Injury Prevention in Manchester, MO. Whether you play a sport and are trying to get a shot at the next stage, or a recent retiree who wants to spend more time taking ski vacations, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the happy, healthy lifestyle you desire. While our certified Manchester, MO physical therapists spend much of their time helping athletes and others 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 techniques 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 vitally important to many Manchester, MO residents. Many of us participate in active endeavors such as playing sports, swimming, and more. Furthermore, pursuing an active lifestyle helps prevent future health problems like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, eurodegenerative disease, mental health issues, and many types of cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Manchester, MO physical therapists help you come back and perform even better than before, but our injury prevention professionals 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 proven to be effective and are developed uniquely for each client and the lifestyle they desire.

If you’ve recently sustained an injury, or have a lingering injury that just won’t go away, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location most convenient for you in Manchester, 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 sport or hobby, keep reading or call to speak to a physical therapist at your earliest convenience.

Injuries Axes PT Can Help Prevent in Manchester, MO

Injuries generally happen for one of two reasons:

1. Repetitive demand injuries are injuries that are caused by repetitive movements over time. In sports, we see them the most in in overhead athletes such as baseball or quarterbacks and commonly are accompanied by joint pain.
2. Acute injuries are sudden and spontaneous. Examples include falling or receiving a blow. These can result in bruises, twisting joints, broken bones, and dislocations.

Some of the injuries we see most frequently, such as rotator cuff tears, can result from either overuse or acute trauma. Other injuries, such as ACL tears, are almost always the result of trauma, with an immediate impact to or twisting of the knee.

Why Do Injuries Happen? | Injury Prevention in Manchester, MO

While injuries can happen in a variety of circumstances, and are sometimes unpreventable, they generally happen because your soft tissue, bones, and joints cannot handle the force, torque, or stretching that are required or are possible in a given activity. 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 the weaker set of muscles will be pushed past its limit, resulting in failure and a higher likelihood of injury. 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. Symptoms include:

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

Customized injury prevention with our knowledgeable physical therapists in Manchester, 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, swelling, previous injuries, and muscle imbalance call all contribute to movement dysfunction. It can lead to:

• Joint mobility restrictions
• Muscle imbalance
• Poor coordination
• Decreased balance

When you initially visit our injury prevention professionals in Manchester, MO, we’ll go through your medical records and analyze your current movement health, strength, and flexibility. Then, in tandem with with your doctor or any additional providers involved in your care, we’ll design a customized plan of attack been proven to work through research and studies to get your movement health to the level you need it to to do what you love.

Posture Dysfunction

Bad posture is not just an issue for people who sit a lot. Athletes and other physically active people can be affected by postural dysfunction when at lest, using the computer, or in certain body positions they need to be in for their sport. Good posture refers to 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 joints in the spine closer together, which has a negative affect on our body’s ability to communicate with itself and achieve optimal motion health. Symptoms include:

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

Good posture is an important part of injury prevention because it ensures muscle balance, range of motion, and that your spine is in its natural position.

Injury Prevention Best Practices in Manchester, MO

All sports and physical activities can potentially lead to an injury. No one technique is 100% foolproof in injury prevention. However, there are things you can do to make sure your body is prepared for your desired activity level:

• Take breaks — Your body needs time to rest and recover after any moderate to intense activity. 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 engage in its natural healing and recovery processes. If you have a more modest activity level, rest for the rest of the day after an activity so you don’t overwork your muscles and joints.
• Use protective equipment — Helmets, chest guards, protective eyewear, and other required equipment in sports and other activities can help prevent injuries such as bruises or concussions. If you’ve already suffered an injury to a joint or muscle, tendon, or ligament, your Manchester, MO physician or physical therapist may recommend braces or Kinesio Taping® to stabilize the affected area. Other techniques like making sure all the equipment is snug can further help injury prevention by stabilizing your joints.
• Strengthen muscles — Strengthening your muscles, tendons, and ligaments helps them stand up to the rigors of heavy activity. In your personalized injury prevention program with our certified Manchester, MO physical therapists, we’ll work to build up your body to be able to stay healthy in the activities you want to participate in.
• 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 your soft tissue to adapt to more extreme positions.
  2. It enhances blood flow, which carries protein-rich blood to your soft tissue, eliminating waste byproduct and re-energizing the muscles.
  3. It encourages good posture, which, as you read earlier, is is one of the most important aspects of injury prevention.

  According to research, sports like soccer that necessitate bouncing and jumping require muscles and tendons flexible enough to perform those movements. Also, don’t forget to stretch and warm up before games or training to further reduce the risk of injury.

• Use correct technique — In every physical activity, there are accepted techniques to use. These techniques not only help you get be the best player you can be but help prevent injuries by not forcing your body into unnatural positions and movements. Football players are taught to tackle with the shoulder in order to avoid a head injury, and swimmers learn the proper strokes to make sure their muscles are moving unnaturally. We utilize DorsaVi video motion analysis to break down your movement and analyze how to both be a better athlete and prevent injury.
• Don’t ignore what your body is telling you — If a part of your body is sore, 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 withdraw from the activity and seek proportional medical care. If your body isn’t feeling up to a particularly rigorous training session, save it for another day.
• Don’t play through an injury — While teammates, competitors, and fans appreciate a player that plays through pain, forcing your body to perform with an injury to a muscle, joint, tendon, or ligament could exacerbate a current injury and leave you on the sidelines 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 an emergency room, and scheduling appointments with a physical therapist to ensure your recovery and return to action go as well as possible.
• Follow the rules — Many sports have special rules at different levels in the interest of safety. Penalties for helmet to helmet hits in football, rules against head-first sliding in baseball, and even the presence of special lanes on the street and sidewalk for bikers are examples of rules that leagues enacted to keep participants safe. There’s a reason those rules exist, and a reason that there are penalties for them.
• Speak a licensed physical therapist — It’s a good idea to have a medical evaluation before a new season or starting up a new physical activity. While there, inquire with your doctor if injury prevention with a licensed physical therapist in Manchester, MO is a good idea for you. All of our techniques have been demonstrated to prevent injury, and you plan will be completely unique to you and catered to how old you are, your injury history, and how physically active you wish to be.

Injury Prevention for Senior Citizens in Manchester, MO

Falls in adults over 65 were responsible for over 3 million urgent care visits and more than 34,000 deaths. Studies show that being physical active is invaluable in preventing falls. Other conditions 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, the same principles of strength, stability, flexibility, and proper posture are great agents in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Manchester, MO include:

• Dry Needling Near Me
• Tendonitis Treatment
• Manual Physical Therapy
• Orthopedic Rehab Near Me
• Beginner Running Program
• Chronic Pain Treatment
• Spine Specialist Near Me
• MCL Injury
• Shoulder Pain

Manchester, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Suffering in injury in something you love doing causes a mental block that keeps us from experiencing the same joy. The licensed Manchester, MO physical therapists at Axes are here to guide you through your own personalized injury prevention program that will keep your body prepared for the rigors of physical activity, and your mind at ease that you do not have to fear going back to what you love doing most. 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 find out more about what our Manchester, MO injury prevention professionals can do for you.