Injury Prevention in Lemay, MO. Whether you play a sport and are trying to get an opportunity at the next level, or you just retired and want to dedicate your time to bike riding, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the happy, healthy lifestyle you deserve. While our licensed Lemay, MO physical therapists work extensively with athletes and others to recover from 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 by preparing your body for the stressors of your desired activity. Schedule an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or reach out to the location nearest you.

Being physically active is an essential part of many Lemay, MO people’s lives. Many of us participate in activities such as playing sports, biking, or other physical activities. Additionally, committing to an active lifestyle helps stave off chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, anxiety, and many types of cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Lemay, 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 proven to be effective 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 is not getting better with time, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location nearest you in Lemay, MO for a complimentary injury screening. To take preventative measures and ensure that you can continue with your sport or hobby, keep reading or call to speak to a physical therapist at your earliest convenience.

Types of Injuries We Prevent Prevent in Lemay, MO

Most injuries happen for one of two reasons:

1. Chronic 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, with joint pain usually being the first indicator.
2. Acute injuries are sudden and spontaneous. Examples include landing on uneven ground or receiving a blow. These can result in bruises, sprains and strains, fractures, and dislocations.

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

Why Do Injuries Happen? | Injury Prevention in Lemay, 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 main causes of why your body cannot adjust to an activity:

Muscle Imbalance

Muscle balance is key to maintaining healthy joints and preventing injury. Imbalance can result in an overreliance on one muscle group, 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 insufficient muscle balance in relation to other muscle groups, such as having a strong chest and weak back, or within muscle groups, such as an imbalance between the four muscles of the rotator cuff. Symptoms include:

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

Personalized injury prevention with our licensed physical therapists in Lemay, 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 moving in unnatural ways, increasing your risk of injury. It can be caused by a variety of musculoskeletal issues. It can lead to:

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

When you initially visit our injury prevention specialists in Lemay, MO, we’ll discuss your medical history and analyze your current movement health, strength, and flexibility. Then, in tandem with with your doctor or any other providers treating you, we’ll devise a customized plan of attack been proven to work through 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 in the same position. Athletes and others with active lifestyles can suffer from postural dysfunction when lying down, driving, or in specific poses they need to be in for their sport. Good posture means correct alignments when both static and moving in a way that does not remove the spine from its natural curves. Poor posture can compact the joints in the spine, which disrupts our body’s internal communications and makes it difficult to reach ideal motion health. It can also lead to:

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

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

How to Prevent Injury in Lemay, MO

All sports and physical activities carry an inherent risk of injury. No one technique is 100% foolproof in injury prevention. However, there are several steps you can take to make sure your body is prepared for your desired activity level:

• Take a rest — 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 engage in its natural healing and recovery processes. If you have a more moderate activity level, take a break after activity so your body doesn’t become too fatigued.
• Use protective equipment — Helmets, chest guards, protective eyewear, and other recommended equipment in sports and other activities can help prevent injuries like rashes or brain injuries. If you’ve had a previous injury, your Lemay, MO doctor or physical therapist may recommend braces or Kinesio Taping® to stabilize the injured area. Other measures like making sure all the equipment is snug offers further stabilization.
• Increase muscle strength — Strengthening soft tissue helps it withstand the force and torque of heavy activity. Our Lemay, MO injury prevention professionals will work to achieve ideal muscle balance and strengthen the smaller muscles needed to be able to avoid injury in the activities you love.
• Boost flexibility — Increasing your flexibility contributes to injury prevention in three way:
  1. It improves which movements you can make and how far you can extend them, which allows for the tendons and ligaments connecting your muscles to your bones to adjust to more forceful movements.
  2. It increases circulation, which carries nourishing blood to your muscles, removing waste byproduct and encouraging the muscles to restore themselves.
  3. It improves your posture, which, as you read earlier, is is one of the most important aspects of injury prevention.

  According to a peer-reviewed sports medicine paper, sports like soccer that necessitate sudden twists and movements require muscles and tendons with sufficient flexibility to perform those movements. Stretching and warm up exercises before activities further helps prevent injuries.

• Use proper technique — Through the years, each sport and physical activity develops a consensus of the best techniques to use. These techniques not only improve performance but help prevent injuries by not forcing your body into unnatural positions and movements. Football players learn to tackle a certain way to reduce the risk of a head injury, and rotational athletes like golfers and baseball players learn how to best rotate their body. We utilize DorsaVi video motion analysis to slow down your movement and evaluate 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 a sudden pop or grinding sensation, stop immediately and get the appropriate medical treatment. If your body does not feel well enough for an intense workout, save it for another day.
• Don’t play through an injury — Even though teammates, competitors, and fans appreciate an athlete that plays through pain, playing with an injury to a muscle, joint, tendon, or ligament could exacerbate a current injury and put you out of commission for much longer than you would have been sitting out. 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 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 leading with the helmet in football, rules against coming from behind in soccer, and even the presence of special lanes on the street and sidewalk for bikers are examples of rules that were adopted to prevent injuries to ourselves and others. Those were enacted for a reason, and there’s a reason that there are penalties for them.
• Consult a licensed physical therapist — It’s always advisable to see a doctor before another season begins or starting up a new physical activity. While there, ask your doctor if injury prevention with a knowledgeable physical therapist in Lemay, MO is a good idea for you. All of our techniques have been demonstrated to help athletes remain healthy, and you plan will be completely unique to you and catered to your age, your injury history, and how physically active you wish to be.

Injury Prevention for Senior Citizens in Lemay, MO

Falls in the elderly accounted for over 3 million urgent care visits and over 34,000 deaths. Research demonstrates that being physical active is invaluable in reducing the risk of falls. Other conditions that limit mobility such as arthritis that develop over the course of several years can be more bearable and take longer to progress 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, appropriate strength, stability, flexibility, and correct posture are great agents in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Lemay, 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

Lemay, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Suffering in injury in in an activity you prepare and train for and love can lead to a mental block that won’t allow us to experience the same happiness. The professional Lemay, MO physical therapists at Axes are here to guide you through your own personalized injury prevention program that will keep your body strong and flexible, and your mind at ease 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. Make an appointment online or contact the location nearest you to discover what our Lemay, MO injury prevention professionals can do for you.