself to any strenuous activity or training regimen. While there, ask your doctor if injury prevention with a knowledgeable physical therapist in Kimmswick, MO is something you should consider. Every treatment plan we employ has 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 Kimmswick, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Kimmswick

Injury Prevention for Older Kimmswick, MO Adults

Falls in senior citizens accounted for over 3 million emergency room admissions and more than 34,000 deaths. Research demonstrates that being physical active can go a long way in preventing falls. Other conditions that cause pain like arthritis that accumulate over time can be effectively managed with physical therapy exercises that keep your soft tissue and joints healthy. While older adults typically do not exert themselves as much as an athlete does, healthy strength, stability, flexibility, and correct posture are great agents in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Kimmswick, MO include:

Kimmswick, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Being injured in in an activity you prepare and train for and love causes a mental block that won’t allow us to experience the same freedom. The licensed Kimmswick, MO physical therapists at Axes are here to develop your personalized injury prevention program that will keep your body strong and flexible, 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 of doing what you do best. Request an appointment online or reach out to the location nearest you to learn more about what our Kimmswick, 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
  • Spine Specialty – Certified Manual Therapy
  • Free Injury Screenings
  • Kinesio Taping®
  • Blood Flow Restriction Therapy

Our Team

Stephen Brunjes
OTR/L, CEAS
Greg Nicholas
Clinic Director, MPT, CMPT
Jamie Davis
Front Office
Grace Gualtieri
Physical Therapist

Locations

Begin Your Recovery Today

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