Injury Prevention in Mechanicsville, MO. Whether you play a sport and are hoping for an opportunity at the next stage, or are entering your golden years and want to dedicate your time to being physical fit, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the activities you love. While our certified Mechanicsville, 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 exercises that are proven to reduce the risk of injury. Request an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or reach out to the location most convenient for you.

Physical activity is vitally important to many Mechanicsville, MO residents. We love activities such as playing sports, swimming, or other physical activities. Furthermore, keeping an active lifestyle helps prevent significant health problems including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, eurodegenerative disease, mental health issues, and many types of 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 experts can help keep you active 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 level of activity they want to reach.

If you’ve recently sustained 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 complimentary injury screening. To take preventative measures and ensure that you can keep up with your sport or hobby, keep reading or inquire about an appointment at your earliest convenience.

Types of Injuries We Prevent Prevent in Mechanicsville, MO

Most injuries happen for one of two reasons:

1. Chronic injuries are injuries happen gradually as a body part degrades because of repetitive movements. In sports, we see them the most in in overhead athletes athletes who use throwing or striking motions, with joint pain usually being the first symptom.
2. Acute injuries are sudden and spontaneous. 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 of the injuries we see most frequently, for example rotator cuff tears, can either develop over time or occur suddenly. Other injuries, for example ACL tears, almost always occur spontaneously, with a sudden impact to the knee.

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

While injuries can happen in a variety of circumstances, and some are inescapable, they generally happen because your muscles, ligaments, tendons, bones, and joints cannot hold up under the force, torque, or stretching that they are subjected to in a given movement or collision. There are three primary causes of why your body cannot handle an activity:

Muscle Imbalance

Muscle balance is key to maintaining healthy joints and preventing injury. Imbalance can lead to overemphasis for one set of muscles, which may cause your body to force it to participate in an activity it shouldn’t. It can also lead to poor posture, and one set of muscles becoming fatigued faster, making them more susceptible to injuries. Muscle imbalance applies to poor 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

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

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

When you first see our injury prevention experts in Mechanicsville, MO, we’ll discuss your medical records and analyze your current movement health, strength, and flexibility. Then, alongside with your physician or any additional medical professionals treating you, we’ll come up with a customized game plan based on empirically-backed research and studies to get your body moving as it should.

Posture Dysfunction

Bad posture doesn’t just affect people with slouched shoulders. People who play sports and other physically active people can suffer from postural dysfunction when lying down, sitting, or in certain stances related to their sport. Healthy posture refers to correct positioning when both static and moving in a way that keeps the spine within its natural curves. Poor posture can bring the joints in the spine closer together, which disrupts your nervous system and makes it challenging to reach the strength and range of motion you need to achieve. It causes injuries through:

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

By teaching you the best practices for posture, we’ll aid in your injury prevention by ensuring muscle balance, range of motion, and that your spine is in its natural position.

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 technique is guaranteed to be effective in injury prevention. However, there are precautions to greatly reduce the risk of injury:

• Take breaks — 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 allow your body to naturally heal any mild pain or soreness. If you’re moderately active, relax for the rest of the day after an activity so your body doesn’t become too fatigued.
• Use the correct equipment — Helmets, chest guards, safety pads and guards, and other recommended equipment in many sports helps you avoid injuries like bruises or head injuries. If you’ve had a previous injury, your Mechanicsville, MO doctor or injury prevention specialist may fit you for stabilizing braces or Kinesio Taping®. Other methods like tying your cleats tightly offers further protection.
• Improve muscle strength — Strengthening your muscles, tendons, and ligaments helps them stand up to the rigors necessary for in sports and other activities. Our Mechanicsville, MO injury prevention specialists will work to build up your body to be able to avoid injury in the activities you love.
• Increase flexibility — Increasing your flexibility contributes to injury prevention in three way:
  1. It improves your range of motion, which allows for your tendons and ligaments to adjust to more forceful movements.
  2. It boosts circulation, which carries nourishing blood to your soft tissue, removing waste byproduct and reinvigorating the muscles.
  3. It boosts your posture, which we already know is an is one of the most important factors of injury prevention.

  According to studies, sports like soccer that necessitate sudden twists and movements require muscles and tendons flexible enough 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 proper technique — In every sport, there is an accepted way to position and move your body. These techniques not only help you get be the best athlete you can be but help prevent injuries by not forcing your body into unnatural positions and movements. Football players learn to tackle a certain way 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 evaluate how to both be a better athlete and prevent injury.
• 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 is wrong. If you feel a sudden pop or grinding sensation, stop immediately and get the appropriate medical treatment. If your body isn’t feeling up to an intense workout, save it for another day.
• Don’t play through an injury — Even though gutting it out through pain is often seen as a valiant act among competitors, playing with soft tissue or structural damage could make that injury worse and leave you off the field or court for much longer than if you had sat out at the time of the injury. Depending on what caused your injury and how severe it is, recommended actions may be using R.I.C.E. method, seeing urgent care, and scheduling appointments with a physical therapist to make sure your body heals properly and can handle the activity you want to return to.
• Follow the rules — Many sports have special rules at different levels in the interest of safety. Penalties for targeting in football, rules against coming from behind in soccer, and even the existence of bike lanes are examples of rules that were adopted to keep participants safe. There’s a reason those rules exist, and a reason that violations of those rules are punished.
• Speak a professional physical therapist — It’s a good idea 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 Mechanicsville, MO is something you should consider. All of our techniques have been demonstrated to reduce the risk of injury, 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 Older Mechanicsville, MO Adults

Falls in senior citizens were responsible for more than 3 million emergency room visits and over 34,000 deaths. Studies show that physical activity is invaluable in reducing the risk of falls. Other conditions such as arthritis that are wear and tear injuries can be slowed down by physical therapy exercises that keep your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints strong. While the physical demands for seniors may not be as high as an athlete, appropriate strength, balance, flexibility, and ideal posture can greatly aid in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Mechanicsville, 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

Mechanicsville, 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 exhilaration. The knowledgeable Mechanicsville, 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 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 that you once valued so much. Make an appointment online or reach out to the location nearest you to start your program with one of our injury prevention specialists in Mechanicsville, MO.