Maryland Heights, MO

Maryland Heights, MO

Don't let a mental block over reinjury prevent you from participating in the activities you love.

Injury Prevention in Maryland Heights, MO. Whether you play a sport and are trying to get a shot at the next stage, or are entering your golden years and want to dedicate your time to bike riding, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the activities you love. While our certified Maryland Heights, 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 show you techniques that are proven to reduce the risk of injury. Request an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or contact the location nearest you.

Physical activity is vitally important to many Maryland Heights, MO residents. Many of us participate in active endeavors such as playing sports, kayaking, and more. Additionally, pursuing an active lifestyle helps stave off chronic diseases including 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 Maryland Heights, MO physical therapists help you come back even stronger after an injury, 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 recovery and injury prevention, are proven to be effective and are personalized to each client and the lifestyle they desire.

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 nearest you in Maryland Heights, MO for a complimentary injury screening. To reduce your chance of an injury and protect 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 Maryland Heights, MO

Injuries typically fall into two categories:

  1. Wear-and-tear injuries are injuries that are caused by repetitive movements over time. They are common 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 in an instant. Examples include landing on uneven ground 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, for example ACL tears, almost always occur spontaneously, with a sudden impact to the knee.

Injury Prevention Maryland Heights, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Maryland Heights

What Causes Injuries? | Injury Prevention in Maryland Heights, MO

While anyone can suffer an injury almost at any time and for numerous different reasons, they generally happen because your soft tissue, bones, and joints cannot handle the force, torque, or stretching that they are subjected to in a given movement or collision. There are three common dysfunctions that lead to injury:

Muscle Imbalance

Muscle balance is key to supporting joints and preventing injury. Imbalance can result in an overreliance on one set of muscles, causing it to perform actions it cannot do safely. It also prevents you from having good posture, and the weaker muscles will become tired more quickly, making them more susceptible to injuries. Injuries can be caused by inadequate muscle balance between muscle groups, such as having a strong hamstring and weak quadriceps, or in the same muscle group, such as an imbalance between the four muscles of the rotator cuff. Symptoms include:

Tailored injury prevention with our experienced physical therapists in Maryland Heights, 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. Neurological issues, inflammation, previous injuries, and muscle imbalance call all contribute to movement dysfunction. It can cause injury through:

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

When you initially visit our injury prevention professionals in Maryland Heights, MO, we’ll go over your medical history and analyze your current movement health, strength, and flexibility. Then, together with your physician or any other providers involved in your care, we’ll develop a personalized game plan based on empirically-backed 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. People who play sports and other physically active people can suffer from postural dysfunction when lying down, sitting, or in specific poses related to their sport. Correct posture means proper positioning of the neck, torso, pelvis, and extremities in a way that encourages our spine to stay in its natural curves. Poor posture can compress the joints in the spine, which disrupts your nervous system and makes it difficult to attain ideal movement health. Symptoms include:

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

By helping you understand good posture, we’ll aid in your injury prevention by ensuring you are using your muscles equally, your flexibility is not jeopardized, and your nervous system can communicate as its intended to.



How to Prevent Injury in Maryland Heights, MO

All sports and physical activities carry an inherent risk of injury. No one safety tip is 100% foolproof in injury prevention. However, there are precautions to make sure your body is strong and flexible enough for your desired activity level:

  • Take a rest — 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 engage in its natural healing processes. If you’re moderately active, take a break after activity so you don’t overwork your muscles and joints.
  • Wear protective equipment — Helmets, shin guards, safety pads and guards, and other recommended equipment in many sports can help prevent injuries like lacerations or concussions. If you’re returning to activity after an injury, your Maryland Heights, MO physician 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 protection.
  • Strengthen muscles — Strengthening your muscles, tendons, and ligaments helps them withstand the rigors necessary for in sports and other activities. In your tailored injury prevention program with our professional Maryland Heights, MO physical therapists, we’ll work to build up your body to safely participate in the activities you want to participate in.
  • Increase flexibility — Stretching contributes to injury prevention in three way:
    1. It increases which movements you can make and how far you can extend them, which lets for your soft tissue to adapt to more extreme movements.
    2. It improves circulation, which carries protein-rich blood to your muscles, eliminating waste byproduct and encouraging the muscles to restore themselves.
    3. It enhances your posture, which, as we’ve discussed, is is one of the most important factors of injury prevention.

    According to a peer-reviewed sports medicine paper, sports like basketball that require bouncing and jumping require muscles and tendons compliant enough to perform those movements. Stretching and warm up exercises before activities further helps prevent injuries.

  • Use accepted technique — In every physical activity, there are accepted 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 with the shoulder in order to reduce the risk of 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 educate you on how to improve it.
  • Don’t ignore what your body is telling you — If a part of your body is bothering you, your body is trying to send you a message. If you feel a sudden crack or grinding sensation, stop immediately and get the appropriate medical treatment. If your body isn’t holing up well in a particularly rigorous 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 exacerbate an existing 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, seeing an emergency room, and a series of physical therapy sessions to ensure your body heals properly and can withstand a return to physical activity.
  • Follow 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 targeting in football, rules against coming from behind in soccer, and even the existence of special lanes on the street and sidewalk for bikers are examples of rules put in place to prevent injuries to ourselves and others. Those were enacted for a reason, and there’s a reason that violations of those rules are punished.
  • Consult a licensed physical therapist — It’s always advisable to see a doctor before starting another season or starting up a new activity or training regimen. While there, ask your doctor if injury prevention with a expert physical therapist in Maryland Heights, MO is right for you. Every treatment plan we employ has been proven to help athletes remain healthy, and you plan will be completely unique to you and catered to how old you are, your injury history, and which activities you want to participate in.

Injury Prevention Maryland Heights, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Maryland Heights

Injury Prevention for Older Maryland Heights, MO Adults

Falls in senior citizens were responsible for more than 3 million emergency room admissions and over 34,000 fatalities. Research demonstrates that physical activity is a great method for reducing the risk of falls. Other conditions like arthritis that accumulate over time can be effectively managed with physical therapy exercises that keep your soft tissue and joints active. While the physical demands for older adults may not be as high as an athlete, the same principles of strength, balance, flexibility, and optimal posture can greatly aid in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Maryland Heights, MO include:

Maryland Heights, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Suffering in injury in one of your favorite activities can lead to a mental block that keeps us from experiencing the same exultation. The professional Maryland Heights, MO physical therapists at Axes are here to design for you a personalized injury prevention program that will keep your body prepared for the rigors of physical activity, and your mind at ease that you can safely return to the activities you love doing most. We will aid you in feeling the physical and mental health benefits that you do not want to lose. Make an appointment online or call the location nearest you to learn more about what our Maryland Heights, 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
  • Certified Hand Therapy
  • Sports Physical Therapy
  • Pediatric Orthopedic Physical Therapy
  • Geriatric Physical Therapy
  • Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization
  • Vestibular Therapy and Post-Concussion Rehabilitation
  • Trigger Point Dry Needling
  • Free Injury Screenings
  • Kinesio Taping®
  • Blood Flow Restriction Therapy

Our Team

Antoinette Ghoston
Front Office
John Teepe
Partner, MPT
Jennifer Szydlowski
Clinic Director, PT, CMPT

Locations

Begin Your Recovery Today

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