Mechanicsville, MO

Mechanicsville, MO

Don't let the fear of reinjury prevent you from participating in the activities you love.

Injury Prevention in Mechanicsville, MO. Whether you play a sport and are 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 happy, healthy lifestyle you desire. While our professional Mechanicsville, MO physical therapists work extensively with athletes and others to heal after an injury, we are complete movement health specialists who can evaluate your movement, muscle and joint strength, and flexibility to guide you through measures that are proven to reduce the risk of injury. Schedule an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or reach out to the location nearest you.

Physical activity is an essential part of many Mechanicsville, MO people’s lives. We love activities like playing sports, biking, or other physical activities. Furthermore, keeping an active lifestyle helps prevent serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dementia, anxiety, and certain cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Mechanicsville, MO physical therapists help you return to action and perform even better than before, but our injury prevention professionals can help keep you active by optimizing your overall movement health. All of our methods, 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 level of activity they want to reach.

If you’ve recently suffered an injury, or have a lingering injury that is not getting better with time, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location most convenient for you in Mechanicsville, MO for a free injury screening. To take preventative measures and protect your active lifestyle, keep reading or inquire about an appointment at your earliest convenience.

Injuries Axes PT Can Help Prevent in Mechanicsville, MO

Injuries typically fall into two categories:

  1. Chronic injuries are injuries that occur when a part of the body repeats the same motion time and time again. They are common in overhead athletes such as raquetball or soccer goalies, with joint pain usually being the first indicator.
  2. Acute injuries are injuries that happen in an instant. Examples include falling or a sudden impact by an object or another person. These can result in bruises, sprains and strains, broken bones, and dislocations.

Some common injuries, such as rotator cuff tears, can either develop over time or occur suddenly. Other injuries, like ACL tears, are almost always the result of trauma, such as receiving a direct blow to the knee.

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

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

While anyone can suffer an injury almost at any time and for numerous different reasons, they generally happen because your muscles, ligaments, tendons, bones, and joints cannot hold up under 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 maintaining healthy joints and reducing injury. Imbalance can lead to dependency on one set of muscles, causing it to perform actions it cannot do safely. 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 probability of injury. Injuries can be caused by insufficient 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:

Customized injury prevention with our certified physical therapists in Mechanicsville, MO will ensure that different muscles and muscle groups are equally strong.

Movement Dysfunction

Movement dysfunction can result in poor balance and impede your body’s ability to naturally perform functional movements, causing injury. It can be caused by a range of musculoskeletal issues. It can lead to:

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

When you initially visit our injury prevention specialists in Mechanicsville, MO, we’ll evaluate your medical records and analyze your current movement health, strength, and flexibility. Then, in tandem with with your doctor or any other medical professionals treating you, we’ll devise a tailored game 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 spend a lot of time doing the same activity. People who play sports and other physically active people can suffer from postural dysfunction when at lest, using the computer, or in specific stances related to their sport. Correct posture means proper alignments 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 bones of the spine, which disrupts communication between your brain and body and makes it difficult to reach the strength and range of motion you need to achieve. It can also lead to:

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

Good posture is a vital part of injury prevention because it ensures you are using your muscles equally, your flexibility is not jeopardized, and your vertebrae remain in place.



How to Prevent Injury in Mechanicsville, MO

You can still suffer an injury even if you did everything you could to reduce that risk. No one safety tip is guaranteed to be effective in injury prevention. However, there are things you can do to greatly reduce the risk of injury:

  • Take a rest — Injuries are more common when you do not give your body time to restore itself. If you’re heavily active, make sure to take one or two days off per week to signal to your body to engage in its natural healing processes. If you’re moderately active, take it easy after activity so you don’t overwork your muscles and joints.
  • Wear the correct equipment — Helmets, mouth guards, safety pads and guards, and other equipment necessary in sports and other activities can help prevent injuries such as lacerations or concussions. If you’ve already suffered an injury to a joint or soft tissue, your Mechanicsville, MO physician or physical therapist may suggest braces or Kinesio Taping® to stabilize the injured area. Other measures 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 withstand the force and torque necessary for in sports and other activities. Our Mechanicsville, MO injury prevention specialists will work to build up your body to safely participate in the activities you love.
  • Improve flexibility — Increasing your flexibility contributes to injury prevention in three way:
    1. It improves your range of motion, which lets for your tendons and ligaments to adjust to more pronounced positions.
    2. It enhances blood flow, which carries protein-rich blood to your muscles, removing waste byproduct and rebuilding the muscles.
    3. It increases your posture, which, as we’ve discussed, is an important part of injury prevention.

    According to a peer-reviewed sports medicine paper, sports like football that include dynamic movements require muscles and tendons with sufficient flexibility to perform those movements. Also, it’s important to stretch and warm up before games or training to further reduce the risk of injury.

  • Use accepted 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 are taught to tackle with the shoulder in order to reduce the risk of brain damage, and rotational athletes like golfers and baseball players learn how to best apply torque to your body. We utilize DorsaVi video motion analysis to capture how you move and educate you on how to both be a better athlete and reduce your risk of injury.
  • 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 sudden pain, stop immediately and get the appropriate medical treatment. If your body isn’t feeling up to an intense training session, save it for another day.
  • Don’t play through an injury — While gutting it out through pain is often viewed as a heroic act among competitors, forcing your body to perform with an injury to a muscle, joint, tendon, or ligament could make that injury worse 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, visiting an emergency room, and rehab with a physical therapist to ensure your body heals naturally and can handle a return to physical activity.
  • Play by the rules — Many sports have special rules at different levels in the interest of safety. Penalties for targeting 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. 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 in your best interest to see a doctor before a new season or starting up a new physical activity. During your appointment, ask your doctor if injury prevention with a knowledgeable physical therapist in Mechanicsville, MO is something you should consider. Every treatment plan we employ has been demonstrated to help athletes remain healthy, and you plan will be completely unique to you and catered to your age, any previous injuries, and how physically active you wish to be.

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

Injury Prevention for Older Mechanicsville, MO Adults

Falls in the elderly accounted for more than 3 million emergency room visits and more than 34,000 fatalities. Research demonstrates that physical activity can go a long way in preventing falls. Other conditions that cause pain like arthritis that accumulate over time can be more bearable and take longer to progress 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, stability, flexibility, and optimal posture can greatly aid in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Mechanicsville, MO include:

Mechanicsville, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Being injured in something you love doing can lead to a mental block that keeps us from experiencing the same happiness. The knowledgeable Mechanicsville, 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. We will aid you in feeling the physical and mental health benefits that you once valued so much. Request an appointment online or contact the location nearest you to discover what our Mechanicsville, 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
  • Sports Physical Therapy
  • Pediatric Orthopedic Physical Therapy
  • Geriatric Physical Therapy
  • Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization
  • DorsaVi Video Motion Analysis
  • Vestibular Therapy and Post-Concussion Rehabilitation
  • Trigger Point Dry Needling
  • Free Injury Screenings
  • Kinesio Taping®
  • Blood Flow Restriction Therapy

Locations

Begin Your Recovery Today

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