Ozark View, MO

Ozark View, MO

Don't let the fear of reinjury prevent you from participating in the things what you do best.

Injury Prevention in Ozark View, MO. Whether you’re an athlete and want to improve your performance, or a recent retiree who wants 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 professional Ozark View, MO physical therapists spend much of their time helping athletes and others heal after an injury, we are complete movement health specialists who can evaluate your body’s current condition and how you move to guide you through measures 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 call the location most convenient for you.

Being physically active is vitally important to many Ozark View, MO residents. Many of us participate in active endeavors such as playing sports, hiking, or other physical activities. Furthermore, keeping an active lifestyle reduces the risk of future health problems including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, depression, and many types of cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Ozark View, MO physical therapists allow you to come back even stronger after an injury, but our injury prevention experts can help keep you active by improving your overall strength, flexibility, and posture. All of our methods, for both healing from and preventing injury, 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 sustained an injury, or have a nagging injury that just won’t go away, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location most convenient for you in Ozark View, MO for a no-risk, no-obligation injury screening. To take preventative measures and protect your sport or hobby, keep reading or inquire about an appointment at your earliest convenience.

Types of Injuries We Prevent Prevent in Ozark View, MO

Most injuries fall into two categories:

  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 such as raquetball or lacrosse players, with joint pain usually being the first indicator.
  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, 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, such as receiving a direct blow to the knee.

Injury Prevention Ozark View, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Ozark View

What Causes Injuries? | Injury Prevention in Ozark View, MO

While injuries occur for many different reasons, and some are unpreventable, they generally happen 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 staving off injury. Imbalance can cause an overreliance on one muscle group, which may cause your body to force it to participate in an activity it shouldn’t. 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. Injuries can be caused by inadequate muscle balance in relation to other muscle groups, such as having a strong bicep and weak tricep, or within muscle groups, such as an imbalance between the four muscles of the rotator cuff. Muscle imbalance can cause injury through:

Tailored injury prevention with our licensed physical therapists in Ozark View, MO will bring balance to your muscles.

Movement Dysfunction

Movement dysfunction can impact your stability and impede your body’s ability to naturally perform functional movements, causing injury. It can be caused by a range of musculoskeletal issues. Symptoms include:

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

When you first visit our injury prevention experts in Ozark View, MO, we’ll go through your medical history and analyze your current movement health, strength, and flexibility. Then, in tandem with with your physician or any other providers treating you, we’ll come up with a customized game plan been proven to work by 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 with desk jobs. People who play sports and other physically active people can have postural dysfunction when at lest, using the computer, or in specific stances related to a given activity. Correct posture refers to correct positioning of the neck, torso, pelvis, and extremities in a way that keeps the spine within its natural curves. Poor posture can compress the joints in the spine, which disrupts our body’s internal communications and makes it harder to reach optimal movement health. Symptoms include:

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

Good posture is a necessary part of injury prevention because it ensures muscle balance, range of motion, and that your vertebrae remain in place.



Injury Prevention Best Practices in Ozark View, MO

All sports and physical activities carry an inherent risk of injury. We cannot promise that our injury prevention program completely negates the risk of injury. However, there are several steps you can take 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 have a very high activity level, one or two rest days a week will encourage your body to naturally heal any mild pain or soreness. If you have a more moderate activity level, rest for the rest of the day after an activity so you don’t overwork your muscles and joints.
  • Wear the appropriate equipment — Helmets, shin guards, safety pads and guards, and other equipment necessary in sports and other activities helps you avoid injuries such as bruises or brain injuries. If you’ve already suffered an injury to a joint or muscle, tendon, or ligament, your Ozark View, MO physician or injury prevention professional may recommend stabilizing braces or Kinesio Taping®. Other methods like making sure all the equipment is snug can further help injury prevention by stabilizing your joints.
  • Improve muscle strength — Strengthening your muscles, tendons, and ligaments helps them stand up to the force and torque of heavy activity. Our Ozark View, MO injury prevention specialists will work to build up your body to be able to avoid injury in the activities you love.
  • Enhance flexibility — Stretching contributes to injury prevention in three way:
    1. It enhances 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 adapt to more dramatic movements.
    2. It boosts blood flow, which allows for nutrient-rich blood to flow to your muscles, eliminating waste byproduct and encouraging the muscles to heal.
    3. It encourages good posture, which we already know is an is one of the most important factors of injury prevention.

    According to a peer-reviewed sports medicine paper, sports like soccer that require sudden twists and movements require muscles and tendons with sufficient flexibility to perform those movements. Also, remember to stretch and warm up before any physical activity to further reduce the risk of injury.

  • Use accepted technique — In every physical activity, there is an accepted way to position and move your body. These techniques not only help you get be the best player you can be but help reduce the risk of injury. Football players are taught to tackle a certain way to avoid brain damage, and rotational athletes like golfers and baseball players learn how to best rotate their body. We use DorsaVi video motion analysis to break down your movement and educate you on how to improve it.
  • Don’t ignore what your body is telling you — If you feel pain in a muscle or joint, that’s your body’s way of telling you something is wrong. If you feel something suddenly that doesn’t feel right, immediately stop all physical activity and get the appropriate medical treatment. If your body isn’t feeling up to an intense training session, don’t force it.
  • Don’t play through an injury — While gritting through pain is often seen as a courageous act among competitors, playing with soft tissue or structural damage could exacerbate an existing injury and leave you on the sidelines for much longer than you would have been sitting out. Depending on what caused your injury and how severe it is, recommended actions may be using R.I.C.E. method, seeing your doctor, and a series of physical therapy sessions to make sure your body heals naturally and can withstand the activity you want to return to.
  • Play by the rules — Depending on the sport or activity and age level of the participants, it likely has special rules to reduce the risk of injury. Penalties for helmet to helmet hits in football, rules against head-first sliding in baseball, and even the presence of bike lanes are examples of rules that were adopted to prevent injuries to ourselves and others. There’s a reason those rules exist, and a reason that violations of those rules are punished.
  • Speak a professional physical therapist — It’s in your best interest to get a physical before another season begins or starting up a new activity or training regimen. While there, ask your doctor if injury prevention with a licensed physical therapist in Ozark View, MO is a good idea for you. Every treatment plan we employ has been proven to reduce the risk of injury, and we’ll personalize your program to your age, your injury history, and how physically active you wish to be.

Injury Prevention Ozark View, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Ozark View

Injury Prevention for Senior Citizens in Ozark View, MO

Falls in adults over 65 accounted for more than 3 million emergency room admissions and over 34,000 deaths. Studies show that physical activity can go a long way in 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 strong. While the physical demands for older adults may not be as high as an athlete, healthy strength, stability, flexibility, and correct posture can greatly aid in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Ozark View, MO include:

Ozark View, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Being injured in one of your favorite activities causes a mental block that won’t allow us to experience the same elation. The experienced Ozark View, MO physical therapists at Axes are here to design for you a personalized injury prevention program that will keep your body as safe and healthy as can be, and your mind confident 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. Schedule an appointment online or contact the location nearest you to learn more about what our Ozark View, MO injury prevention experts 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.